"Château Carreaux"

Château Carreaux marked the 2024 holiday pop-up, presented at Mensch Gallery. The exhibition was conceived as an imagined encounter between the elegance of a French château and the untamed atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands—a poetic dialogue where refinement met rugged romanticism. Through layered textures, rich colours, and carefully orchestrated contrasts, the space unfolded as a warm and immersive winter world, suspended somewhere between aristocratic grandeur and nostalgic fantasy.

The scenography embraced a deeply tactile approach. Walls were enveloped in velvets and tartan curtains, creating a sense of intimacy and softness throughout the gallery, while the upper level was abundantly adorned with expansive pine branches that introduced a raw, almost forest-like presence into the setting. The scent, texture, and density of the greenery transformed the gallery into an atmospheric seasonal landscape, blurring the line between interior and imagined wilderness.

Within this setting, a curated selection of vintage pieces and more classical antiques was brought together and reinterpreted through the unmistakable Maison de la Folie lens—where colour, exuberant pattern play, and a certain theatrical charm naturally coexist. Rather than presenting objects in isolation, the exhibition sought to compose layered domestic scenes that invited visitors to wander, discover, and momentarily lose themselves within the environment.

As every year, a generous selection of handblown glass Christmas ornaments took centre stage within the composition. Delicate and whimsical in character, these festive treasures added an additional layer of wonder and nostalgia to the overall presentation. Their shimmering presence contrasted beautifully with the heavier tartans, velvets, and antique textures surrounding them.

Specially created for the occasion, the holiday candle wrapped in tartan fabric became an emblematic gesture of the exhibition—both decorative and deeply atmospheric. The presentation was further enriched by a refined selection of objects, artworks, lighting, ceramics, and jewellery, all carefully assembled into a richly layered winter tableau that celebrated craftsmanship, warmth, and storytelling.

The holiday pop-up unfolded throughout December 2024 at Mensch Gallery, inviting visitors into a world shaped by texture, memory, imagination, and seasonal enchantment.

"Château Carreaux" the making off: