Whitehot Magazine
"The Best Art In The World"
By IDA IVANKA HAMILTON, December 2022
If you are drawn to simplicity and futurism and you enjoy looking for inspiration and impulses for home interiors, don't ever miss Design Miami, opposite the street of the Art Basel Miami Fair, where new design settings are born.
Three booth especially caught my attention during Design Miami December 1-4, 2022.
1. Carpenters Workshop Gallery
I can't wait to express how simultaneously futuristic and natural the entrance to the Carpenters Workshop Gallery Booth at Design Miami felt. Drift Studio’s "Fragile Future" chandelier hung beautifully in the deep brown warmth. The chandelier is combo of light free dandelion seeds and heavy bronze, as if the duo from Drift Studio, Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, "reserved" the material of dandelion seeds for themselves as a signature. Simple, innovative, deconstructive and interactive, the chandelier hung over a group of Niko Koronis green and black-colored resin sokus (the way Niko named them), which I like to think of as cube seats or tables.
The setting was surreal and futuristic, making visitors feel as if they were visiting another planet or a new era.
2. Magen H Gallery
On an Élitis wall covering of anthracite squares and white light, the Magen H Gallery nobly introduced mid-century objects like "Single Railing"(ceramic table lamp) and "Sconce"(concrete wall lamp) by Natasha Dakhli. Bordering on the intersection between design and sculpture, these light objects thrived on the presence of enhanced femininity and simple elegance. Symbiosis was organic in any element of this booth’s interior. Appealing to the senses in their purest raw form, it vibrated through the warm honey color of the wooden furniture, the anthracite charcoal wall, and the "cold" white structure offset by the warmth of Natasha's lights.
As they like to say, Élitis is "giving ancient gestures a new language"; their work is mysterious and timeless, yet organic and transformative.
The Magen H Gallery draws parallels between mid-century and contemporary in a very unique manner.
3. Todd Merill Studio
Todd Merill's Studio tastefully presented an exciting combo of Stefan Rurak's Patchwork Brass Settee & Chairs, Architectural Fireplace Surround, and LED Chandelier by John Procario. Creative tension was created through the natural cozy feeling of yellow velvet moss and cold teal (blue-green) steel imitating patinated brass. The whole scenario had elements of previous eras underlined by the presence of a fully functional fireplace formed from steel with splashes and stains, which is known as abstract expressionism in modern parlance.
As a free form of permanent "lighting," we enjoyed this in addition to Procario's noble chandelier: like a gesture or a large scribble painting on top of the 3D interior setting. The love for woodwork was shown in the explicit craftsmanship, which the eye treasures because it accepts it as an easy and free "sketch" but which probably required long hours of work and dedication.
The outcome is a relaxing setting, where mind and soul reconnect, and we feel uplifted! WM
Ida Ivanka Hamilton has travelled the world for art. For more than a decade she commuted between Europe and the USA for the most extraordinary art events. She was a member of the Arts Club in Dover Street in London. Ida has written articles for If Then Is Now and reviewed New York art fairs for TEFAF and Salon Art + Design, and for FAD Magazine reviewing the Art Basel Fair.
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