New York’s contribution to the seemingly endless calendar of annual collectible design fairs, Salon Art+Design has carved out a niche for itself by masterfully bringing together vintage, modern, and contemporary design under one roof. Whereas certain blue-chip platforms purely focus on the new or the old, this now well-established event makes the critical link between the past and present, helping connoisseurs, collectors, and general design enthusiasts draw important parallels, especially when it comes to making shrewd decisions about what to acquire. Held in the storied Park Avenue Armory from November 11th to the 15th, this year’s Salon Art+Design promises to be as roboust as ever, surmounting the complex challenges of the past two years.
Strategically located on one of the most affluent stretches in the world and close to 50 percent of the global collector base, Salon Art+Design goes straight to the source. Some international galleries opt for this event rather than other American fairs to reach this audience directly. Also drawing in many of these individual and interest parties—interior designers looking to outfit sumptuous properties throughout the city for example—is also a dynamic program of museum-quality talks and lectures. Adding to this particularly sophisticated offering is the encouragement by the fair’s organizers for exhibitors to create immersive environments in their booths that best reflect domestic life today. The world has drastically changed in the past two years and galleries have taken stock of these shifts to inform how they present their wares. Implementing the historic building’s entrance rooms as part of the overall exhibition help break up the standard format.
“We couldn’t be happier that we are able to hold a live event this year, particularly on the occasion of this momentous anniversary, and just as art and culture returns to New York City,” said Salon Art + Design director Jill Bokor. “We anticipate a new, reinvigorated audience of design collectors and enthusiasts who have become more interested in the aesthetics and function of the home this past year. We hope to serve as the gateway to these aspiring collectors to experience the world’s best design and art.”
Joining returning exhibitors like Friedman Benda, R + Company, Maison Gerard, Chastel Marechal, and Vallois are newcomers like Galerie SCENE OUVERTE, Les Ateliers Courbet, Lebreton Gallery, and Dobrinka Salzman Gallery. A staple of the New York scene with its championing of the best European craftsmanship, Les Ateliers Courbet will be presenting new works by Belgian talent Pieter Maes. Produced with Dutch master woodcrafter Rutger Graas, esteemed French upholsterer Jouffre, and the stone artisans of Il Granito, the designer’s Palindrome Chair, Axis Bench, and Fold Sofa are contemporary interpretations of timeless archetypes. His fluid forms distill organicism in surprising ways. “This collection embodies the ethos of Editions Courbet through its timeless forms, its collaborative development, and the fabrication processes,” said Les Ateliers Courbet founder Melanie Courbet “I was initially drawn to the designs for their soft, Japanese wabi-sabi feel and modern Belgian inclination.”
Other exhibiting galleries include Twenty First Gallery, Culture Object, Todd Merrill Studio, Magen H Gallery, Hostler Burrows, and Donzella; Philadelphia’s Moderne Gallery and Wesler Gallery; and a few European platforms—such as Galerie Thomas Fritsch – Artrium—who just arrived in the United States after the ban on foreign travel was lifted on November 8th.
“Salon Art + Design fair has for many years successfully brought together the worlds of fine art, contemporary and historical design,” said co-founder of New York mainstay R + Company Evan Snyderman. “This November, the Salon Fair also will play the very significant role of being the first international design fair to welcome its patrons back for in-person visits. In celebration of this welcome return, R & Company has put together a booth designed to celebrate the joys of collecting. Focusing on new works by some of our favorite designers including Jeff Zimmerman, Nancy Lorenz, Hun Chung Lee, Rogan Gregory, Sebastian Errazuriz, and Zanine de Zanine. All of these artists share one common thread which is the use of a single tool…the oldest tool… the hand.”
Joining this diverse roster is a series of special projects mounted by the likes of Studio Greytak, Didier LTD, and Trove. Brazilian jewelry designer Silvia Furmanovich is presenting a large scale installation in homage to the Amazon rainforest, within the Park Avenue Armory’s library.
Throughout the 10th edition of Salon Art + Design, visitors can engage with rare masterpieces from every major 20th and 21st century movement, if not also decorative arts pieces from earlier decades and centuries. Contemporary works on view range from the expressive and sculpture to the paired back and monumental, from the playfully and self-referential to the poignant and analytical, and from the traditional and contained to the unconventional and experimental. Topping it all off is a carefully curated pop-up bookshop mounted by the Dia Art Foundation.
“This year’s Salon marks a special moment. We are all returning to a life where we can share artworks in the flesh and our artists are eager for their creations to be shared with a wider community,” concluded Friedman Benda founder Marc Benda. “For ten years, Salon founder Jill Bokor and her team have built a unique platform, enabling us to exhibit the visions of our artists and the gallery in a wonderful context.”
Header image: Sculptural Low Table by Casey McCafferty, shown by Wexler Gallery (Courtesy Wexler Gallery)