MIAMI, FLA.- Design Miami/ concluded the eighteenth edition of its flagship fair in Miami Beach on Sunday, December 4. This year’s fair saw over 50 gallery and Curio presentations presented alongside a vibrant program of talks and collaborations, offering diverse and thoughtful responses to this year’s theme, The Golden Age: Looking to the Future.
Jen Roberts, CEO of Design Miami/, said: “This year’s edition has seen increased demand across a spectrum of collectible design works, inclusive of historic pieces from galleries such as Diletante42, Moderne and Patrick Seguin, as well as more contemporary objects from the likes of R & Company, Friedman Benda and Southern Guild. In addition, the fair welcomed notable museum curators throughout the week, illustrating continued institutional interest and overall market growth. Design Miami/ operates at the intersection of global design, fashion, art and technology, and the 18th edition has been a true expression of this convergence. Sincere thanks to all of our dealers, partners and collaborators for putting on such an immersive and engaging show."
GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
This year’s gallery program demonstrated Design Miami’s continued commitment to presenting unique and thought-provoking pieces from across the world, from rare, historical works, to unexpected, forward-thinking contemporary design.
Galleries and Curios reported strong sales throughout the week across both historical and contemporary works. An early highlight came from Southern Guild (Cape Town), which sold the centerpiece of its booth, Vutlhari (Wisdom) (2021) by Rich Mnisi, a bronze and resin chandelier based on the form of a snake, which twists sinuously down from the ceiling. Mid-way through the week, Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts (New York) reported key historic sales, including Zsolnay’s Floral Fantasy Vase (ca. 1900), an iridescent eosin-glazed ceramic vase, as well as Dagobert Peche’s Brass and Silk Hanging Fixture (ca. 1921), an ornamental silk light shade with brass overlay. Further contemporary sales came from Objective Gallery (New York), with the sale of Charlotte Kingsnorth’s G Plan Fan Club dining set and William Guillon’s Beautiful People mirror. Roberto Lugo’s The Village Potter Bodega Curio, presented by R & Company (New York) took the form of a neighborhood Bodega stocked with quintessential objects of The Village Potter brand, including small cups, subway car-styled butter dishes, and water tower coffee pour-overs, all of which made strong sales. R & Company (New York)’s gallery booth also reported a number of key sales, including a large Sergio Rodriguez wall unit and seating by Rogan Gregory.
This year’s Best Gallery award was tied between Sarah Myerscough Gallery (London) and Magen H Gallery (New York). Sarah Myerscough Gallery represents highly-skilled international artist-designer-makers, whose practices are grounded in craft-making traditions but defined by contemporary innovation and invention. Through diverse making processes, they collectively embrace the complex intersections between history and future; hand and technology; form and function. For this year’s fair, the gallery presented a curated collection of museum-quality functional design and art objects, capturing the interconnectedness of all living and natural things. The booth was a celebration of natural materials, presented through a series of objects which honored their inherent natural beauty while demonstrating the very best of contemporary craftsmanship. Highlights included Christopher Kurtz’s Skipping Stone Table (2022) - an elegant table assembled from a seemingly precarious stack of skimming stone shaped wooden discs, above which hung Angela Damman’s Chandelier (2002), an organically formed, handcrafted in fabric and fiber into an organic, bulbous form. The work is inspired by the knowledge of artisans that has been handed down through the generations, sustaining the past while interpreting established crafts into innovative contemporary design.
Sarah Myerscough (Owner, Sarah Myerscough Gallery) said: “We have been quite overwhelmed by the response to the stand, a natural room setting. I think it provided a tranquil haven of natural material and artisanal quality collectable design in a sea of color and exuberance offered by the design fair this year. We sold key pieces but mostly inspired interior designers and collectors to consider how they might bring the outside into their homes.”
Since 1997, Magen H Gallery (New York) has pioneered revolutionary and significant design in sculpture, decorative arts, architecture, and ceramics. With special emphasis given to French post-war designers, the collection progresses the artistic dialogue between these historically significant works and contemporaries who visually articulate a personal philosophy. At Design Miami/ 2022, the gallery’s award winning booth presented historical masterpieces by Pierre Chapo, Pierre Jeanneret, Philoloas Tloupas, Charlotte Perriand, and La Borne ceramics.
Tiphaine Brun, Gallery Director, Magen H Gallery said: “We are very pleased with this edition of Design Miami/. The fair was greatly attended throughout its length and a few of our major pieces sold right at the opening, and are ending up in some of the world’s best collections. We aimed to create an intimate, warm space where our historical pieces are set up in the space eclectically, just the way they would be in a collector home, and do believe we succeeded in that regard. We are very grateful to have received the Best Gallery award and hope the fair’s visitors appreciated our booth just as much.”
Another highlight of the gallery program came from Diletante42 (São Paulo), making its debut at Design Miami/. The gallery is committed to supporting Brazilian designers. Marking a highly successful debut, the gallery was awarded Best Historic Work for its José Zanine Caldas Zanine Sculptural Dining Table (1977). This unique Brazilian Modern table is probably one of the most important pieces of furniture made by the architect and designer José Zanine Caldas. Made in a single piece from a tree collected from forest residues, it remained until the year 2021 with its first and only owner until it became part of the collection of Flavio Santoro, gallery partner and Zanine collector.
Gallery FUMI (London) promotes a unique vision: a distinctive aesthetic based on a curiosity about materials, and fosters attitudes toward object-making which are gestural and playful. Combining the beautiful with the teasingly provocative and recognising the sheer power of objects to communicate ideas. At this year’s fair, the gallery was awarded Best Contemporary Work for a pair of Max Lamb chairs: Cleft Chair (Gold) and Cleft Chair (Platinum). Split from a single Sycamore log, these works are carved from wood in a technique that splits along the grain so as to reveal the texture, before being covered in a 23.5 carat gold leaf and platinum leaf.
CURIO HIGHLIGHTS
This year’s Curio program saw an eclectic range of presentations exploring the Golden Age: Looking to the Future curatorial theme. This year saw the Best Curio award tied between Stroll Garden (Los Angeles) and Tuleste Factory (New York). Tuleste Factory presented a booth exploring the color blue, abstracting history’s philosophies surrounding the emotive color into one avant-garde space. Viewers were immersed into the color’s continuum complexities, with highlights including hand woven silk rugs in a spectrum of blue hues by JT. Pfeiffer; and selections from Ian Alistair Cochran’s Plump series of sculptural resin furniture.
Celeste Greenberg and Satu Greenberg (Founders and Curators, Tuleste Factory) said: “This is our second time showing at Design Miami/ so it was such an honor to be recognized as a standout booth among so many incredible presentations. We are super proud of all of our hard working, talented designers Quincy Ellis, Ian Alistair Cochran, JT. Pfeiffer and Yonathan Moore, who trusted us to curate their gorgeous pieces together. We saw incredible demand in sales. Although we specialize in custom commissions, all of the design pieces made special for the show are editions of eight.”
Stroll Garden presented new, specially commissioned works by Los Angeles-based artist, Lily Clark. A collection of elegant, architectural fountains and ceramic bird baths exploring elemental forces of water and light were on view, alongside stones sourced from a quarry outside Palm Springs, carving a path for viewers to walk through. New minimalist woodwork by Sara Lee Hantman and Coley Brown, the creative team behind furniture studio Prísma, were on show within the presentation.
Clare Vinson (Co-Founder, Stroll Garden) said: "It's been an honor to show at Design Miami/ for the first time, alongside so many galleries that we admire. The quality and community of the fair is unmatched — it's truly an invaluable platform for showcasing the emerging designers we believe in. We found that Lily Clark's serene and refined ceramic fountains particularly resonated with collectors. We also want to express our gratitude to the vetting committee for their appreciation of our vision, which centered on organic simplicity (with a nod to mid century architecture)."
Gufram (Barolo) made its Design Miami/ debut, presenting the launch of the Shroom CACTUS ® a new edition by multi-hyphenated artist, entrepreneur, actor and fashion icon A$AP Rocky and his design studio HOMMEMADE. Acclaimed Philadelphia-based artist, activist, and educator Roberto Lugo collaborated with R & Company (New York) to transform his digital platform The Village Potter into a physical storefront. At Design Miami/, The Village Potter took the form of a neighborhood bodega stocked with quintessential objects of the brand. Each piece captured Lugo’s singular aesthetic approach and his mission to foster inclusivity and community.
DESIGN TALKS
The Design Miami/ 2022 talks program, curated by the fair’s 2022 Curatorial Director, Maria Cristina Didero, explored the intersectional nature of design. Attendance was overall very robust, with viewers joining renowned musician Erykah Badu, and Roberto Lugo for a discussion on their common pride in community. A$AP Rocky and GUFRAM’s Global Creative Orchestrator, Charley Vezza, engaged in a conversation about contemporary aesthetics and lateral thinking, diving into their unique multidisciplinary approach to design. Chief Sustainability and DEI Officer for Kohler, Laura Kohler and Studio Founder and Creative Director, Nada Debs took the stage to discuss the role of companies and creatives in encouraging a sustainable approach and lifestyle. Legendary Architect Gaetano Pesce delved into themes of uniqueness and freedom for a riveting conversation with Maria Cristina Didero.
A curated selection of talks will be made available digitally on December 8, 2022. Browse the program here: https://shop.designmiami.com/pages/talks.
NOTABLE ATTENDEES
Leonardo DiCaprio, actor; A$AP Rocky, musician; Erykah Badu, musician; Kelly Wearstler, designer; Silva Venturini Fendi, fashion designer; Martha Stewart, entrepreneur and television personality; Christian Louboutin, fashion designer; Pharrell Williams, producer and musician; Jared Leo, actor.
FUTURE FAIR DATES
Design Miami/ Basel will return to Basel, Switzerland for the 17th edition of the fair held June 13 - 18, 2023, with Preview Day on June 12, 2023. Dates for the 19th edition of Design Miami/ will be announced in early 2023.
