Opening this week at Parisian design gallery Kreo is a new exhibition from Nicolas Trembley.

Entitled 'Sgrafo vs Fat Lava, Ceramics and Porcelaine Made in West Germany, 1960-1980.' Nicolas Trembley has gathered together a hundred rather eyecatching vases
called “Fat Lava” or “West German Ceramic/Pottery”.

Through utilitarian, decorative objects that are presented outside of all hierarchy, the collection (which was apparently mainly sourced on Ebay) uncovers a multitude of aesthetic possibilities associated with a period that was at once prolific, and stylistically very liberated.

Harking back to a time before the supremacy of design, in which taste allowed for both the kitsch and the outrageous, this is a show for lovers of retro design and fans of modern form alike.

In conjunction with the exhibition, there'll be a book published too, containing an introduction by Nicolas Trembley, a discussion between French designer Ronan Bouroullec and Nicolas Trembley and an essay by art historian Horst Makus who specialises in the history of German ceramics of the 1950s.

Plus, the book also shows around twenty reproductions of the most significant models photographed by Olivier Pasqual.

The book 'Sgrafo vs Fat Lava' is a co-edition of the Centre d’édition contemporaine in Geneva, the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne and galerie Kreo, and will be published by JRP/Ringier in the Hapax series, with support from the the Galerie Andrea Caratsch in Zurich.

The show opens in Kreo's window on May the 20th and will be on view until the 23rd of July.