Take a Seat: it's Art Basel Miami Beach

One of the craziest weeks of the year is when Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami/ hit town. The crush of events starts tomorrow evening, November 30th, and doesn't let up until after the fairs close on December 6. In honor of all those buoyed collectors who ride into town on their private planes and NetJets, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite art/poem combinations in which a chair plays a prominent role. The art is Edward Hopper's "Eleven A.M.," which he painted in 1926. The poem is "Impediment" by Stephen Dunn. The two appeared in tandem in Gail Levin's book "The Poetry of Solitude: A Tribute to Edward Hopper."

Impediment
by Stephen Dunn

"The loneliness thing is overdone."
-Edward Hopper, about responses to his work.

Except for shoes
the young woman is naked,
in a chair, looking out
a fully opened window,
her face obscured
by dark brown hair.
Apartment? Hotel?
Outside, the obdurate gloom
of city buildings.

It's 11 a.m.,
Hopper's title says,
time for her to have dressed
a hundred times.
It's the shoes which hint
of her desire to dress,
and of some great impediment.

Elbows on knees. Hands clasped.
The window she's leaning toward
is curtainless.
There's no sense she cares
she might be seen, or
that she wishes to show herself.

Other ABMB-related posts this week include a romp through the knotty subject of hanging art on my Miami Interior Decorating Examiner page and a treatise on the i-Art Movement by Alejandro Vigilante on my International Design Examiner page. I'll be tweeting and posting on my Facebook fan pages throughout the week as well as guest posting for a variety of blogs. Will keep you posted! Ahhhh: how great thou art!

When Paunch Has Panache

When Eileen Gray saw Michelin Tire’s buxom inflatable mascot, called Bibendum, she decided she had to design a chair worthy of his ample rolls. It has become one of her most appreciated designs. Attributed to the work that Gray did in Paris for Suzanne Talbot's Rue de Lota project, the Bibendum chair epitomizes her lush take on modernism. Though before her death, at nearly 100, Gray was virtually unrecognized, she is now regarded as one of the most influential 20th-century designers and architects.

“When she was born, Queen Victoria was still on the throne,” writes her biographer Peter Adam in his book Eileen Gray: Architect/Designer; “and when she died…men had flown to the moon.” I believe this breadth of history can be seen in her aesthetics. Not only are some of her designs queenly in their proportions, like Bibendum; others are as sleek and space-aged as they come, like the E.1027 table, which I’ve featured this week on my International Design Examiner page.

The Bibendum is upholstery over a chrome tubular frame. The hardwood structure is stuffed with polyurethane foam and the base is chrome-plated tubular steel. It can be ordered fabric or leather.

The Revisionist Redux

Given his place in history as a revisionist, Proust would likely have heartily applauded Alessandro Mendini's creative reinterpretation of a classic Louis XV-style armchair, the final flourish of which was to stamp it with the French novelist's name. The Proust armchair has a hand-carved and hand-painted wooden frame, and is upholstered with a multicolored fabric that seamlessly matches the carved structure, which is no small feat, I might add. There are several different versions in the Cappellini line, this PR/1 a bit more geometric than other versions I've seen. The most whimsical incarnation of the armchair I've spied to date was on view during the debut of the new Cappellini flagship showroom in Miami last month. Believe it or not, its colliding shapes of fantastical colors makes it the wicked stepsister to this blatantly braggadocio version (see the bright beauty, whose name is Geometrica, in the slideshow on my Examiner page). Miami is holding its collective breath to see what the visionary behind the Cappellini brand, Giulio, will do during his Design Miami/ debut. Stay tuned, chair connoisseurs: we'll make sure you have a front row seat!

Trick? No Treat!

When is a sample sale not merely a sample sale? When it's at Ligne Roset. The incredible quality and high style of the company's furnishings reflect the family's commitment to collaborating with design visionaries and a belief that design married with investment and technical innovation is a win/win for everyone. We thought we'd honor all those jack-o-lanterns festooning public and private spaces since last weekend with Pierre Paulin's irresistible Pumpkin. The line is a first edition from the private collection of former French president Georges Pompidou in the Elysée Palace. As suggested by its name, Pumpkin has soft, organic, round shapes and firm seating. It is available as an armchair with or without a headrest, a loveseat or a sofa. An ottoman completes the collection. The sample sale runs through next week in the Miami Design District showroom at 160 NE 40th Street.

I©RAVE: innovation with a capital I

I©RAVE: innovation with a capital I

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Over the Moon

To celebrate the Zaha Hadid retrospective in Padua, Italy, I'm featuring the Pritzker Prize winner's Moon for B&B Italia. (For more on the Padua exhibition, visit my Examiner page). Moon System is an expression of the coalescence of B&B’s passion for experimentation and Zaha Hadid’s research on the complexity of curvilinear geometry. The traditional idea of seating is radically re-examined to create a new, strongly dynamic angular shape: a “single block” sofa that looks like the back, seat and armrests were “carved out of a single material.” With a metallic sheen like an object from outer space, moon system is at its theatrical best when positioned in the middle of a room. Its flowing curves appear to change from different points of view. The ottoman fits within the sofa’s unique shape, completing the scene, following and filling in the design of the piece. The continuous shape, as is with most of Hadid's creations, is a blend of aesthetics and ergonomics.

Low Rider is the one to meet

The Los Galos Chair is the first chair from Whyrhymer designer Brandon Morrison. His inspiration for the long lines of the chair came from the low-rider beach cruiser bicycles. The chair is completely handmade using the time-honored traditional joinery. The chair is constructed of a wood called Lyptus which is a very special wood that has the look of mahogany but it comes from a tree that was specifically bred to produce a hard wood that is renewable. It is grown on plantations in Central America that are specifically dedicated to growing and harvesting renewable Lyptus for use as lumber.

The leggy chair is also available in walnut, cherry, ebonized walnut, teak and maple. The seat is covered in organic linen and is also available as a sculpted wood seat. The retail price is $3,500. Each piece comes with a short documentary showing the piece being built. Whyr’hymer delivers each piece with a guarantee of quality and the furniture is signed, dated, and stamped with the company logo. For each piece of furniture that is purchased, Whyr’hymer donates 3% of the sale price to charity.

Morrison says of his commitment to sustainability: "Having grown up with my family being in the timber harvesting business I have a very literal sense of the importance of taking only what you need. What excites me the most about the environmental movement we are now experiencing is that it's becoming a way of life instead of a something that is cool to talk about. Technology allows for inefficient processes to be replaced and that is what is happening now. The easiest way for even the most complacent person to be engaged is to offer them useful items that continue their way of life with the addition of contributing to the environment. There is always the need for stewards to lead the way in any movement. I am very proud to be a part of the community of people who bring products to people to use and enjoy physically and spiritually, knowing what their purchases represent. Every piece of Whyr'hymer furniture is made from renewable, reclaimed, or FSC certified lumber. In
addition, I use low VOC tung oil or Danish oil, and carnauba wax. For a protective finish I use a water-based urethane."