Press release

Petter Southall’s showroom with Philosophy

Acclaimed furniture designer Petter Southall has finally found a showroom which expresses all the passion and restrained style of his work. He has had a showroom in Pimlico Road in London and exhibitions all over this country and abroad, but in Sladers Yard he seems to have found his voice. He and his wife are running it as an artists’ and makers’ showroom with two monthly exhibitions of leading artists, sculptors and photographers, together with collections of ceramics, leather, baskets textiles, jewellery and clothes handmade by leading designer makers many of whom are local to Bridport.

Sladers Yard is an eighteenth century maritime warehouse at West Bay harbour in West Dorset less than five miles from the hilltop studio at Chilcombe where Southall and his team of apprenticeship-trained craftsmen make his award-winning i tre furniture. (Norwegian for in wood.) The original three-storey timber interior of Sladers Yard speaks of its 250-year history as a workplace. Everywhere are the marks of the past: grooves worn by ropes or great bolts driven into the rough stone walls. With its mottled lime-washed walls and rough-hewn pillars, the building makes a stunning setting for contemporary work.

Southall’s detailing has made this a beautiful conversion. Doodling with weathered recycled wood, he has made playful, practical and visually arresting signs, screens, a wonderful cafˆ© area and courtyard eatery. The cafˆ© aims to do the same with food as the showroom does for artworks, offering the best, most delicious, local, organic and individually made food, at very reasonable prices.

’ÄòI feel right at home in this building. The atmosphere of honest work here seemed to define in our minds the philosophy that I have expressing in my work without finding the words for it for years. The ethos comes across so clearly that the response from other artists as well as the public has been inspiring. As soon as I saw it I knew I could build boats here again and that it was the natural showplace for my furniture,’ says Southall, ’Äòand now I am joined by so many other like-minded artists.’ At Sladers Yard artists join to make a stand against a careless throw-away culture with truthful work that celebrates the here and now.

After an international childhood, Southall returned to his native Norway aged 18 to apprentice as a traditional boat builder. He lived in the most remote areas of the fjords learning from aged craftsmen, with a focus and talent that was clearly exceptional. He was chosen by the Western Norway crafts museum to be one of eight to learn to build the Oselvar Faering, the ultimate fjord boat whose patterns were jealously guarded and in danger of being lost. He still has the Oselvar he built aged 21.

Later Southall studied cabinet making with James Krenov, the intuitive woodwork guru, in Northern California, before coming to England to learn ecological design at John Makepeace’s Hooke Park College. It was always the sculptural design sense and the boat building techniques which featured large in Southall’s furniture. He specialises in steam bending, taking solid native timbers, such as oak, elm, ash or pear, and curving them into the arcs, twists and spirals which distinguish his designs and have lead to prestigious commissions for private, corporate and public spaces. His first ever commission in this country was a dining room for the sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink. The Frink table is now available to a new home and may be viewed at the exhibition.

27 May – 21 July Sladers Yard will be showing ’ÄòWest Bay – Beatitudes’ by David Inshaw with mirrors made by Cheryl Campbell and furniture by Petter Southall.

Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL
Open 10 – 5pm Wednesday to Saturday,
11 – 5pm Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.
For further information please visit sladersyard.co.uk,
email info@itrefurniture.co.uk or call Anna Powell on 01308 459511

Petter Southall's showroom with Philosophy - Julian Bailey, Derek Nice and Petter Southall - West Bay - Beatitudes featuring Cheryl Campbell - Miranda Creswell's paintings and drawings - West Bay - Beatitudes by David Inshaw - Alfred Stockham, Miranda Creswell and Petter Southall - Out to Sea - Bailey Nice and Southall - The Need to Dream - Vanessa Gardiner - Tim Nicholson - Sladers Yard Christmas Show - Robin Rae