Miami, December 4, 2024. – Design Miami 2024 is now open at the fair’s flagship location in Pride Park, running until December 8. Under curatorial director Glenn Adamson’s chosen theme, Blue Sky, over 45 Gallery and Curio exhibitors present world-leading contemporary and historic highlights that demonstrate the power of a ‘blue sky thinking’ approach to design, past, present, and future.
Award Winners.
The announcement of this year’s Best in Show awards was a highlight of Preview Day. Selected by the fair’s esteemed Vetting Committee, including Simon Andrews, Lee Mindel, Al Eiber, and Grela Orihuela, the winners are as follows:
Thematic Expression Award: Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami).
The new Thematic Expression Award has been introduced to highlight the deep engagement by this year’s exhibitors with the fair’s curatorial theme, Blue Sky. Mindy Solomon Gallery presents a striking exploration of color, form, and materiality in a booth that is anchored around the cool, blue-gray, and earthy terrain of the Patagonia region. Diverse works by Jaiik Lee, Jane Yang-D’Haene, Jacqueline Surdell, Vadis Turner, Hettler.tüllmann, Jay Kvapil, and Frances Trombly, many of which were commissioned specifically for the fair, epitomise a Blue Sky thinking approach to bold, experimental design.
Best Gallery: Friedman Benda (New York/LA).
Friedman Benda’s award winning gallery exhibition is presented in two parts. One half of the booth is dedicated to Mexican architect Javier Senosiain’s debut furniture collection, which draws direct inspiration from his architectural approach, translated to vibrant, organically shaped limited-edition furniture pieces that draw rich inspiration from Mexican tilework. The second half takes on an ethereal dimension including Joris Laarman’s Nimbus (2004), a low-slung table in white vigaria marble that contemplates on the ever-shifting shapes of clouds, and Fernando Laposse’s Hair of the Dog cabinet (2023), which takes cues from fairytales in its inventive material approach and otherworldly form.
Best Curio: Blunk Space.
The award winning Curio presents a group show representative of the gallery’s mission to connect the work of living artists with that of the pioneering Northern California artist JB Blunk (1926–2002). Iconic wood and ceramic tableware and furniture by Blunk ground a dialogue with three emerging designers whose practices are similarly resourceful and intuitive: LA-based Adam Pogue, Mexico City-based Alana Burns, and London-based Rio Kobayashi.
Best Historic Work: Jose Zanine Caldas Dining Table (c.1970) at R & Company.
Marking almost two decades exhibiting at Design Miami, R & Company is awarded the Best Historic Work for a José Zanine Caldas’s dining table dated to c.1970, created from salvaged wood, offering an exquisite celebration of natural form. Ahead of his time, the self-taught artist, designer, and architect Zanine (1919-2001) was a devoted proponent of environmental protection.
Best Contemporary Work: Christopher Baker’s Light Sculptures at Dobrinka Salzman.
Christopher Baker’s uniquely original lighting sculptures take masterful inspiration from his three-decade career as a photographer and cinematographer. Deeply influenced by the lighting used in European cinema, he considers light in terms of its dimensionality: exploring the shapes and tones that it can produce.
Additional Gallery & Curio Highlights.
Among the highlights on show are a number of masterful contemporary interpretations of traditional craft traditions from around the world. The Future Perfect (New York) spotlights the New Delhi-based designer Vikram Goyal. Trained as an engineer, Goyal’s work utilizes artisanal techniques apparent in the rich legacy of Indian craft to spectacular effect. Meanwhile, Southern Guild (Cape Town/Los Angeles) returns to Design Miami with a focused presentation of contemporary ceramics by 12 artists from Africa who are shaping the discourse around the medium’s international resurgence. Collaborative, cross-disciplinary craftsmanship is also at show at Wexler Gallery (Philadelphia), presenting a collaboration between glass artist Andy Paiko and famed tattoo artist Dr. Woo. Meanwhile at R & Company, Roberto Lugo offers a full wall unit of ceramic works, including custom fireplace tiles and a series of vessels that draw references from pop-culture and graffiti art.
Historic highlights on show this year offer immersive scenography, allowing visitors to step back in time. Los Angeles-based luxury design group NUOVA’s Curio presents the U.S. debut of Time Travel, 1971 , following its successful premiere at Milan Design Week 2024. Touching each of the five senses—vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste— NUOVA’s design transports visitors into a quintessential 1971 American living room. Similarly, Magen H Gallery (New York) conjures the environment of a collector’s home, showcasing timeless pieces by names including Pierre Székely, Hervé Baley and Jean Arp, while Galerie Patrick Seguin (Paris) offers a presentation of defining works by French master Jean Royère.
Additional Programming Highlights.
Bottega Veneta presents The Ark, a lounge chair collection inspired by the Zanotta Sacco, commissioned by Matthieu Blazy.
This edition of Design Miami welcomes Bottega Veneta’s The Ark collection, commissioned by Matthieu Blazy. Inspired by the Zanotta Sacco, the limited-edition lounge chair collection draws on the original 1968 chair silhouette. Blazy’s reinterpretation of the Sacco utilizes the chair’s malleability, metamorphosing its shape into playful animal forms. The collection, which debuted at Bottega Veneta’s SS25 Milan Fashion Week show, features animals in a variety of colorways; the light gray rabbit and white chicken will be exclusively available at Design Miami.
FENDI Presents ænigma by Lewis Kemmenoe.
FENDI returns to Design Miami to present ænigma – a new collection created in collaboration with London-based designer, Lewis Kemmenoe. Inspired by an exploration of materiality, where natural materials are offset by the man-made, Kemmenoe uses his characteristic patchwork technique to present a collection of collectible furniture items including two chairs, a cabinet, two wall panels, three lamps, and a coffee table; and a reimagining of FENDI’s iconic Peekaboo Soft bag.
Design Miami presents the 2024 Curatorial Project, “Flowers Season” by Mathieu Lehanneur.
Upon entering the fair, visitors are greeted by Flower Season, a special project by Mathieu Lehanneur. The commissioned space is inspired by this year’s curatorial theme, bringing to life the concept of blue-sky thinking. Mathieu Lehanneur unveils a triptych around the notions of sky, cloud, and lightness. A cascade of handcrafted white tulips adorns the walls – a ‘flower storm’ forming a surreal vision, a motionless peaceful whirlwind of beauty.
Design Talks Theater presented by USM Modular Furniture.
Design Miami 2024 welcomes a robust talks program, curated by the fair’s 2024 Curatorial Director, Glenn Adamson. Hosted in the Design Talks Theater, the space is designed by USM Modular Furniture in collaboration with sound designer Devon Turnbull. The installation features a bespoke speaker system, inspired by the Tequila Don Julio 1942 bottle. The listening rooms offers a fusion of sound and design, integrating Turnbull’s audio systems with USM case goods, Kvadrat Acoustics’ Soft Cell panels and curations, and seating from Willett & Vestak.
Each talk welcomes a panel of boundary pushing designers, curators, and industry leaders. Highlights include Gerry McGovern, OBE (JLR Chief Creative Officer) on how automotive design is evolving in the modern luxury space; designers Nicole Nomsa Moyo, The Haas Brothers, and Mathieu Lehanneur in conversation about their major works on display at Design Miami; Paola Antonelli (MoMA), Behnaz Farahi (MIT Media Lab), Marcelo Coelho (MIT Department of Architecture), and Skylar Tibbits (MIT Department of Architecture) in discussion about the rapid advance of artificial intelligence; and Craig Robins (Dacra), Wava Carpenter (Collectible Design Specialist), Rodman Primack (AGO Projects and AGO Interiors), and Glenn Adamson will look back at some of Design Miami’s defining moments, in anticipation of the brand’s 20th anniversary next year.
Design Miami 2024 Participating Galleries:
Adrian Sassoon
Æquō Gallery
Ateliers Courbet
BOCCARA GALLERY INC
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Charles Burnand Gallery
Cristina Grajales
David Gill Gallery
Diletante
Dobrinka Salzman Gallery
Donzella Ltd
Friedman Benda
Galerie Negropontes
Galerie Patrick Seguin
Galleria Antonella Villanova
Gallery FUMI
Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert Art & Design Pty Ltd
Hostler Burrows
Ippodo Gallery New York
JCRD Design
Lebreton
Magen H Gallery
Maison Gerard
Mercado Moderno
Mindy Solomon Gallery
Moderne Gallery
Objective Gallery
Ornamentum
R & Company
Sarah Myerscough Gallery
Southern Guild
The Future Perfect
Theoreme Editions
Todd Merrill Studio
Wexler Gallery
Design Miami 2024 Curios.
1882 Ltd
Anna Karlin
Blunk Space
Elisabetta Cipriani
James de Wulf
Lamb Gallery
Meritalia
MOUVEMENTS MODERNES
Nader Gammas
Nick Thomm
NUOVA
Roham Shamekh
Tanya Singer, Errol Evans, Chris Nicholson and Trent Jansen
Victoria Yakusha
Design Miami 2024 Partners.
Alkemis Paint
B&B Italia
Bottega Veneta
Fendi
Irthi
Kohler
Lasvit
Miami Design District
Michael’s Genuine
Panerai
Perrier Jouet
Range Rover
Rossinavi
Saratoga
SCAD
Soho House
Sprout Social
Tequila Don Julio
Tuuci
USM
Visionnaire
Waterford and Wedgewood
Design Miami 2024 Special Projects
Design Miami presents the 2024 Curatorial Project, “Flowers Season” by Mathieu Lehanneur
The Shop at Design Miami presented by Basic.Space
“Strokes” presented by Alexis Cogul Lleonart
”Peludinho, a project to benefit Parque Campana, Brotas Brazil”, presented by Instituto Campana x Friedman Benda 2024
R & Company and Marianne Boesky Gallery co-present The Strawberry Tree (2023) by The Haas Brothers
”12 out of 100K” presented by il·lacions gallery & Inspired in Barcelona
Joseph Walsh & Sara Flynn: Context and Collaboration
The Spaceless Gallery
Address.
Design Miami.
Convention Ctr Dr, Miami Beach, FL 33139, United States
Public Show Days.
Wednesday, December 4. 1pm-7pm
Thursday, December 5. 11am-7pm
Friday, December 6. 11am-7pm
Saturday, December 7. 11am-7pm
Sunday, December 8. 11am-6pm
Visiting the Fair.
To learn more about the 20th edition of Design Miami, please visit www.designmiami.com.
About Design Miami
Design Miami connects the world through extraordinary collectible design, with live fairs that bring together galleries, designers, brands, experts, collectors, and enthusiasts. Each edition of Design Miami features museum-quality 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting, and objets d’art from the world’s top, expertly vetted galleries, in addition to showcasing immersive design collaborations with celebrated brands. Design Miami’s flagship fairs take place alongside Art Basel in Miami, Florida, each December, in Basel, Switzerland, each June, in Paris, France, each October in conjunction with Art Basel Paris, and in Los Angeles in Spring.
