Statement Chairs

The chair as experiment, storyteller, connector of cultures, social metaphor, status symbol, and work of art. All these themes come together in this exhibition featuring more than 100 unexpected chairs. The chair takes centre stage even in the cloakroom. Here, your coat rests on a chair rescued from the streets of Utrecht. Co-curator and designer Joost van Bleiswijk gives these discarded chairs a second life. Each abandoned chair has a story of its own.

Have you ever stopped to consider the quiet power of chairs? In Chair Takes a Stand, we invite you to reflect on the many forms and meanings of this piece of furniture that so many of us use every day. From revolutionary production methods and iconic designs to symbolic chairs with a message, Chair Takes a Stand pays tribute to the chair through more than 100 diverse designs. Discover the stories hidden behind the chair’s modest silhouette and the boundless creativity of its makers. Some draw inspiration from new technological possibilities, while others strive for sustainable solutions. Delve into the challenging dilemmas designers face as they ask themselves whether new designs can truly add something unique to the vast array of chairs already in existence.

Not every chair is meant to be sat on. Marvel at artistic interpretations of chairs that transcend their practical function. Artists use chairs as powerful symbols, challenging our perceptions with unexpected forms and philosophical questions. Discover how a chair can give a voice to the person sitting in it or offer a new perspective on the world around us.

The exhibition features more than a hundred chairs by artists and designers including Anna Aagaard Jensen, Mina Abouzahra, Kiki van Eijk, Bruce Nauman, Niki de Saint Phalle, Martí Guixé, Gerhard Richter, Gerrit Rietveld, Victor Sonna and Jessica Stockholder. Alongside exceptional loans such as Wrapped Arm Chair by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, One and Three Chairs by Joseph Kosuth and The Chairs by David Hockney, previously unseen chairs from the museum’s own collection will also be on display. These include several recent acquisitions by Simone Post, El Warcha Design Studio and Mitchell Gilbert Messina. Surprises await not only in the selection, but also in the way the chairs are presented: Joost van Bleiswijk is both co-curator and exhibition designer. Activities programme An activities programme has been developed to complement Stoel neemt stelling. Jeroen Junte of DesignDigger, for example, will give a series of lectures entitled ‘Stoel Centraal’. In collaboration with the Vrije Academie, we will also present two more lectures in the autumn. There will also be various guided tours, a screening of the documentary Monobloc – How a Plastic Chair Took Over the World, and several editions of Centraal Laat.