MIAMI, FL.- The global forum for design returns with the best of the new, the cream of the classics and some of the most exciting ideas in the field. In December 2013, nearly three-dozen galleries from around the world will gather in Miami Beach to present modern and contemporary collectible design.
From a delicate earring to a full-scale pre-fabricated house, in materials ranging from stone to gold to technological refuse and the intensely personal, the world’s leading design galleries are readying their most exciting exhibitions for the ninth edition of
Design Miami/. This annual highlight of the collector’s calendar will once again bring together museum-quality masterpieces of the 20th century, important contemporary works and groundbreaking commissions from emerging talents under one (impeccably designed) roof.
The program of exhibitons presented by carefully selected galleries from Europe, the United States and Asia will be enriched by a dynamic series of design talks, site-specific installations and satellite events.
“We have consistently expanded our program over recent years,” says Marianne Goebl, Director of Design Miami/. “This December, visitors to the fair will discover the widest range of historic positions to date as well as new work, which will debut in Miami.”
Key design references from the 20th century include a full-scale house by Jean Prouvé from 1944, which will be exhibited, for the first time in public, by Galerie Patrick Seguin. Galerie Downtown is showing a resonant collection of works by Charlotte Perriand inspired by her friendship with the Borot family, and her relationship with their house in Montmartre which she reconfigured and furnished for their changing needs over many years. Didier Ltd will pay homage to the game changing 1973 Jewelry as Sculpture as Jewelry exhibition from the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston, including several unique pieces on display from the original show.
In the contemporary program, women in design are strongly represented this year, with Demisch Danant focusing on Maria Pergay, whose production of spare, organically inspired work in metal spans the last half century. Carpenters Workshop Gallery will bring new works by Johanna Grawunder, a designer redefining the use and presence of lighting in the interior. New works by Hella Jongerius will be presented by Galerie kreo, showcasing both her particular sensibility for color and her melding of craftsmanship with modern technique. A joyous curiosity, the work of pioneering German toy maker Renate Müller continues to delight; R 20th Century will use the fair as a platform to preview her latest works.
An international selection of galleries will present focused solo shows as part of the Design On/Site program. ArtFactum Gallery, Beirut, brings Marc Baroud & Marc Dibeh’s sculptural meditations on metal frame furniture. Caroline Van Hoek, Brussels, is presenting new jewelry works by Gijs Bakker, co-founder of the Dutch design enterprise Droog. Conceptual jewelry will take center stage at Elisabetta Cipriani with highly-colored pieces by kinetic and op-artist artist Carlos Cruz-Diez shown in a custom designed booth. Wonderglass, London, will be stringing up a sublime, oneiric, contemporary glass chandelier by multidisciplinary designer Nao Tamura. The alchemy of off beat materials is at the heart of Jonathan Muecke’s collection for Volume Gallery, which includes works in coal slag and epoxy, carbon fiber and silicone.
This year the Design Commission for the entrance pavilion has been presented to formlessfinder, a conceptual ‘formless’ architectural practice founded by Garrett Ricciardi and Julian Rose, which invites its audience to re-learn its relationship to
architecture and the constructed space.
