The Month Ahead: The Salon: Art + Design Returns to New York, Latin American Design at MAD, and The Haas Brothers at R & Company
November
This is the third of the Month Ahead series where we round up noteworthy shows, news, and other happenings in the design and architecture communities.
OPENING / CLOSING
Across the U.S.:
New York
“Irving Harper: A Mid-Century Mind At Play,” on view at the Rye Arts Center, under an hour outside the city. Closing January 24th due to popular demand! Read a beautiful remembrance by Michael Maharam here.
Swiss Institute’s “Annual Design Series: Inaugural Edition, Fin de Siècle,” a curatorial homage to Eugène Ionesco’s 1952 absurdist play “The Chairs,” closes November 23rd.
Across the street, at The Drawing Center, “Xanti Schawinsky: Head Drawings and Faces of War” assembles an in-depth look at Bauhaus artist Alexander ‘Xanti’ Schawinsky’s body of work; on view until December 14th.
On November 4th, the Museum of Arts and Design will debut an extensive survey of contemporary Latin American design with “New Territories.” The exhibition explores the intersections of contemporary design and traditional arts and crafts.
Around the corner from Artsy HQ, R & Company has a one-two punch. First, “The Haas Brothers: Cool World” opens on November 4th—the first solo show for twin brothers Nikolai and Simon Haas. A few weeks later, “The Objects Biennial” opens, featuring a wide variety of R’s wonderful objects, including Renate Müller. Each is on view until January 10th.
Around the other corner is Patrick Parrish, where a solo show entitled “Heavy Vessel,” featuring large-scale pottery “origami,” by up-and-comer Cody Hoyt, opens November 6th.
Demisch Danant’s upcoming show “Paris Match: Henri Samuel and the Artists He Commissioned, 1968-1977” explores “the legendary decorator and international tastemaker’s unique engagement with French fine artists through the furniture and functional objects he commissioned in the 1970s from such figures as César, Francois Arnal, Philippe Hiquily, Guy de Rougemont, and Diego Giacometti.”
The third in MoMA’s series of “Issues in Contemporary Architecture” addresses the projected rapid increase in global populations and the associated blights of the poor. “Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities” opens on November 22nd, featuring case studies for New York, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, Lagos, Hong Kong, and Istanbul.
The Salon: Art + Design opens at the Park Avenue Armory on Thursday, November 13th. Stay tuned for Artsy’s fair preview, which goes live on November 5th.
Philadelphia
“Vitra: Design, Architecture, Communication: A European Project with American Roots” opens on November 22nd at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Perelman Building. “This exhibition tells Vitra’s story—its American roots, product collaborations, architectural commissions, communication methods, and approach to both designers and consumers—through an immersive presentation of furniture and design objects, models and material studies, drawings, aerial photographs of its campus, and videos.”
Further Afield:
Venice
Last chance to see Rem Koolhaas’ Venice Architecture Biennale, “14th International Architecture Exhibition – Fundamentals.” It’s open until November 23rd.
Istanbul
The highly anticipated 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial, curated by Chicago Art Institute Curator Zoë Ryan, opens on November 1st at the Galata Greek Primary School.
Mexico City
An in-depth look at the work of American graphic designer Lance Wyman opened in mid-October at MUAC in Mexico City and runs through February 22nd.
Amsterdam
On November 1st, the Philips Wing of the Rijksmuseum opens after extensive renovation by Spanish architecture firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. As explained by Dezeen: “Built in and around extensions added between the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century, the Philips Wing brings together new and historic elements to create a contemporary exhibition space for the Dutch art museum.” The first show is “Modern Times: Photography in the 20th Century.”
GOOD READS
A new title is out from Rizzoli, Georg Jensen: Reflections, with text by Murray Moss, preface by David Chu, foreword by Marc Newson, and photographs by Thomas Loof. In mid-November, the latest title from contemporary design curator Ellen Lupton, Beautiful Users: Designing for People, accompanies one of the exhibitions that will open at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum on December 12th. Travis Boyer’s “Casas, Ranchos and Haciendas: The Architecture of Francisco Artigas,” the latest from Maharam Stories, investigates the sumptuous world of the Mexican modernist. Images invite a full dive into a world filled with a mix of classic and iconic furniture (Saarinen, Mies, and Bertoia), and plush, vibrant textiles.
Installation shot from “Annual Design Series: Inaugural Edition, Fin de Siècle,” courtesy of Swiss Institute.
