“Conversation Piece: Design is Dead” at 109 Thompson Street
A motley group of design-loving Venetians are heading to Manhattan for “Conversation Piece: Design is Dead.” Tiny San Marco gallery Giorgio Mastinu, for example, is presenting works of the Italian modernist artist and furniture designer Enzo Mari alongside glass pieces by Marie-Rose Kahane from Yali and textiles by Chiarastella Cattana, whose jacquards are made in the Dolomites. Joining this powerful Italian line-up are large-scale lamps crafted from molded plastic in the forms of sea shells, a collaboration between the Los Angeles- and Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero and New York furniture studio Green River Project. November 8–16; 109 Thompson Street
“Form and Process” by ATRA__
ATRA, the multi-disciplinary and industrial design studio led by Swedish-Mexican creative director Alexander Diaz Andersson, opened two galleries this year in Mexico City and San Francisco. Now ATRA is taking over a Chelsea gallery with its first New York solo show, “Form and Process.” An exhibition featuring artwork and bespoke, classic-contemporary furniture and textile pieces by Alexander and Andreas Diaz Andersson—not to mention Ann Edholm, Bogus Studio, Jose Vera Matos, and Jose Balmaceda—it explores the dialogue between materiality and experimentation. November 13–January 2020; 191 7th Avenue
“Takeami: Antique Japanese Woven Baskets” at Les Ateliers Courbet
Bamboo weavers must exercise tremendous patience. Before embarking on a laborious five-to-seven-year training focused solely on bamboo cutting techniques, the student is required to observe weaving masters at work for an additional three to five years. Intricately woven bamboo baskets first became household showstoppers during Japan’s 17th-century Edo period, tucked into sacred alcoves and brimming with flowers. For Takeami, an ode to these stunning baskets at the New York gallery and showroom Les Ateliers Courbet, Japanese antiques expert Dane Owen has amassed a collection, some dating from the 19th century, that shine a light on this revered age-old craft. November 15–January 6, 2020; ateliercourbet.com
“Tapisseries” at Twenty First Gallery
Alexandra Mocanu’s mother is a textile artist, and her father designs furniture. So naturally, she grew up surrounded by a focus on creation. While French artist at first worked as a photographer, she’s more recently migrated towards painting and tapestries. Often, Mocanu starts by making abstract gouache works that she then translates to the loom. For “Tapisseries,” Renaud Vuaillat, founder of the Twenty First Gallery in NYC’s Tribeca, curated a series of Mocanu’s gouaches and weavings, revealing a relationship between two disparate art forms, as well as how carefree brushstrokes can spawn works of mechanical prowess. November 21–January 2020; 21stgallery.com
One of Alexandra Mocanu’s Twenty First Gallery works.
Photo: Courtesy of Twenty First Gallery