Since launching its annual fair six years ago, NYC-based Collective Design has sought to define its identity and to mark its place in the territory of design fairs. Tonight, it has succeeded in this task. Collective, which has moved its calendar from the Design Month of May to the Armory Show week, has also moved to a new home, at the second floor of the Skylight Clarkson North, an expansive space of industrial look and enormous windows overlooking Downtown. The identity? Emerging design, next generation of cutting-edge designers, the experimental, and the 70s, have all found the ultimate platform at Collective, exhibiting furniture, textiles, ceramics, and glass, integrated with interiors and art presentations, in a fresh space, a new and successful way of exhibiting. The selection is a symphony of contemporary design, of the taste of today in the most dynamic way, not only for the contemporary, but also for the 70s, which has a substantial representation here. Loved seeing Peter Blake Gallery, Mindy Solomon, Nina Johnson, Chahan Gallery, and Johanna Grawunder, the Milan-based designer, who presents a solo show of her lighting sculptures, all newcomers who have added a new flavor to the event. Yes, this is the direction, and I hope CollectiveDesign will further develop it in the years to come. Particularly notable are the installation in ceramics by Peter Lane and the Eye Table by Azadeh Shlodovsky, a marble, Braille-cut with a poem written by the artist. Above: Jean-Pierre Laporte, ‘Esox’ Chair, c. 1970-1974, presented by Peter Blake Gallery.
Sandra Davolio, Coral Flower, J. Lohmann Gallery
Vessel by Jay Kvapil for Mindy Solomon
Chairs by Azadeh Shladovsky
Roberto Lugo, Hip Hop Bowl III, Wexler Gallery
Installation in ceramics by Peter Lane
Johanna Grawunder: Object Permanence
Rattan ‘B’ Lounge chair, presented by Jamie Bush + Co.
Azadeh Shladovsky, Eye Table