Knoll is partnering with emerging artist Noel Mercado to reinvent three of its classic chairs. Mercado specializes in using repurposed materials to reinterpret classic forms and came to the attention of Knoll’s creative team last year when he re-upholstered a vintage bentwood Knoll chair frame with the Kool Cigarette logo in vegan leather.
This time, Mercado has re-imagined the Cesca, Spoleto and Wassily chairs with salvaged objects one might find at a car junkyard. For the Cesca chair, he used hundreds of Little Trees air fresheners, those brightly colored pine tree aromatics that have become a pop culture icons. Mercado says he always had one hanging from his car’s rearview mirror when he began driving while in high school in Chicago.
“I like the sculptural quality and the vibrant colors,” he says.
Mercado reinvented the Spoleto chair with old car speakers and swaddled the Wassily chair in salvaged car seat belts, so it holds “you up rather than holding you in.”
The Knoll pieces are in keeping with Mercado’s upcycled ethos and reverence for 20th and 21st century icons. Earlier this year, he collaborated with Swiss modular furniture maker USM on a collection of bespoke pieces, including handmade vests and hats in signature USM color block configurations and a credenza with a built-in clothing hanger.
For the Knoll collaboration, Mercado had complete creative freedom.
“The relationship between art and design is essential to everything we do at Knoll,” Suzanne Michaels, Knoll’s senior director of global brand creative, said in a statement. “Noel’s work — which is positioned right at the intersection of these disciplines — challenges viewers to rethink everyday objects.”
The three artworks will be available for purchase on Mercado’s website (noel-mercado.com) starting Tuesday. The artist will receive 100 percent of the proceeds.
