Design Miami returns for it's seventh year, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach, with an always-impressive range of galleries and designer showcases. The growing exhibition will showcase many of it's long-time participating galleries as well as several new additions. Fendi and Swarovski return in partnership with the design fair, and David Adjaye is this years Designer of the Year. It's always a pleasure to see what is on view at Design Miami, but here are some highlights to keep your eye out for.
Galerie Downtown - Francois Laffanour of Paris, returns to Design Miami with a stunning array of twentieth century pieces by architectural designers lie Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Serge Mouille. The booth itself was ensconced in a teak shelter reminiscent of the designers within the gallery. Some especially impressive pieces were a dining table and chairs (Table Demontable, 1942) by Jean Prouve, a curved red and transparent acrylic chair (Oh Void 2, 2004) and concrete stereo and record player (Concrete Stereo, 1983), both by Ron Arad.
Another returning gallery, Demisch Damant of New York set up a gorgeously plush atmosphere to showcase a retrospective of Pierre Paulin's work. A master of the twentieth century, Paulin's work embodies the fluidity of 1960's and 70's furniture design. Demisch Damant displays many important and rare chairs by Paulin in their Design Miami booth.
Galerie Maria Wettergren of Paris showcases at the fair for the first time this year with an impressive array of ultra-contemporary furnishings and decor. Most impressive was Ikat (2011) by Asrid Krogh, an optic fiber, paper yarn and light monitor wall installation of cascading color and light. On the back wall of the booth, it brought life and illumination to the rest of the gallery's pieces.
Ornamentum from Hudson was one of the galleries showcasing jewelry and small objects. Displayed in blackened steel and glass cases were many strange and covetable objects, like necklaces of acrylic chain by Jantje Fleischhut, spoons-turned-vessels by David Clarke and Dutch Designer of the 2011 Ten Noten's plexiglass suspension purse and necklaces.
Industry Gallery, one of the Design Miami's On/Site program participants, created several melted plastic chairs specifically for this showcase in Miami. The works, by Tom Price, are made from such materials as plastics, woven rugs, and polypropolene tubes melted down and shaped into chair-like forms. Each piece is different and reminds viewers (and loungers) that any material can be used and reused in good design.
