Jaime Hayon has been a great addition to the design & art world. His 2000 debut with his ceramic work Mediterranean Digital Baroque, has since continued with his design projects, original and bursting with life, including the Camper store in Tokyo, Faberge salon in Geneva, Le Sergent Recruteur Restaurant in Paris and many more. With his great bespoke installations & creations he has caught the eye of many luxurious brands and has been commissioned by Baccarat & Lladró creating a spectacular outcome. Of course, needless to say that Yatzer has been a great follower of this talented man since his very beginning and is happy to call him a great friend today.

Another follower of his, The Groninger Museum, first purchased two large installations from his Mediterranean Digital Baroque and Mon Cirque in 2009, and in 2010 this relationship strengthened even more when Hayon designed the museum’s  new information center. Now with FUNTASTICO inside its chambers, there is a new breath of joy within the halls. 

The exhibition curated by Sue-an van der Zijpp and Mark Wilson, is a great tribute to this influential young designer, hosting all of his major works that we have come to know him for. It provides a great opportunity for his admirers who want to see most of his creations in one space and for those who want to understand more about him. The pieces include his iconic Green Chicken, the Arpa chair, the Tudor Chair, the triumphant single Poltrona  arm chair, his creations for Baccarat, Choemon-gama, his Copacabana T Pendant light, the amazing ''American Chateau'' collaborative project he made with his talented wife Nienke Klunder and we could go on and on. Through catalogue that accompanies the exhibition showcases new illustrative material as well as explanations about the inspiration behind the pieces and stories conceived around them.  Everything you want to see is here, culminating in the most popular piece - none other than ‘THE TOURNAMENT’. Commissioned in 2009 for the Design Festival London, this life size chess set is a remarkable one-of-a-kind gem. The inspiration for this piece came from the Battle of Trafalgar with the intention to organize chess games at specific times. This idea was also implemented in FUNTASTICO as the grandmasters Jan Werle and Iozefina Paulet were invited to the exhibition to play a spectacular game of chess. Each piece is a masterpiece made of turned wood with hand painted ceramics. Looking at it from afar, there’s something almost magical about it where Alice in Wonderland meets modernity. 

We can easily say that the grouping of all these design inspirational pieces under one roof has success written all over it. The exhibition will be on view till the 30th of March 2014 at the The Groninger Museum.