About the artist
Studio Verbaan was founded by Solange Frankort and Jordi Verbaan in 2019. The studio is based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Both working as individual artists, they decided to team up and start working as a couple.
Solange Frankort studied photography/fine art at Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam, then she finished her Master Degree in fine art/lens-based at Piet Zwart Institute Rotterdam.
–
Jordi Verbaan studied as an artisanal woodworker at Wood and Furniture College Rotterdam (HMC), then he also finished the study fine art at Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam.
–
They design and create together. Combining their design aesthetic and knowledge, Studio Verbaan aims to create products that are beautifully made with quality materials and a tradition of carpentry using a minimalist language. Progressing from idea to drawing, then from maquette to the final work.
–
The handcrafted wooden pieces sit somewhere between furniture, objects and sculpture. They are often playful and multi-functional creations. The contrast of the minimalistic shapes and traditional craft, goes beyond the object’s functionality. The pieces are purposefully ambiguous, sitting just as happily in a domestic space as in an art gallery. With different influences like the graphic Bauhaus Art and the playful Memphis Design group, both iconic designers combined functionality with a focus on simplicity and bold, modern shapes.