Four artists reimagine SHANG XIA’s carbon fiber chair as art

SHANG XIA invites four contemporary artists to interrogate the Da Tian Di Carbon Fiber Chair as a canvas for artistic vision in A Chair Universe, an exhibition that dissolves the boundary between functional design and fine art. Each interpreter brings their own sensibility to the minimalist frame: skeletal lines in black, a seat rendered in vivid red, another dressed in iridescent gradient, one more adorned with soft turquoise panels and golden striations. Beside them stands a sculptural assemblage of gnarled branches and pale mineral forms, a meditation on the raw materials from which all design emerges.

Chen Yujun, Li Fubiao, Ni Youyu and Yan Lei approach the chair not as an object to be decorated but as a vessel for philosophical inquiry. Their interventions reveal how a single form can shift in meaning and presence through colour, surface treatment and symbolic layering. The carbon fiber structure, engineered for precision and strength, becomes a framework for conversations about craft, nature and the visual language of the contemporary moment.

SHANG XIA, the collaboration between Swiss heritage house Hermès and Chinese design founded in 2010, has long positioned itself at the intersection of Eastern and Western craftsmanship. The Da Tian Di chair, part of the brand’s design collection, emerges from this same philosophy: clean geometry married to refined materials and thoughtful making.

A Chair Universe runs from 6 November through 31 December 2026 at SHANG XIA Maison, located at 233 Middle Huaihai Road in Shanghai’s French Concession district. The exhibition invites visitors to reconsider how everyday objects can transmute into art through the lens of artistic perspective and conceptual depth.

Imagery courtesy of SHANG XIA (@shangxia).