Tabletop: Lucy Stark & Fabien Cappello

September 7 - October 13, 2024

Blunk Space is pleased to present Tabletop, an exhibition of new works by Oakland-based artist Lucy Stark and Guadalajara-based designer Fabien Cappello, opening September 7. Paintings and design objects (ceramic candle sconces, a tablecloth) by Stark, and tin objects by Capello are inspired by Blunk’s oeuvre and process, specifically the Blunk House. 

Both artists work in conversation with domestic objects and scenes. Stark’s paintings and prints are bursting with glistening food, whimsical plates and lively picnics, conjuring relaxed afternoons with a winking playfulness. Cappello uses underused or overlooked materials like tin and offcuts to make objects and furniture that blur the line between industrial production and craft techniques in interior spaces. Where Stark stylizes dimensions and perspectives to refocus our attention on the little beauties in everyday scenes, Cappello elevates utilitarian materials, playing with our familiarity with form and highlighting the inherent beauty in their usefulness.

Stark spent ten days living and working in the Blunk House in 2023, where the main table was her painting surface, her still-life stage, and a site for lively shared meals with loved ones. She has also produced a limited edition tablecloth featuring the home’s distinctive objects and three wall-mounted ceramic candleholders depicting scenes from the Blunk House and the town of Inverness. For the exhibition, Capello is introducing four limited edition painted tin tabletop and pendant lamps inspired directly by the Blunk House, which he visited in January 2024. This extension of his beloved ongoing Objetos de Hojalata series will be exclusively available through Blunk Space, featuring paint colors inspired by Blunk’s work and Inverness, from the peachy earth of Olema clay to the deep green of Bishop pine forests. The exhibition will also feature a selection of the Objetos de Hojalata series – flower vases, watering cans, and candleholders made from tin which his studio manufactures in direct collaboration with the workshop of Arturo and Maria Vega in Guadalajara. 

“We knew we wanted to exhibit Lucy’s paintings, and then Fabien showed me the tin works and they’re so playful, the dimensions are just right, the lightness both in tone and material,” says Mariah Nielson, Director of the JB Blunk Estate and Blunk Space. “The colors of Fabien’s tin works could have been pulled out of one of Lucy's paintings – and in fact, she incorporated one of his objects in the limited edition tablecloth. She’ll also paint one of Fabien’s tin works on the outside of the gallery as a nod to the common practice of sign-painting throughout Mexico.”