Art World
5 Incredible Booths at Design Miami/Basel 2016
There was even a bed of “grass” for visitors.
There was even a bed of “grass” for visitors.
Christie Chu ShareShare This Article
The 11th edition of Design Miami/Basel saw large-scale installations on the building’s ground floor, including a bed of “grass” visitors were able to sink their feet into, a meditative space, and a 1956 Jean Prouvé mobile school house. Upstairs, design galleries brought their best furniture and objects d’art.
Here are the five must-see booths:
1. Dansk Møbelkunst
Copenhagen and Paris-based gallery Danske Mobelkunst specializes in mid-century Danish furniture. You’ll be able to find the likes of Hans Jørgensen Wegner, Finn Juhl, and Poul Kjærholm in abundance at the gallery’s stunning booth.
Especially strong are the few pieces by Kjærholm, who was initially trained as a cabinet maker and then went on to study design. His impeccable training is especially present in his steel chairs. In the corner of the gallery’s booth, for example, there is a small folding stool with a dovetail joint where two metal parts meet without screws or hinges. The sleek technique is usually reserved for wood furniture, and looks stunning in steel.
2. Demisch Danant
New York-based gallery Demisch Danant shows a special presentation of French designer Pierre Paulin, who has a retrospective currently at Paris’s Pompidou Museum. Here, an arrestingly clear dark quartz-tinted geometric shelving unit sits atop a Wenge wood platform.
Director Lisa Wilson-Wirth told artnet News there is only one of this shelf in circulation at the moment, as the original piece was commissioned by former president Georges Pompidou to be housed in his private residence. (The original, which is larger in scale, is now owned by the Mobilier National.)
3. Louisa Guinness Gallery
London dealer Louisa Guinness created a fictional “museum” of artist’s jewelry in one of the most imaginative booths at Design Miami/Basel this year. Behind glass cases are stunning jewelry pieces by prolific artists such as Man Ray, Lucio Fontana, and Anish Kapoor. Adjacent to the museum’s “permanent collection” is the imagined curator’s archival room that has drawers of more bejewelled curios.
Every last detail is meticulously put together, from the cup of scissors and pens to paper-filled file cabinets, but the booth doesn’t feel the least bit contrived, which gives the space a certain air of magical intimacy.
4. Jousse Entreprise
Beautiful ceramic pieces by André Borderie are a must-see at Paris-based gallery Jousse Entreprise. Small ceramics in geometric and organic shapes clutter the booth’s electric blue corner.
Also a painter, tapestry-maker, and sculptor by trade, it is Borderie’s ceramics that made dealer Phillip Jousse fall in love with the artist’s works. Borderie’s contemporaries include Jean Prouvé, Serge Mouille, and Mathieu Mategot, but as the dealer told artnet News, Borderie was more of an outsider, a “sauvage,” who took risks.
5. Zaha Hadid Design
No one can deny the late Zaha Hadid had a style that was completely her own. A proponent of neo-futurism in architecture, the venerable designer created incredible pieces of furniture and oversaw many well-known projects worldwide during her lifetime.
At this year’s Design Miami/Basel, Hadid’s team brought several furniture pieces. Particularly eye-catching is the shelving unit, which is comprised of four tiers stacked on top of each other, all molded to dip inwards to form V-like nested shapes.