Design Miami: Leather, Steel, Sofas, and Dreams

Courtesy R 20th Century Design

Poul Kjaerholm, "PK Aluminum Tripod Chairs" (1953)

Art Basel Miami Beach 2007

On-the-ground reports from Art Basel Miami Beach and the satellite fairs.

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ABMB 2007 will be bigger than ever.
A report on everyone's favorite winter playground from Art+Auction.

Miami Satellite Fairs
Art+Auction charts the action, from Collins Avenue to Wynwood and beyond.

When in Miami…
Culture+Travel recommends where to stay, what to see, where to play, what to eat.

Gerhard Richter Antony Gormley Philip Kelvin Laverne Oscar Niemeyer Tokujin Yoshioka Kelvin Laverne Philip Laverne The Weeks That Were (April 25 – May 9, 2008)

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The theme of design incorporating fantasy continued at the fair with brand-new, arachnid-inspired chairs by Wendell Castle, appropriately called Black Widows, at Friedman Benda for $35,000. David Gill Gallery’s most popular piece was for sitting, too—a Fredrikson Stallard sofa, available in pink, white, black, or dark green and called the Pyrenees Couch. The flocked-foam piece, with its mountainous arched back and cratered surface, was true to its name, and a smart buy at $20,000.

The imaginative capacity of contemporary design was even more extreme in the special exhibition of Tokujin Yoshioka, who is the fair’s 2007 artist of the year. His glass-and-paper pieces sat nestled in an embankment of intertwined plastic straws, producing a surreal effect that subjected his already dreamy designs (boasting titles like Chairs that disappear in the rain) to utopia overkill.

Collectors wanting to come back down to earth could look to Cristina Grajales, who offered a bronze-and-glass table with colorful enamel inlays for $30,000. The table was made by Philip and Kelvin Laverne, a father-and-son team favored by Jackie O, who commissioned many works from them for the Kennedys' yacht. Another sumptuous coffee table, this one by Paul Lázló, was on sale at Donzella 20th Century for $38,000.

But the meat of the fair was at R 20th Century Design. The gallery claimed three booths, which it used to showcase work by Dane Poul Kjaerholm and two Brazilians, Oscar Niemeyer and Joaquim Tenreiro. Niemeyer, who is better known for his architectural feats, is still devising remarkable furniture that bears the same generous curvatures as his buildings, including the Rio Chaise Lounge, which was on offer for $28,000. Tenreiro’s iconic three-legged chair, created from five different kinds of wood bonded seamlessly together, could be had for $350,000.

Kjaerholm’s sleek aluminum tripod chairs ($12,000 to $15,000, depending on the color), and his sophisticated leather-and-steel armchairs ($25,000), were just a taste of what will be available at R 20th Century and Sean Kelly in February, when the two New York galleries will host a joint exhibition of the designer’s work. At each, Kjaerholm’s pieces will be shown alongside work by contemporary artists like Antony Gormley and Gerhard Richter. The same month, Michael Sheridan’s Poul Kjaerholm will hit bookstores and become the first catalogue raisonne devoted to a postwar designer.

Katherine Jentleson is the editorial assistant at Art+Auction.