Magnetic Midnight Maison exhibition by Lucía Echavarría, presented by Lamb Gallery at Design Miami 2024 – Courtesy of Lamb Gallery.
Design. Blue Sky thinking, the power of imagination beyond constraints, was the main theme of Design Miami 2024. A positive mindset that, according to Curatorial Director Glenn Adamson, felt natural for the fair’s 20th edition. “The Blue Sky theme presented an opportunity to celebrate Design Miami’s role as a platform for the 21st-century avant-garde. Design is inherently a speculative venture, and also a collective one – a shared framework of reference at a time of global interconnection. The same sky is above us all.”
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Design Miami 2024 featured a stellar lineup of 45 international galleries and site-specific exhibitions. The fair returned to the so-called Magic City following a significant year that kicked off with the first Los Angeles edition in May, a successful Basel fair in June and a return to Paris in October. Check out what we liked the most!
Sarah Myerscough Gallery at DM2024 – Photo by James Harris.
At the fair’s entrance, French designer Mathieu Lehanneur welcomed visitors with the Flower Season exhibition, bringing the concept of blue-sky thinking to life. Exploring the qualities of the sky, cloud, and light, the installation featured a wall covered in hand-crafted ceramic tulips, a cloud-like blown glass chandelier, and a wooden cabinet revealing a radiant vista.
Mathieu Lehanneur’s exhibition – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
Miami-based Mindy Solomon Gallery emphasises diasporic voices engaged with art and design. It showcased pieces that evoked the cool, blue-grey, and earthy landscapes of Patagonia, Argentina. Inchin Lee infused traditional pottery practices with a modern twist. Jaqueline Surdell’s tapestry, crafted from cotton cord, nylon, printed fabric, and steel meat hooks, resembled “a living gate, an abyss, open before the moon.”
Mindy Solomon at DM2024 – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
Tuning with the Blue Sky overarching theme, Carpenters Workshop Gallery celebrated the imaginative leaps that propel design forward with an exhibition featuring pieces by Vincenzo de Cotiis, Ingrid Donat, Studio DRIFT, and more. The Windy Chair, by London-based artist Yinka Shonibare, created the illusion of the dynamic movement of a piece of fabric caught in a gust of wind, symbolising the fluidity and adaptability of human experience in an increasingly interconnected world.
Windy Chair by Yinka Shonibare at Carpenters Workshop’s DM2024 showcase – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
Lamb Gallery presented the Magnetic Midnight Maison Curio exhibition by by Lucía Echavarría. The showcase highlighted the artisanal practices and rich heritage of Colombian techniques, from sofas and cabinets to lamps and backgammon boards. The collection was inspired by Miami’s coastal palette and Art Deco design and architecture, blending traditional Colombian artistry and craft with a current Miami flair.
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Friedman Benda unveiled Mexican architect Javier Senosiain’s debut furniture collection. The vernacular craft of Mexican tilework inspired the organic-shaped pieces. In conversation with Senosiain’s work, Mexico City-based duo SANGREE presented two stone and ceramic feline sculptures recalling pre-Columbian artefacts and pop culture. The gallery’s showcase also featured a minimalistic floor lamp by Formafantasma and an otherworldly cabinet by Fernando Laposse, which took cues from fairytales.
Friedman Benda at DM2024 – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
Sarah Myerscough Gallery delved into the forms and dimensions of the bedroom space and how this nocturnal sanctuary is intricately connected to the human body’s needs. Christopher Kurtz and Dana Barnes’s swing chair, Between Us: Tête-à-Tête, brought poise and balance to the design of our imagined interior space. Marc Fish’s Ethereal Bed transcended function to become a sculptural statement, evoking a sense of calm.
Sarah Myerscough at DM2024 – Photo by James Harris.
Victoria Yakusha‘s Grun collection draws inspiration from the expansive forests, lush moss, and mysterious swamps of Ukraine’s Polissia region. This series “goes beyond mere functionality, aiming to inspire emotional resonance and a genuine bond with nature.” Each piece featureed distinct geometry, with dark green upholstery reflecting mossy hills and beaded accents that evoked the image of morning dew.
Grun’ by Victoria Yakush at Design Miami 2024 – Photo via IG, follow @victoriayakusha.
Ceramics are among Africa’s most enduring and relevant forms of material culture. From here, Southern Guild Gallery, based in both Cape Town and Los Angeles, showcased works from thirteen prominent African ceramic artists. These artists skillfully combine ancestral traditions and techniques with modern design, reflecting themes of domestic life, history, and society.
Southern Guild at DM2024 – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
A lively array of aquatic hues and metallics constituted the palette of David Gill Gallery’s exhibit for Design Miami. Featured pieces encompassed the Aura and Air mirrors by Barnaby Barford, along with the rugged Species II armchair by Fredrickson Stallard. The sculptural armchair was forged with a raw intensity that contradicts notions of comfort or human interaction, yet its materials render it remarkably inviting.
David Gill at DM2024 – Photo by Kris Tamburello.
Visionnaire dressed a number of its signature design pieces in bespoke fabrics created by Draga & Aurel. Interwoven with a blend of different yarns, the fabrics replicated Aurel’s distinctive painting technique, characterised by strong, vigorous brushstrokes that create new and unexpected descriptive elements.
Narrazioni Intrecciate by Draga & Aurel for Visionnaire at DM2024 – Photo by Dmitry Dolzhanskiy.
- All photos of Design Miami 2024 are courtesy of the fair or the galleries.
