Nuevo Nouveau
The “Nuevo Nouveau” exhibition at MAD Brussels immerses viewers into Jaime Hayon’s fantastical universe, where art, design and craft intertwine in a playful yet meticulous choreography. Through exuberant colors, fluid forms and surreal characters, the exhibition reveals the artist’s unique way of interpreting the world—one that embraces humor, fantasy, and cultural symbolism. From his early sketchbooks to his large-scale paintings and expressive tapestries, every piece reflects Hayon’s dedication to translating spontaneous imagination into tangible, emotionally charged creations.
Among the highlights are iconic works such as Mon Cirque and the Fauna tapestries, alongside sculptural installations that step out of the two-dimensional into vivid, theatrical presence. With scenography by Studio Hayon, the show traces Hayon’s ongoing exploration of traditional craftsmanship—glass, ceramics, wood, and textiles—reimagined through a lens of contemporary storytelling. “Nuevo Nouveau” is not only a retrospective but an invitation into a world where artistic freedom reigns, and where even the most whimsical detail is grounded in a profound sense of joy, resilience, and the human spirit.
How to be a meticulous perfectionist while at the same time ensuring that your artworks preserve the spontaneity with which their first sketches were made: that is the intriguing mystery in the identity of Spanish artist and design Jaime Hayon (Madrid, 1974). His track record is surprising in the coherence with which it has evolved. The foundations of what was going to be his professional practice were laid out from the outset over twenty years ago as something that he established in an intuitive, natural way with not an iota of inflexibility.
Looking at the work as a whole, one understands that it is founded on solid principles that are still present today: optimism, humour, sensuous organic forms, an explosive colour palette, profuse use of graphic details, visual lightness, a tendency towards figurative representation, interest in flora and fauna, fantasy, cultural references, an interest in craft processes… This cornucopia of ingredients is there in the form of the seed as of his early creations, and if anything they have reaffirmed themselves while flexibly adapting to each precise situation.
Jaime Hayon (born 1974), is a Spanish artist and designer known for his designs, interiors, urban installations, sculptures, and paintings. He trained at the European Institute of Design in Madrid and then specialised in industrial design at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris. He then joined Fabrica, a research centre of the Benetton group in Italy, where he headed the design department for four years. Eventually in 2001, Jaime Hayon founded Hayon Studio.
GREEN CHICKEN
Green Chicken was commissioned by the Contrasts Gallery of Shanghai for an exhibition whose theme was design versus art, and the question of whether functionality restricts creativity. Jaime Hayon opted for a common, unpretentious element: a simple chicken. He exaggerated its characteristics to transform it into a fantastic, surreal animal with an unusual green colour, to which he added a function by turning it into a rocking chair. It is a controversial piece that caused surprise and astonishment amid the traditional gossip about design, a daring gesture that turned out to be a declaration of intent in his stance against the “establishment”, clearly showing the range of registers he masters in his creative freedom.
CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
Cabinets of curiosities have been around in European culture since the 16th century. They consisted of collections of extraordinary objects that told stories of discoveries, rare or esoteric objects, plants, exotic animals, paintings, insects, artefacts, seashells, relics, skeletons, fossils, books, etc. There is good reason why they were also called “rooms of wonders”, and they always acted an expression of the collector’s irrepressible curiosity, who used them to show the diversity of their personal interests, like a letter of introduction to the world. Jaime Hayon has always been fascinated by this subject and he himself has always carried out the task of a contemporary collector, recording his passage through the world collecting “wonders” to explain his existence: the things that stimulate and motivate him, surprise or intrigue him. His “cabinet of curiosities” is like a back room to his work: there are small models, prototypes, books, strange and funny objects, travel memories… things that ultimately inspire and nurture his work. Small objects that he has created such as lamps, vases, candle holders, hangers, cutlery, napkin holders, tongs, bottle openers, blankets, plates, trays, salad bowls, cups and jugs all make up this personal compendium, which is self-explanatory after observing all of these items that have piqued his curiosity.
The organisers of the Łódź Design Festival invited Jaime Hayon to create an installation at the Central Museum of Textiles in 2019. The Polish city has a long industrial tradition, which motivated the designer to take on the challenge of working on a project that veers off his usual path; one more related to artisanal processes than to mechanical ones. On that occasion, Hayon investigated the possibilities of making an artistic piece in the context of the manufacture of industrial woolen carpets at the Agnella factory. To do so, he created fourteen very graphic masks with a powerful sense of colour, creating an illusory three dimensionality out of a work that takes place on the surface, on the same plane, surprising the viewer with a result packed with vitality that emphasizes the different expressions on the faces, from amusement to fear or amazement
MASQUEMASK
CRAFT
Manual work in which excellence is crucial has been one of the central themes in Jaime Hayon’s career. It is work in which homo faber (man who makes or manufactures) is at the centre of production, acquiring extreme importance in the way in which we as a society value our objects. On the one hand, this is because it is a cultural expression that connects us with our history, but on the other, because it contributes value to objects in terms of humanity, emotion and diversity. With intelligence and sensitivity, Hayon aims to enhance the wise use of the elements provided by craftspeople in a creative and surprising way, often taking that craftsmanship to unexpected limits, finding the balance between respect for tradition and the gap in which innovation is possible. With the company Expormim, he reinvented a tradition based on expert mastery of a material characteristic in Mediterranean life. Using rattan as a starting point, in 2014 he designed “Frames”, an armchair that uses a new method of working with the material, applying an innovative change to the traditional technique. It consists of several frames that end up assembling a chair. This is a very different way of working with wicker, since the mould for each of these frames is what makes it possible to assemble them later using small canes, also made of wicker, without having to use the traditional string.
The organisers of the Łódź Design Festival invited Jaime Hayon to create an installation at the Central Museum of Textiles in 2019. The Polish city has a long industrial tradition, which motivated the designer to take on the challenge of working on a project that veers off his usual path; one more related to artisanal processes than to mechanical ones. On that occasion, Hayon investigated the possibilities of making an artistic piece in the context of the manufacture of industrial woolen carpets at the Agnella factory. To do so, he created fourteen very graphic masks with a powerful sense of colour, creating an illusory three dimensionality out of a work that takes place on the surface, on the same plane, surprising the viewer with a result packed with vitality that emphasizes the different expressions on the faces, from amusement to fear or amazement
CULTURE & ARCHISTRUCTURES
