Floating Fixtures and Fibers: Galerie Maria Wettergren

Floating Fixtures and Fibers: Galerie Maria Wettergren at TEFAF New York 2025

Nestled in a side corner of TEFAF, a glow emits from Galerie Maria Wettergren. The soft, delicate nature of the space calls you in. Entering the gallery, one is drawn to its spacious layout and sparse work. Maria, who owns and directs her namesake gallery based in Paris, has staged the corner to feel like the inside pages of a minimalist magazine. The kind of magazine that knows where to place a photo and where to leave space. Pieces stand in isolation, yet are placed adjacent to one another, creating a purposeful, harmonious atmosphere.

The standout of the collection is Gjertrud Hal’s FABEL. Maria notes that the Norwegian artist has been a female pioneer within textile and fabric arts since the 1980s. Originating with fiber art in the seventies, Hal has become a voice for feminism through her distinct weaving works and modernist approach. Her soft and unique approach to wirework shines through her light copper tapestry. Woven with detail, the precious crochet piece is large but is divided into several squares - each framing a unique found object in its center. Maria shares that Gjertrud uses sustainable practices.

From utilizing used metal wires to her found objects - beer can bottles, tiny pins of other famous works, and little animal carvings - Hal uses many of the everyday thrown-away materials she has around her. Born on an island in Norway, Hal brings to TEFAF her unique Scandinavian sensibility, tongue-in-cheek energy, and masterful weaving and thread technique. When light passes through the piece, the wired landscape creates an intricate silhouette. Adding a shadow-puppet-esque dimension to the piece, the work takes on a mysterious and ancient energy to its original form.

Furthermore, her green work entitled VEDBJU creates a natural division in space. One can picture it as a floating wall in an apartment. Its bright hue and feathered texture derive from its material - linen thread and dyed beard linen. Divided into three panels, the piece anchors the Galerie’s showcase, providing an organic and textural separation between pieces.

Beyond VEDBJU, the pastel silk organza of Margrethe Odgaard’s DIOPTRIC series evokes the sunset and spring. Maria deliantes that Margrethe’s popular works have been acquired. As we fawn over the softness and elegant construction, Maria provides insight into the scientific process behind Odgaard’s work.

Odgaard is an artist who is particularly interested in color and its effect on the human eye. Her pieces balance certain colorways and play with our perception of how color can affect texture, balance, and shadow. Her interest in color came out of deep study in textiles at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, and at RISD in Rhode Island. She was a textile designer for seven years for EPICE, a French fashion company. It is easy to see how Odgaard’s particular eye for color and shape has led to collaborations with interior design giants like Ikea and Hay. Odgaard is one half of Applied Colour Tools Apps, a company that helps architects and designers apply color theory in practice. In addition to Maria’s gallery in Paris, her work can be seen at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York, for those who are interested in her work beyond the brief time at TEFAF.

The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum could not be a better place to house Odgaard’s work. Like many of the pieces selected by Maria Wettergren’s gallery, Odgaard’s work bridges the gap between what is considered fine art and design, science and visual creation, and practical and aesthetic appeal. Carefully placed throughout the layout are wooden benches, glass tables, and colorful vessels. Complementing the art hung in the traditional fashion of the wall, these standing pieces make the space feel as though one is in one’s living room. Maria’s approach to selling art that can be used both functionally and serve visual taste as well is a strong suit of her business. Ceramic vessels like Lotte Westphal's BLUSHING SYNCOPE and YELLOW GRADIENT combine summer colors with pristine porcelain crafts(wo)manship.

In contrast, Tora Urup’s blown glassworks FLOATING CERULEAN-BLUE and FLOATING SCARLETT glow with neon haze and atomic pull. Gravitating towards the center, they blend color and opaqueness to create an illusion worthy of complimenting a contemporary collector’s modern shelf or coffee table. Additionally, wooden benches and exposed mirrors frame a sense of groundedness in the space. Their organic, round forms and natural texture bring in a sense of warmth and underline the gallery’s effort to highlight recyclable, natural, and eco-feminist works. Laura Bergsøe’s bench INTO THE WOODS is crafted from Danish wood and looks like a fallen trunk taken immediately from the forest. Works like these highlight human relation to nature and their ties to female conversations.

If any of them are defined by their material the most, it's the work displayed as the cover of the gallery's digital catalog for TEFAF 2025. Cecilie Bendixen’s sisal rope and willow stick SISAL CRYSTAL pops off the wall. The round wall sculpture evokes platinum blonde unicorn hair. The work contains an animalistic, authentic, and mystical quality. Pulling the viewer into its wheel of braided spirals, SISAL CRYSTAL is like a hypnotic enchantment, pulling one in with its organic form and endless spiral.

Although Maria Wettergren’s showcase at TEFAF is filled with intricate creations, the gallery manages to pull off an unmatched effortlessness. Its ability to create cohesion between several artists and works demonstrates Maria’s intuitive approach to representation and collection. Whether finding artists from intense research or a fellow artist’s recommendation, Maria’s attention to encouraging underrated veteran artists and newcomers with international appeal creates a history for the galerie. Aligning herself with many female artists, Maria Wettergren Galerie takes their contributions to the form seriously, while also providing a playful atmosphere to test the boundaries of unconventional material. This corner’s attention to creating a serene mood and offering pieces that can fit into contemporary living makes the experience even more welcoming for the modern collector. One doesn’t feel like they are walking into an untouchable museum. Maria pulls down that veil and invites viewers into her artists’ worlds. If one is at TEFAF on Park Avenue this week, stop at Maria’s vibrant booth. Galerie Maria Wettergren is located in Le Marais, Paris.