LONDON—"Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design," at the Victoria & Albert Museum from July 14 through October 18, divides its 50 objects into three sections. The first, "Forest Glade," contains pieces referring to fantasy and nature, such as Tord Boontje’s Fig Leaf wardrobe, which is shrouded in 616 copper leaves (it appeared last year in the debut collection of Meta, a furniture company owned by the antiques dealer Mallett). "Enchanted Castle" examines status-laden design through such works as Sebastian Brajkovic’s Lathe Chair VIII, a love seat formed from two conjoined Baroque-style chairs. Finally, "Heaven and Hell" brings together pieces exploring mortality and the afterlife, including the Lovers Rug by the European firm Fredrikson Stallard, which is constructed of pools of red urethane representing the quantity of blood in two people.

"Storied Design" originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's July/August 2009 Table of Contents.