Returning for its eight year, Salon Art + Design will be open at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory from November 14—18. Featuring presentations by 56 leading art and design galleries from 14 different countries, the fair offers a highly curated selection of vintage, modern, and contemporary collectible design and fine art. The only international fair of its caliber to intermingle styles, periods, and genres, Salon is the top destination for both new and seasoned collectors to experience pieces presented in environments that mirror the way we live today.
To hear more about this year’s edition, Whitewall spoke to the fair’s Executive Director, Jill Bokor.
Courtesy of Jill Bokor.
WHITEWALL: What should we expect from this year’s edition of The Salon Art + Design? Is there anything new as far as programming or setup goes?
JILL BOKOR: While the restrictions of the Armory doesn’t allow us much margin to change the structure of Salon, the fair continues to be ever more diverse in the material exhibited by our 56 top international galleries. However, the Armory’s historic rooms will be filled with vibrant, innovative design unlike any we’ve had before.
Photography by Michelle and Chris Gerard Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Chris Schanck.
Lalique returns with an installation that includes custom wallpaper from Fromental paired with the crystals for which Lalique is world renowned. We’re also honored that French design genius Mathieu Lehanneur has chosen to launch his New York presence with a site-specific installation at Salon. He will be joined by Apparatus, the elegant New York studio, which is exhibiting a new line of limited edition pieces, and Frank Pollaro, yacht designer to the stars, who is premiering a line of work at the entrance to the fair.
There are talks associated with all of these designers that should not be missed! Overall, these installations elevate Salon’s programming to an exciting new level.
Pierre Yovanovitch “Frog” chair with handle
Designed by Pierre Yovanovitch, France, 2019
Frame in solid oak, Upholstered in “Congo” fabric handwoven by Chapas Textiles
18.5″ (L) x 18.5″ (W) x 37.4″ (H)
Courtesy of R & Company.
WW: What can you tell us about the narratives or dialogue being created between art and design, as well as vintage and contemporary works, specific to this year’s fair?
JB: In past editions of Salon, trends tend to make themselves known or validated by the material on view. Interestingly, this year there isn’t a specific narrative that can be affirmatively identified . In fact, what we’re seeing more than ever is
inclusivity.
Photography by Dan Kukla Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn.
In terms of materiality, wood is being used by contemporary designers like Michael Hurwitz at Wexler Gallery and John Makepeace at Sarah Myerscough. Marble remains insanely popular and can be seen in new works at Galerie BSL and Negropontes. Bronze is frequently a connector between art and design as is glass. One of our new exhibitors, Wonderglass from London works with renowned designers such as John Pawson and Nendo to create unexpected iterations of glass in design. Similarly, The Future Perfect presents ceramic functional design by Reinaldo Sanguino.
As ever at Salon, the contemporary pays homage to what came before and there will be lots of reminders of how greatly the 20th century has influence our contemporary sensibility.
Photography by Michelle and Chris Gerard Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Chris Schanck.
WW: Are there any fair first timers we should keep an eye out for?
JB: New offerings will include Brazilian design featured in the booths of newcomers, Peter Blake Gallery of California and Legado Arte, our first South American gallery. First time exhibitor SIDE gallery of Barcelona specializes in a range of Latin American designers. New, too, and very exciting to us is the inclusion of Russian design and art, brought respectively by Moscow’s Heritage Gallery and New York’s ABA. Thus, for the first time we will present a range of Russian material from the early and mid-20th centuries. Exciting too, is our first 3-D created work designed by Audrey Large and presented by Nilufar Gallery. So it’s safe to say that we continue to widen the lens of the fair to look backward and forward.
Pia Maria Raeder Stardust Bench
2019
Four-seater bench 28,500 beechwood half pearls, silver-based metallized coating, waxed concrete
H 38.6 x L 78.7 x W 18.5 in
Hancrafted by the artist
Courtesy of Galerie BSL.
WW: Are there any solo or curated presentations we can expect this year?
JB: Our Collectors lounge has been designed specifically for Salon by Grazyna Solland of the eponymous London showroom. Grazyna, whose pieces are highly sought in Europe and the Middle East, makes her inaugural presence in New York at Salon. The lounge, a sophisticated riot of color, pattern and materials has a sensibility unlike anything else at this year’s fair!
WW: We’ve come to look forward to the jewelry exhibitors each year. Will there be a focus on jewelry again at this year’s edition?
JB: This year’s jewelry exhibition, The Protaganist, is all about sustainability in jewelry. Seventeen international jewelry designers will present work incorporating only sustainable material. Each piece has been designed especially for Salon. Excitingly, the jewelers have been chosen and the exhibition curated by Vogue Italia, so we are assured of something spectacular!
