What to See at NYCxDesign 2018

A number of mesmeric installations and exhibitions are on view during NYCxDesign 2018. Here is a shortlist of what not to miss:

All-female New York-based design studio Egg Collective (designers Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis, and Hillary Petrie) launch their second edition of Designing Women during NYCxDesign week, in collaboration with the curation of Lora Appleton of kinder MODERN and the Female Design Council. Gathering an eclectic international company of accomplished female talent in design ­­– both historical to contemporary names ­­– the exhibition is a well-balanced marriage of refined and unique viewpoints composed through fine craftsmanship. From Copenhagen’s highly admired design gallery Etage Projects by Maria Foerlev, Rotterdam-based designer Sabine Marcelis presents a chandelier made of sheets of orange-tinged glass, sculpted around neon tube lights refracting reflections of its environment in an optical play of light and transparency. Other standout pieces: Tbilisi design duo Nata Janberidze and Keti Tolaraia of Rooms’ primordial terracotta sculptural works; a completely ceramic lamp shade and body in a ripe peach hue by Natalie Weinberger; and a rare 1972 “Lunario” table by Italian architect and designer Cini Boeri.

Designing Women II: Masters, Mavericks, & Mavens will be on view at the Egg Collective showroom through Friday, 1 June at 304 Hudson Street. #307, New York, NY. 
 

Burgeoning artist Chris Wolston develops an exceptionally unique primitive-meets-playfully disco aesthetic through his aluminum sandcast Body series furniture, wherein body parts harmoniously entwine in a collective formation. The series, which first appeared at Design Miami/ 2017, births its largest piece of the collection for the show, an epic party of bodies melded into one lustrous dining room table. Wolston, whose influence stemmed from the lively ancient environment around his atelier in Medellín, Colombia, also produces multicolor aluminum sculptures into a psychedelic growth of leaves, flowers, and fruits on the walls, lighting, and as wall installations. Exhibiting alongside Wolston is Charles de Lisle’s seductive collection of cascading lighting in a plush salon-esque setup.

Chris Wolston and Charles de Lisle’s work will be on view at The Future Perfect during NYCxDesign week from 18–­21 & 25 May and then through 18 June at 55 Great Jones St, New York, NY.
 

^{Trilogy Pendant by Articolo. Photography by Sharyn Cairns, Art Direction
by Marsha Golemac, Courtesy of Articolo.}

After a flourishing debut at the ICFF furniture fair in New York last year, Australian design studio Articolo returns with three new brilliant lighting structures in elegant pendants and a matching sconce. Through a delicate architecture of three mouth-blown glass orbs and balletic brass rods, the Trilogy Pendant suspends itself in a moment of complete composure basking in its warm glow.

Articolo’s collection will be on view at the ICFF New York fair from 20­–23 May at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Stand No. 1363. 

VISO PROJECT ­­– a design studio founded by David Vivirido and Francesco Sourigues of cult menswear periodical Hercules Universal and Barcelona concept store The Issue Ten ­­– join designer Giancarlo Valle in a highly covetable furniture capsule collaboration as part of a program provided by Sight Unseen OFFSITE during NYCxDesign week. Valle’s superlative signature armchairs and room screen are adorned in a beautifully woven German jacquard color blocked tapestry, which was designed by VISO PROJECT exclusively for this collaboration with Valle. Accompanying the installation is a selection of sustainable design objects by VISO: geometric porcelain vases, bold patterned mohair and tapestry blankets, cushions and rugs.

Giancarlo x VISO collection will be on view through 20 May at 62 White Street, New York, NY.
 

Sprouting across multiple sites, six larger-than-life inflatable flowers receive along Sixth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan. This installation, designed by PLAYLAB, INC, renders a new relationship with floral beauty in a metropolis, specifically in Midtown and its towering buildings – an area that is traditionally associated with the grown-up, suit-and-tie crowd, and adorned by rather small flowerbeds. By magnifying its natural size by the millions, viewers inevitably face the iconic nature of its beauty firsthand and adjust to its new habitation: flowers submit to human gestures such as lounging, floating, sitting, and bending down. Be sure to visit these floral celebrities at night, as their interiors will glow, reminding you of their inescapable allure.

Grown Up Flowers will be on view through July 2018 along Sixth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan, New York, NY.

ACT III by Apparatus

Creative Director Gabriel Hendifar of New York design atelier Apparatus presents ACT III, a sleek home collection evocative of the designer’s own emotive influences of an Iranian family history. The basis for the collection begins with a decorative marquetry-style jewelry box that once belonged to his Persian grandmother, and which has been an influential driving force for the designer. Hendifar did not experience first hand the Middle Eastern culture and aesthetic, but eventually was inspired by the family heirloom to explore this direction through his designs. Notable pieces include a rhythmical dining room table in the form of a Persian Tombak drum, alabaster and fluted brass lighting ascribing to treasured Berber jewelry, and marble joined-leather tables nostalgic of ornamental Middle Eastern tea tray tables.

ACT III by Apparatus will by on view from 21–­23 May at 124 West 30th Street, 4th floor, New York, NY.
 

New York furniture and interiors connoisseur Michael Bargo, who famously opened up his own home last year for shopping its carefully culled contents, will be exhibiting new handcrafted sculptural works from designers Aaron Aujla and Benjamin Bloomstein of Green River Project LLC at his eponymous showroom in Chinatown. Reinterpreting the small living spaces that are commonplace in New York City, the designers create functional, distinctive and stylish pieces to satisfy all the living needs of one person. Bamboo and velvet chairs, varnished oak end tables, and an adjustable wardrobe unit – an homage to Le Corbusier’s modular Cabanon and an overnight train car for the nomadic-minded dweller. Recognized for his unprecedented taste for the uniquely interesting 20th and 21st century to contemporary gems, Bargo also collaborates with young up-and-coming menswear designer Emily Bode in this multifarious exhibition of talents. Bode sets of scene of domestic bohemia by reimagining a 1930s Gio Ponti-designed fabric into a handmade shirt and combines antique coverlets and African indigo fabrics onto the exhibiting designer’s stools and cushions.

This exhibition will be on view by appointment at Galerie Michael Bargo at 75 East Broadway, 2nd floor, New York, NY.

Ahnna Lee is a New York-based editor and writer.