- Art & Design
Last autumn, Mass Modern Design presented Art Meets Furniture during the Miami Beach Fair, an exhibition that highlighted the relationship between visual art and furniture design. Through a carefully curated selection of iconic twentieth-century designs, the presentation captured a period in which conceptual thinking dominated and furniture emancipated itself as autonomous objects. Far removed from classical interior contexts, a landscape emerged where design was approached not primarily as a utilitarian object, but as a visual and spatial statement.
The driving force behind Mass Modern Design is Etienne Feijns, a collector and gallerist with a discerning eye for historical quality. His fascination with objects began at a young age, during early mornings at flea markets across the Netherlands and Belgium. What started as an instinctive search for remarkable finds gradually evolved into a professional practice. Following the establishment of his first gallery, MidMod-Design, in 2007, Feijns launched Mass Modern Design in 2011, creating a platform for a broader, more international vision of twentieth-century design. Today, both entities are housed within an impressive, understated 5,000-square-metre showroom in Roosendaal. 
Art Meets Furniture demonstrated how designers and artists broke free from strictly functional frameworks, treating furniture as carriers of ideas. The selected pieces revealed how sculptural qualities, material expression, and experimental forms found their way into the domestic environment. Lamps and seating became spatial anchors, where aesthetic impact was as significant as usability. The exhibition invited visitors to observe rather than use, to experience rather than apply.
Within this context, the radical thinking of certain twentieth-century designers about living and domestic life became evident
Within this context, the radical thinking of certain twentieth-century designers about living and domestic life became evident. By questioning industrial design norms, they created objects that gradually nudged design toward art without fully submitting to any single discipline. This liminal position lies at the heart of Art Meets Furniture: an overview that does not aim to be chronological or encyclopaedic, but rather opens a mental space in which ideas, forms, and intentions engage in dialogue. 
The same approach is evident in the Mass Modern Design showroom itself. The presentation is conceived as a series of carefully composed settings, imbued with an almost museum-like calm, allowing each object room to speak. The constantly changing selection reinforces a sense of discovery and ensures that every visit is unique. Art Meets Furniture fits seamlessly within this philosophy. It is an exhibition that approaches design as living, stimulating cultural heritage.
Photography by Robin Noordam
Text by Carolien Depamelaere