All about CONNECTION: the exhibition in our flagship store for Madrid Design Festival 2025

“CONNECTION: The invisible thread that runs through the sensations of the Mediterranean lifestyle”

It is the title of the exhibition we have created for our flagship store as part of Madrid Design Festival 2025. A project curated by Marta Valea, from the Caotics art gallery, which seeks to connect different forms of expression in the same space through a poetic dialogue between design, art and craftsmanship, tracing an invisible thread not only between disciplines but also around the sensations and emotions of Mediterranean culture and its conception of outdoor spaces.

Inspired by the central theme of Madrid Design Festival 2025, the CONNECTION project emerges as an exploration of the “invisible thread,” drawing inspiration from the concept of the Red Thread: that thread of red wool that conceptually connects everything we are and everything around us. This symbolic thread unites diverse forms of expression within a single space, with the aim of conveying to the viewer emotions deeply linked to moments of enjoyment in the Mediterranean: its colors, its culture, and its unique atmosphere.

CONNECTION introduces two new features at our Madrid flagship store. On the one hand, our new Onda collection of handcrafted tapestries and rugs, designed by Charlotte Lancelot for GAN. On the other, a selection of pieces by 19 artists, artisans, and designers from the Caotics gallery, curated between its director, the art consultant Marta Valea, and our creative and communications director, Alejandra Gandía-Blasco Lloret.

“Marta Valea has an interdisciplinary and open-minded approach to contemporary art. We appreciate how she creates those connections between artists, artisans, and contemporary design. It’s a way of working that we feel a strong affinity for”, explains Alejandra Gandía-Blasco Lloret. “For this project, Marta Valea first made a selection of the artists, artisans, and designers she works with. From there, we studied how they did or did not engage in dialogue with each other, in which spaces, and with which firms, based on their essence and values.”

As an online gallery, Caotics is given the opportunity through CONNECTION to showcase both its new website and the work of 19 of its designers, artists, and artisans in a physical space: Aparentment, Fran Aniorte, Sergio Bassi, Saskia Bostelmann, Carrillo Estudio, Daniel Charquero, Regina Dejiménez, Raquel Eidem, Alejandra Gandía-Blasco, Marcos Juncal, Mara Matey, Isabel Moltó, Plaart, Ángel Peris, Toni Porto, Iván Prieto, Cova Ríos, Patricia Varea Milán and Covadonga Villamil.

Both Charlotte Lancelot’s new Onda collection for GAN and the selection of pieces from Caotics are distinguished by their predominantly artistic conception, and in each space of our flagship store they establish a different dialogue with the novelties of the group’s three brands. In some cases, the furniture becomes a work of art, creating scenes in which the visitor can situate themselves and emotionally connect with the essence of each firm. In these atmospheres, the pieces from Caotics complete the visual narrative, inviting us to discover the creative identity and contemporary Mediterranean culture from a new and enriching perspective.

Onda: A design by Charlotte Lancelot for GAN

Our new Onda collection of tapestries and rugs serves as the starting point for CONNECTION, as these are pieces conceived from a completely artistic perspective. In GAN we have previously explored this conception with other proposals and designers. On this occasion, Charlotte Lancelot has reinterpreted the traditional technique of needle painting using thick strands of felt on large canvases, that is, on tapestries and rugs, which represent the undulations of the waves and the earth in an abstract and dynamic way. Using the embroidery technique, the pieces are handcrafted on a base designed by herself. These are elements that, in addition, provide acoustic and thermal properties to a space

In CONNECTION, Charlotte Lancelot’s tapestries welcome visitors in the access area of the flagship store, which, with their fall and their waves, immediately transport the public to the Mediterranean Sea. In other interior spaces, the Onda tapestries and rugs engage in dialogue with other designs of the group, as well as with the works of Caotics, with the 5m long piece that we have placed in the GAN space being of particular relevance.

The Mediterranean Connection

Just as our textile creations by Charlotte Lancelot can bring a more artistic, sensory, and immersive atmosphere to a space, the pieces by the 19 artists, artisans, and designers from the Caotics gallery follow the same thread. They establish connections in the realm of sensations and emotions, giving each space in our flagship store an artistic perspective and enhancing its Mediterranean character. Each piece connects with each of our brands in a unique way, reflecting their individual essence.

“The selection of pieces from Caotics navigates in the same conceptual line as Gandía Blasco Group, that is, in the mix of tradition and innovation through contemporary craftsmanship and “border objects”, both between art and high craftsmanship and between design and art. With this criterion, and seeking this connection, we have made a selection of works that approach the materials from a very poetic and material place,” explains Marta Valea. “The idea was to connect not only with the Mediterranean universe of Gandía Blasco Group through craftsmanship, traditions, materials and textures, but also at the level of the sensations linked to its brands, such as nature, contemplation and calm.”.

A Journey Through the Spaces

Thus, in the access area of our flagship store, Charlotte Lancelot’s Onda tapestry is accompanied by an installation of six hanging lamps by designer and set designer Mara Matey, finished in leather by a master saddler; also, a group of totems in a Mediterranean indigo blue reminiscent of ancient vessels, created exclusively for us by artist Isabel Moltó.

In the entrance, but in the area that acts as a distributor towards the interior rooms, artist Ángel Peris has created a light installation from his own drawings. One of his ceramic pieces is also displayed in one of the shop windows. Three wooden sculptures by Toni Porto, a set of plates and vases by artist Fran Aniorte, and a selection of marble decorative objects by Aparentment complete the Mediterranean scene.

The abstract-style photographs of our creative and communications director, Alejandra Gandía-Blasco Lloret, are present both in this space and in the adjoining connecting hallway, either in their original medium, printed on scarves, or transferred to oval glass pieces, where the light and colors of Mediterranean sunsets and sunrises are perfectly represented. This transit area also incorporates more tapestries by Charlotte Lancelot, becoming a sensory gallery for sight and touch.

In our space dedicated to the GANDIABLASCO collections, Charlotte Lancelot’s tapestries share the canvas with a 4m long work that textile artist Regina Dejiménez has created exclusively for CONNECTION, which symbolizes the dunes of the beaches. They are accompanied by two other works, a sculpture and a lamp, made with her surprising textile technique. The scenography is completed by two large-format works by Toni Porto, three vases by Sergio Bassi, a painting by artist Cova Ríos, a ceramic lamp by Carrillo Estudio, and our Iris tables by Alejandra Gandía-Blasco Lloret based on her photographs.

The space dedicated to GAN‘s collections has been completely renovated to house Charlotte Lancelot’s large tapestry of almost 5 meters from the Onda collection, as well as three pieces by artist and archaeologist Patricia Varea Milán. In its shop windows on Ortega y Gasset Street, an intervention by Cova Ríos of Gandía Blasco Group’s La Siesta botijo and a floral installation by Covadonga Villamil.

Our space dedicated to Diabla‘s collections is that of the most carefree works, with the structural and organic sculptures of Marcos Juncal, the surreal and imaginative characters of Iván Prieto and the porcelains with turned shapes by Raquel Eidem, which reinforce the concept of Diabla furniture as an object of desire. Paintings by Cova Ríos and Daniel Charquero complete the scenography. In its shop windows, again another intervention by Cova Ríos, this time on vases, and another floral installation by Covadonga Villamil.

The Diabla area also includes the collaboration with artist and jeweler Saskia Bostelmann, who has created a line of contemporary jewelry of bracelets and brooches from our color samples, which will become part of Caotics.

Discover the details of all the pieces that are part of CONNECTION in this dossier.