Design Miami/ Basel Announces Gallery Highlights
- Over 50 exhibitor presentations, including over 20 fresh faces
- Friedman Benda presents two exhibitions including new works by Misha Kahn
- Historic highlights spotlight the best of 20th century design, including rare and iconic pieces at Morentz Gallery (Waalwijk) and Galerie Matthieu Richard (Paris)
- Podium exhibition curated within ‘The Golden Age’ thematic by Curatorial Director Maria Cristina Didero
- Contemporary highlights explore design for people and the planet, including a timely Curio by FAINA (Antwerp)
Basel, 27 April 2022/ Design Miami/ Basel is pleased to share preview highlights from the 34 gallery presentations and 18 Curios set to be showcased at the sixteenth edition of the fair, running 14-19 June at Basel’s Messeplatz. Presenting an exciting array of works, from rare historical objects to unseen contemporary creations, the presentations respond to this year’s curatorial theme, The Golden Age, in diverse and thought-provoking ways.
Grela Orihuela, VP of Fairs says: “We are delighted to return to Basel this year with a particularly exciting lineup of galleries, curios, special projects and partners. Through the breadth and depth of their presentations, we look forward to prompting timely discussion around this year’s theme, ‘The Golden Age’, as selected by our new Curatorial Director, Maria Cristina Didero. We are especially pleased to welcome over 20 fresh faces across the Gallery, Curio, and Podium programs, reflecting Design Miami/’s position as a global design destination for creative exchange.”
Embracing the fair’s hybrid format, all works on the showfloor will be available for purchase at designmiami.com from 14 June, alongside an engaging digital program including 3D tours, design talks and spotlights on Design Miami’s Forum Magazine.
GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
Within the diverse set of presentations planned for this year’s fair, a number of key thematic threads emerge:
ROOTED IN THE PAST/
The overarching theme for Design Miami/ 2022 is The Golden Age, a concept shared across cultures through time and space, whether applied to utopian futures or idealized histories. For the upcoming Basel fair, the theme gives emphasis to the past. In particular, a wealth of historical objects will celebrate iconic 20th century design.
For its inaugural presentation at Design Miami/ Basel, Morentz Gallery (Waalwijk) responds to the desire from contemporary collectors to buy great pieces with good provenance - offering them a ‘piece of history’. Rather than focusing on one specific historic framework, the gallery will bring its masterpieces together in a newly devised context, offering a concise overview of 20th century international design, juxtaposing works by European, American and Brazilian masters to create a unique interior emulating a 21st century collector’s home, echoing the profound influence of the last century on contemporary collections. The eclectic showcase of design will include masterpieces from the 1930s-1970s, highlighting pieces by Paavo Tynell, Hans J. Wegner, Gruppo NP2, Jose Zanine Caldas, Axel Einar Hjorth, Paul Evans, Kaare Klint, Osvaldo Borsani, Pierre Chapo, Phillip Lloyd Powell, and more. A central place in the exhibition will be reserved for a few extraordinary pieces of great rarity, kept aside especially for the fair, including an exceptional fireplace and a unique and custom-made library, both by Studio B.B.P.R; a unique wall panel by Gruppo NP2; and a sculptural wall unit by Joaquim Tenreiro.
Committed to representing the work of Mathieu Matégot (1910-2001), Galerie Matthieu Richard (Paris) will present an extremely rare armchair, AM56, which was originally presented at the Salon des Arts Ménagers in 1956 and was also part of the prestigious Daniel Lebard collection. Set on four tubular feet, the metal structure is covered in perforated metal; the arms of the chair stretch out to create large armrests. The stiffness of the main line is balanced with the soft and generous curve of the back of the armchair. An iconic piece from this free-thinking decorator, this armchair reveals the whole singularity of Mathieu Matégot’s body of work, bringing together modernity, innovation, careful proportions, and timeless design.
Galerie Eric Philippe (Paris) specializes in European and North American design from 1920 to 1980. For the Basel fair, the gallery’s focus will be American modernism and Finnish design. Pieces on show will include a set by American interior designer and architect Paul László upholstered with an original fabric by textile artist Maria Kipp, as well as several rare Finnish pieces including benches by Antti Nurmesniemi and lighting by Paavo Tynell.
CONTEMPORARY HIGHLIGHTS/
As always, the fair will present cutting-edge contemporary design alongside historical works. Friedman Benda (NYC) returns to Basel with two presentations: a setting inspired by Lewis Caroll’s Through The Looking Glass, as well as Misha Kahn’s first solo show at Design Miami/ Basel. Kahn will display new works from his best-known series—Saturday Morning, Scrappy, Rock, Claymation—alongside recently-established methodologies, such as VR. Anchoring Kahn’s presentation is a large-scale mohair rug, titled A Few Loose Ends. This dual-sided work belongs to a series of unique tapestries and carpets designed by Kahn and handwoven by Stephens Tapestry of Johannesburg and Eswatini. A metaphysical inquiry, the rug sees age-old techniques invigorated with the provocations of technology. Other highlights presented by Kahn include The Scavenger, a cabinet composed entirely of once-loved objects, as well as two works from a new series, Crater Mirror and Billionaire Space Race (a coffee table), which embody the bombastic nature of cosmic tourism. Exceedingly diverse in materials and processes, the seemingly disparate threads of Kahn’s practice will intertwine conceptually through his presentation to demonstrate his capabilities as a creative force seeking to articulate, and perhaps even upend, contemporary material culture. Speaking about his upcoming Basel presentation, Misha Kahn says: “Obviously Basel is the pinnacle, so getting to have a booth there feels like validation that my little creations have arrived. For me, it’s an opportunity at the best platform to propose a shift for objects - one that exchanges rigidity for a looser, more exploratory and emotionally complex material landscape.”
Meanwhile, Friedman Benda’s Through The Looking Glass will showcase the dynamism of new voices, punctuated by keystone works from influential, established figures, offering an installation that is at once fantastical yet urgent. Echoing the mirror realm in Alice’s Wonderland, powerful geometries from the older generation contrast with the spirited execution of the younger to compose a dense, dream-like tableau. The presentation is anchored by design pioneer Andrea Branzi’s imposing Tree 1B, placed in dialogue with Adam Silverman’s gestural ceramics. Tree 1B, a micro-architectural environment formed from planes of darkly patinated aluminum suspended upon Birch trunks, coalesces with Silverman’s raw material language to form a powerful interloping of visceral natural and industrial materials. Another highlight is Fernando Laposse. For his first international presentation with the gallery, he will unveil an animated new sofa and armchair executed in one of the designer’s signature materials, Agave fiber – a medium rooted in a deeper context of bio-activism and whole system thinking. Navigating the conflation of gesture and functionality, Faye Toogood presents Maquette 270 / Wire and Card Chair from her Assemblage 6. Making its European debut at the fair, Assemblage 6 saw Toogood set out to ’unlearn’ design, enlisting readily accessible materials to render small-scale maquettes through a process akin to stream of consciousness writing.
FAINA Gallery (Antwerp) offers a timely contemporary highlight of the Curio programme, with a presentation titled Stepping on Ukrainian soil. FAINA was founded in 2014 by Ukrainian-born designer Victoria Yakusha, whose mission is to retell her homeland’s cultural heritage and artisanal craftsmanship through the language of modern design. At the center of the Curio she will present a handwoven, 2.5 meter tapestry, titled Zemlia (Ukrainian for “earth”). The tapestry has a layered texture reminiscent of rich, Ukrainian, black-colored soil, and will be presented alongside a series of primitive furniture in the shape of fictitious animals that emerge in the form of modern benches and stools, each sculpted by hand. Hanging from the tapestry are long, umbilical-like strands which fall to the ground, representative of the primal connection of every Ukrainian to their soil. In this work, the earth is interpreted as a source of life, a source of strength, and as a base of collective memory — all intertwined in a giant, wool-woven design. Victoria Yakusha explains: “Wherever I am, I feel pulled towards Ukrainian soil, I feel a need for physical contact with it … when you have this connection to your earth, when you feel your roots in her, there’s nothing more powerful. Our soil gives us strength, our soil reveals our own essence.” The technique employed to create Zemlia is in itself a piece of history. The art of an ancient Ukrainian craft — "lizhnykarstvo”, now on the brink of extinction, is passed down from mother to daughter in the Carpathians, a mountainous region of western Ukraine. Every stitch is the DNA of generations, a witness to the mystery of the land, its history and spirit.
Further contemporary highlights will be offered by Galerie SCENE OUVERTE (Paris). The artists and makers presented will demonstrate the power of contemporary creativity in reimagining how historic and natural materials can be transformed into beautiful new objects. Rather than reworking ancient techniques, the materials themselves become the source of inspiration. In a celebration of natural materials, Hervé Langlais has worked with a huge piece of Breccia Pernice marble, searching for a very specific pattern in the vein of the marble to create the Arches 3 console table. The piece borrows from the disciplines of sculpture and architecture. An experimental and process-based approach leads Rino Claessens to create unconventional objects that draw on the rich history of ceramics but reimagine the medium for the 21st century, exploring its tactile qualities and diverse possibilities. The booth will show his Modular Console, from his system of Modular Ceramics, a process that allows object making that is not inhibited by the size of the ceramic kiln. Four ceramic modules (a cross, a T-shape, a corner and a straight module) are all separately fired in the kiln, and afterwards connected by bolts from the inside. In this way it is possible to take the modules apart and reconstruct them into new objects.
193 Gallery (Paris) is a highlight of the Curio programme. The gallery will present works by Hassan Hajjaj and Jean Servais Somian, who reimagine tradition and redefine African design on their own terms. Hajjaj captures the energy of everyday Morocco through works that incorporate repurposed cans found on the shelves of Marrakech’s souks. Meanwhile, Jean Servais Somain works with coconut trees, iroko and amazacoué wood, converting these natural materials into wonderfully inventive, collectible contemporary creations.
DESIGNING FOR GOOD: PEOPLE AND THE PLANET/
The Golden Age envisions a world at peace, viewing advancements in the arts and technology as the key to a more sustainable future, in which we coexist in harmony, not only with one another but also with the natural world. The Basel fair takes an optimistic approach to discovering the expression of this imaginative power via incredible historic and contemporary objects.
Particle (Singapore) will present a Curio that explores how humans continue to pollute the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe – in spite of the countless political agreements, worldwide initiatives and good intentions to the contrary. Design duo Lanzavecchia + Wai cite research from a WWF campaign from 2019, which claims that on average people could be ingesting around 5 grams of plastic every week. Their response is a visual storytelling of this dilemma, titled Veleni. The design duo has selected a series of pollutants that contaminate the water cycle and encapsulated them inside a set of glass table objects. The effect is a still-life that reminds us of our problematic relationship with the poisons we produce. The polluting substances are beautiful – reminding us that poisons can be as fascinating as they are harmful, as intriguing as they are dangerous, as attractive as they are repellent – but are always lethal. Lanzavecchia + Wai hope that if we know, and if we see, we can no longer remain passive. The concept is offered to the public through an empty booth, a white canvas from which these objects and their message emerge loudly. The booth offers a digital interaction with the objects through projections or AR filters.
WKND Lab (Seoul) undertakes projects underpinned by sustainability. For its Curio at Design Miami/ Basel it will present furniture created using traditional Korean materials and crafts to uncover how they might be more sustainable than those used in contemporary design practices. Highlights include the Hanji side table and stool. Hanji is the name of traditional handmade paper from Korea. Its process uses the dochim method of pounding finished sheets in order to compact fibers. WKND Lab’s side table and stool was produced using the dochim method, and is crafted with Hanji and discarded paper fibers obtained from a paper company. A coffee table takes inspiration from Jagae (lacquerware), which is considered as “old generation furniture” in Korea. WKND Lab’s Jagae coffee table aims to change misconceptions and make the craft approachable to younger generations. The piece uses Ottchil for its finishing, which is made from a wood resin that is biodegradable and eco-friendly.
Moving away from contemporary design, Paul Bourdet Fine Furniture (Paris) looks forward to showing works by Philippe Starck that reflect how 20th century design attempted to bring nature inside our homes. The pieces are inspired by the forest, and can be referred to collectively as L'esprit de la Forêt. The collection includes a three-piece collection composed of a console, bench and table that incorporates a raw birch trunk. The project was a collaboration between Philippe Starck, Les 3 Suisses, and ONF (the French Office national des forêts).
MATERIAL FOCUS: EXQUISITE CRAFT/
Design Miami/ has always been a home to exquisite craftsmanship. This year’s Basel fair will illuminate the ingenious ways that designers across time and cultures have worked with materials to create timeless works that blur the boundaries between art, craft and utility.
Dansk Møbelkunst (Denmark) specializes in rare, original works of Danish furniture that were created between 1920 and 1970, when a circle of craftsmen, architects and designers erased the distinction between works of art and functional objects used in everyday life. In Basel, the gallery will present a major series of six unique tapestries, designed by Barbro Nilsson in 1966 for the new headquarters of Sydsvenska Kraft AB, one of Sweden’s largest hydropower companies. Nilsson chose a mythological theme from Swedish folk art: the river horse known as Bäckahästen. The tapestries were designed as a linked series with the Bäckahäst as a recurring motif and symbol of natural forces, vigorously galloping through the whole series. Nilsson designed six of the seven tapestries to be hung in a particular order to tell the story of water-produced energy. From left to right the tapestries are titled and represent Solen (the sun), Åar (rivers), Forsar (waterfalls), Ångan (steam), Atomkraftverk (nuclear power) and Linjenätet (the electric grid). This series is considered to be Nilsson’s principal work and one of the finest handcrafted accomplishments of mid-20th century Nordic design.The tapestries were demanding to weave and required patiently executed work;Nilsson combined different techniques, pushing the boundaries of what was possible in tapestry weaving. A tag on the back of each tapestry says where it was woven and by whom, recognizing the indispensable role of the craftswomen who created them.
Thomsen Gallery (NYC) will present a magnificent overview of Japanese bamboo baskets made by the greatest bamboo artists of the modern and contemporary periods. The baskets will be complimented by Japanese porcelain and bronze vases; Japanese gold lacquer boxes; and Japanese folding screens. As production becomes increasingly automated, the objects are a reminder to preserve endangered crafts around the world. New face Galerie Negropontes (Paris) looks forward to presenting a selection of one-off and limited edition 21st century decorative arts pieces that not only master a variety of traditions, but also design for the future. Among the booth’s many highlights, Gianluca Pacchioni will display his latest creations, demonstrating his skilled innovation working with liquid metal and patina techniques, revealing the contrast between raw materials. Meanwhile, work by Erwan Boulloud explores form and function, demonstrating the ever-evolving narrative of the decorative arts: his pieces are always functional, their mechanisms often visible, as a reminder of the roots of their creation. This is evident in a console he will present, Atacama, consisting of an organic figure top supported by machined, almost mechanical legs.
JEWELRY/
This year, the Basel fair is pleased to expand its jewelry offering. At Galerie Negropontes (Paris), Jean-Christophe Malaval will be showing extraordinary sculpted rings that come to life on the hand. BABS Art Gallery (Milan) works with selected contemporary artists and sculptors to create small “wearable sculptures'': unique or limited edition pieces of jewelry made exclusively for the gallery by highly skilled goldsmiths. At Basel, BABS Art Gallery will attempt to dissolve the boundaries between art, design and jewelry. The booth will exhibit pieces designed by some of the greatest artists of last century, such as Man Ray, Giò and Arnaldo Pomodoro, Pietro Consagra, Claude Lalanne, Igor Mitoraj and many more, along with the the pieces created by BABS in collaboration with contemporary artists, highlighting the commonality between the historic and contemporary creations. Pieces commissioned specifically for Design Miami/Basel have been created in collaboration with artist Alessandro Busci and photographer Davide Bramante.
Marie Piselli (Paris) will present a Curio installation titled Let Light Be that explores destruction as the premise of creative acts; the first necessary step towards total freedom of expression. The installation is inspired by two key objects: the shield and the chisel. These objects have inspired large-scale sculptures, as well as Talisman, an exceptional jewelry collection of unique and limited-edition pieces, made of porcelain and precious metals. The raw yet poetic jewelry pieces were created in a secret Paris workshop. Their forms are a response to the challenges currently facing mankind, in the face of war, the ongoing refugee crisis, and the imminent ecological catastrophe. Chisels are tools used to break things down; here they are symbolic of the desire to break down society’s encysted codes. Meanwhile, shields symbolize rejection. Marie Piselli imagines them to reject the metaphorical arrows that men are shooting at the planet to destroy it and destroy themselves. These symbolic jewelry pieces are designed to be at once delicate and solid, ultimately conveying hope in human nature.
FRESH FACES/
This year, Design Miami/ is delighted to diversify its program, welcoming fresh faces to Basel. The gallery program will welcome five new names: BABS Art Gallery (Milan), Galerie Negropontes (Paris), Guelfucci Gallery (Berlin), Morentz Gallery (Waalwijk) and MOUVEMENTS MODERNES (Paris). The fair will also present 16 new Curios: 193 Gallery (Paris), co/rizom (Vienna), Garrido Gallery (Madrid), Eclecticó Studio (Bucharest), FAINA (Antwerp), Galerie MICA X LAB (St. Gregoire), Ivan Baj (Bolzano), Marie Piselli (Paris), Particle (Singapore), Rademakers Gallery (Amsterdam), Sèvres (Paris), Stefano Trapini SRLS (Paris), we+, Tokyo, WKND Lab (Seoul), Yasmine Mahmoudieh (London) and with a special NFT project space, the fair welcomes Venus Over Manhattan (New York). The new names are a welcome addition and demonstrates the fair’s continued commitment to providing a platform for extraordinary collectible design from around the world.
Design Miami/ Basel 2022 Galleries/
BABS Art Gallery, Milan
Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London/Paris/NYC
Caterina Tognon, Venice
Dansk Møbelkunst, Copenhagen
DIMORE GALLERY, Milan
Friedman Benda, NYC
Galleria Rossella Colombari, Milan
Galleria Antonella Villanova, Foiano Della Chiana
Galerie Chastel-Maréchal, Paris
Galerie DOWNTOWN - François Laffanour, Paris
Galerie Eric Philippe, Paris
Galleri Feldt, Copenhagen
Galerie Jacques Lacoste, Paris
Galerie kreo, Paris
Galerie Matthieu Richard, Paris
Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Paris
Galerie Mitterrand, Paris
Galerie Negropontes, Paris
Galerie Pascal Cuisinier, Paris
Galerie Patrick Seguin, Paris
Galerie Philippe Gravier, Paris
Galerie SCENE OUVERTE, Paris
Gokelaere & Robinson, Knokke/Paris/Brussels
Guelfucci Gallery, Berlin
Hostler Burrows, NYC
Jousse Entreprise, Paris
Lebreton, Paris
Maria Wettergren, Paris
Morentz Gallery, Waalwijk
MOUVEMENTS MODERNES, Paris
Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels
Thomas Fritsch-ARTRIUM, Paris
Thomsen Gallery, NYC
Todd Merrill Studio, NYC
Design Miami/ Basel 2022 Curios/
193 Gallery, Paris
20C Gallery, Shanghai
Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London/ NYC/ Paris
co/rizom, Vienna
Eclecticó Studio, Bucharest
FAINA Gallery, Antwerp
Galerie MICA X LAB, St. Gregoire
Garrido Gallery, Madrid
Ivan Baj, Bolzano
Marie Piselli, Paris
Particle, Singapore
Paul Bourdet Fine Furniture, Paris
Rademakers Gallery, Amsterdam
Sèvres, Paris
Stefano Trapani SRLS, Paris
we+,Tokyo
WKND Lab, Seoul
Yasmine Mahmoudieh, London
Design Miami/ Basel 2022 Podium/ Exhibitors
Galerie Eric Philippe, Paris
Friedman Benda, NYC
Galleri Feldt, Copenhagen
Galerie SCENE OUVERTE, Paris
Galleria Antonella Villanova, Foiano Della Chiana
Galerie Chastel-Maréchal, Paris
Lebreton, Paris
Maria Wettergren, Paris
Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Paris
Galerie Pascal Cuisinier, Paris
Galleria Rossella Colombari, Milan
Thomas Fritsch-ARTRIUM, Paris
Morentz Gallery, NYC
Gokelaere & Robinson, Belgium
Galerie MICA X LAB, St. Gregoire
we+,Tokyo
Marie Piselli, Paris
co/rizom, Vienna
Ivan Baj, Bolzano
Garrido Gallery, Madrid
Schedule of Events/
Preview Day/ By Invitation Only
Monday, June 13/
Collector’s Preview/ 12-6 PM
VIP Preview/ 6-8 PM
Public Show Days/
Tuesday, June 14/ 11 AM - 8 PM
Wednesday, June 15/ 11 AM - 8 PM
Thursday, June 16/ 11 AM - 7 PM
Friday, June 17/ 11 AM - 7 PM
Saturday, June 18/ 11 AM - 7 PM
Sunday, June 19/ 11 AM - 7 PM
Visiting the Fair/
Tickets for the fair will be available for purchase in early May. Sign-up here and be the first to know when tickets are on sale.
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