chuangyilife.com: Connoisseur > Design Artist > Maximo Riera With His Animal Chair Collection | the art of living

Maximo Riera With His Animal Chair Collection

From the beginning the artist was open to using cutting edge technology to achieve the highest quality execution of his designs. Each piece therefore becomes a powerful interaction of complex human design integrated with nature’s splendour.

Máximo Riera has been a practicing artist for over thirty years. Whilst predominantly working in photography, painting and sculpture, he has also published a collection of poetry. Inspired by his travel and experiences through Europe and the Caribbean Islands, Máximo’s vibrant using of colour and evocative attention to detail have been an inspiration which convey the meaning of his creations. His work also demonstrates a predominant influence from abstract expressionism and the Pop Art movements.

“I’m alarmed by the established rules, normality and standards which produce the mediocrity so often mistaken for success in our society. We are not the ones who decide whether this or that is good, beautiful, bad or ugly, but rather these decisions are forced upon us through a value system which appears deftly indisputable. Rebel, and decide for yourself, even though your path is blocked by millions of people who have been uniformly convinced of an opposing idea. Take your own decisions, and prudently defend your decisions only for as long as your misguided opponent merits.

I do not claim to be from any school of thought or style, neither do I claim to have any technique – I only want to express myself with my artwork. I do not want anyone to like what I do, because my work only reflects my own tastes, and even then it doesn’t always succeed. I am familiar with the work of many other artists, and I know that in my work their voices can be heard, just as it can be heard in their own. However, this just suits me, and should not be proposed as a useless norm or standard for anyone else.”

The Octopus Chair is the first piece of the Animal Chair Collection. Its elegance is perhaps the most outstanding aspect of the piece. In order to be faithful to the animal’s physique and the natural loftiness of its movements, it was necessary to build an internal frame to hold its structure and make possible its posture. Like in the rest of the pieces the animal is the unique protagonist of the ceuvre. In the same way that man and nature rely on each other in order to coexist successfully. The Octopus Chair places the animal and human being in harmony. Where each is considered equal and one is not subject to the other. The Octopus is not decoration. It is as intrinsic to the chair as the person sat upon it. The Octopus Chair thus establishes the affair between the animal chair and the human as one single entity.

Because of its superlative size and presence, the Rhino Chair is considered more like a throne than a regular chair. Like its predecessor, contains an inner frame along its body to support the weight and reinforce its balance. There is not a better animal than the Rhino to reflect the nature’s capacity and mightiness. From an early stage when this chair was just a mere idea, the artist was completely aware that the strong point of the piece was maintaining as far as possible its proportions. Considering that not many people had the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this animals standing in front of them, most of the times, unfortunately, in captivity. Maximo wants to bring them closer to us, the expectations, creating a virtual interaction. The Rhino chair is built in a superior scale to generate an authoritative force respects its surroundings, qualities presents on the animal itself. The Rhino Chair is a truly breath taking piece.

This piece has been designed to be the first Chaise Longue of the collection. It perfectly resembles the animals figure from one side to the other. The Walrus was drafted to accommodate the seats upon its back, merging into the animal, with a flawless compatibility. This fact gives an uniqueness to the composition. The Artist wanted to preserve the real elevation of the animal, making the person who sits on it share the same perspective. One of the most challenging aspects in this work was the skin’s texture and consistency. The Walrus owns a natural volume and magnitude. Attributes that makes him recognizable and distinct from any other spices. Its thick skin wrinkles and rests along its surface, this was a key element to have in consideration to prevent an artificial result.