Is it art? Is it furniture? Is there a distinction? These are questions designer Brian Thoreen answers in his provocative work, which ranges from curved glass tables, weighed down by cast bronze blocks, to blown glass “melted” over angular handcrafted metalwork. Sometimes his designs are obviously quite functional and categorical, other times artistic merit outweighs function. Either way, his works highlight and draw on the power inherent in his chosen materials, and Thoreen thrives in the spaces in between.
Thoreen had explored a range of disciplines and mediums before committing to furniture design. He filled his 20s with experimentation with painting, fabrication, building, welding, architecture and fashion — but he always came back to making furniture. Thoreen studied painting in community college, though much of his talent in design is a culmination of experience he amassed through jobs along the way. He worked as an art installer at Kayne Griffin Gallery, a carpenter at Southern California architecture firm Marmol Radziner and also founded his own gallery MASA and experimental glassmaking collective, VISSIO.
While Thoreen has found a renewed vigor since relocating to Mexico in 2017, the 1960s and '70s Los Angeles art scene informs much of his work. Thoreen learned firsthand from many artists of the era including James Turrell, Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell and Robert Irwin. These visual artists, who were associated with the period's Light and Space movement, explored light in relation to geometric abstraction and minimalism, which resurface as themes in Thoreen’s furniture.
Thoreen’s Cantilever tables and Reaching Console in his sculptural Unsettled collection, which was exhibited at Patrick Parrish’s gallery in New York City in 2017, feature a sublime marriage of marble, smoked glass and cast bronze, and the components are not held together by the typical hardware associated with these kinds of structures — none of the pieces use fasteners of any kind.
With his prioritization of minimalism and the honesty of the materials, Thoreen endeavored to ensure that his pieces wouldn’t need any fasteners secured by screws to stand on their own, relying instead on what he knew about mass and space (a set of bronze counterweights is doing the heavy lifting on the collection's Console). As such, like each of the designer’s works, they’re striking statement pieces in any space — “unsettled” or not.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Brian Thoreen decorative objects, storage case pieces and lighting.
$6,900
Burnout 4
By Héctor Esrawe, Brian Thoreen, Emiliano Godoy
Located in Mexico City, MX
Burnout sculptural vessels by Héctor Esrawe, Emiliano Godoy, and Brian Thoreen, are a formal study of entropy as expressed through sequential degradation of a wood mold by the glass ...
Glass
Burnout 4 Hand Blown Glass Decorative Vase
By Emiliano Godoy, Héctor Esrawe, Brian Thoreen
Located in Mexico City, MX
Burnout sculptural vessels by Héctor Esrawe, Emiliano Godoy, and Brian Thoreen, are a formal study of entropy as expressed through sequential degradation of a wood mold by the glass ...
Glass
Price Upon Request
Brian Thoreen Vessel 2
By Brian Thoreen
Located in Brooklyn, NY
One of three vessels developed as the material maquette's for Brian Thoreen's larger works. Comprised of a cast bronze bowl, grey marble and grey glass. Also available in brown or re...
Marble, Bronze
Price Upon Request
Brian Thoreen Vessel 3
By Brian Thoreen
Located in Brooklyn, NY
One of three vessels developed as the material maquette's for Brian Thoreen's larger works. Comprised of a cast bronze vessel, red marble and grey g...
Marble, Bronze
Price Upon Request
Brian Thoreen Vessel 1
By Brian Thoreen
Located in Brooklyn, NY
One of three vessels developed as the material maquette's for Brian Thoreen's larger works. Comprised of a cast bronze bowl, red marble top and bronze glass base. The height of a sma...
Marble, Bronze
$2,700 / item
H 21 in Dm 18 in
Baré Side Table, White Oak Base with Carved Soapstone Surface and Leather Tray
By Jake Whillans
Located in HAMILTON, ON
The Baré Side Table is part of family of objects designed around the act of indoor horticulture. Named after Jeanne Baré, the first woman to circumnavi...
Soapstone
Autumn Fragments Vessel
By April Johnston
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Found like an ancient relic.. with deep Autumn colors. reminds us of cooler weather, warm fires and toasty nights at home . created from found clay slabs throughout the studio. Glaz...
Stoneware, Ceramic
Ctenophora Octagonal Vessel
By Lorenzo Franceschinis
Located in Tricesimo, IT
Ctenophora literally means "comb carrier" in reference to some archaic marine organisms that display radial structures. Most of my work is based on simple shapes, recurrent in natur...
Walnut
Vintage Fused Glass Footed Vase, Hand Blown Art Glass
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Sculptural vintage vase is decorated with free-flowing fused red and yellow glass designs on mottled pink glass background; colored glass encases clear glass core, with clear glass ...
Art Glass, Blown Glass
Baré Tall Plant Stand, Walnut with Cast Bronze Tray
By Jake Whillans
Located in HAMILTON, ON
The Baré Tall Plant Stand is part of family of objects designed around the act of indoor horticulture. Named after Jeanne Baré, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe - each object in the series provides an elegant, elevated pedestal for your houseplants. The Baré Tall features a cast bronze tray...
Bronze
Anzolo Fuga Hand Blown Glass "Pavone" Vase, 1950s
By Anzolo Fuga, Arte Vetraria Muranese (AVEM)
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Hand blown glass “Pavone” vase with colorful rod and murrhine by Anzolo Fuga for Arte Vetraria Muranese (A.V.E.M.), Murano, Italy, 1950s. Reference: Rosa Barovier-Mentasti, Anzolo Fuga, Murano Glass...
Murano Glass
Baré Tall Planter, Walnut with Cast Bronze Tray and Planter
By Jake Whillans
Located in HAMILTON, ON
The Baré Tall Planter is part of family of objects designed around the act of indoor horticulture. Named after Jeanne Baré, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe - each object in the series provides an elegant, elevated home for your houseplants. The Baré Tall features a cast bronze planter (4-gallon capacity) with integral drainage to a cast bronze tray...
Bronze
$600
H 2.25 in Dm 2.84 in
Danish Arne Bang Ribbed Stoneware Vessel Green Speckled Glaze Art Deco ca 1930s
By Arne Bang
Located in Silkeborg, Silkeborg
Small cylindrical ribbed vessel by the Danish ceramist Arne Bang (1901-1983). Made circa 1930s to 40s. It is decorated with a green glaze with dark brown speckles. Marked on botto...
Stoneware
French Victorian Floral Porcelain Perfume Atomizer
Located in Queens, NY
French Victorian blue and gilt trimmed porcelain perfume atomizer with floral design
Amathus Vessel
By George Lamiè
Located in Atlanta, GA
The Amathus vessel draws its influence from the ancient city of Amathus, a coastal Cypriot stronghold known for resisting simple cultural definition. Positioned between trade routes ...
Clay, Terracotta, Plaster
John Side Table by Meg Morrison
Located in Geneve, CH
John side table by Meg Morrison Materials: Ceramic Dimensions: W 24.5 x D 24.5 x H 50 cm Hand sculpted ceramic vase with a soft robin's egg blue finish. Water tight for flowers. Inc...
Ceramic
Hand-Blown Glass Vase by Chihuly
By Dale Chihuly
Located in Austin, TX
Hand-blown glass vase by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. This piece has lovely red and green tones with a neon yellow rim. We love the organic, asymmetrical shape. This piece is ...
Blown Glass