Marc Newson exposed by BBC

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 | By Gina Lovett

Australian product designer Marc Newson will tonight be the subject of BBC One’s Imagine series, to coincide with the opening of his solo exhibition today at London’s Gagosian Gallery.

The Qantas Airways creative director, who created the iconic Lockheed Lounge chair in 1986, will talk to Alan Yentob about his inspirations, thought processes and designs, from coat hangers, dish drainers and vibrators to sub-orbital jets.

The programme will explore Newson’s creative processes, from an Aston Martin panel-beating workshop outside Milton Keynes, to marble quarries of Carrara in Italy.

Recalling the moment he created the Lockheed Lounge – the most expensive piece of furniture by a living designer ever to sell at auction – Newson will say, ‘It felt like a monumental moment’.

With just 13 examples in existence, the piece, which sold for an estimated £2.4m last year at Christie’s, is one of the most sought-after by collectors today.

The exhibition will present a selection of new limited-edition pieces by Newson at the Gagosian Gallery, 17–19 Davies Street, London W1.

This follows Newson’s first US solo exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery, New York.

Mark Newson: Urban Spaceman will show tonight on BBC One at 10.35pm.