Australia

 

Australian International Furniture Fair

July 20-23, 2017

Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC, Australia

For more information, visit: www.aiff.net.au

Courtesy Informa Australia

 

The largest trade only fair in the land down under, the Australian International Furniture Fair (AIFF) has been welcoming nearly 11,000 visitors from retail chains, as well as independent retailers and interior designers each year. With over 250 exhibitors on display this year, the fair is sure to showcase something for buyers of all tastes — from mid-century to contemporary and everything in between (or beyond). 

And for its fourteenth year running, the AIFF will highlight a select group of up-and-coming designers from around the continent as part of its VIVID design competition, wherein design students and professional designers who have been in business for less than five years compete in a variety of categories for “a lucrative prize pool including prize money and coveted opportunities for media exposure, industry feedback, networking with peers, connection with buyers and manufacturers and educational programs.”

New York

 

The 2017 East Hampton Antiques Show

July 22-23, 2017

Mulford Farm

10 James Ln, East Hampton, NY

For more information, visit: www.easthamptonhistory.org

Courtesy of the East Hampton Historical Society

Now entering its 11th year, the East Hampton Antiques Show has long since established itself as one of the go-to venues for antiques aficionados in an area already known the world over for its appreciation of the art and design industries. Held on the historic grounds of the Mulford farm — a 3.5 acre property featuring a restored 17th Century farmhouse and several barns that are among the oldest on Long Island — this year’s show will gather more than 50 art and antiques dealers (including Drucker Antiques, Rayon Roskar, Village Braider) for a focus on classic rattan and bamboo furniture, lighting, textiles, architectural elements, American and European country decorated furniture, Art Deco and Moderne and much more.

 

Says Honorary Chairperson, interior designer Tom Samet, “From the first time I visited East Hampton as a teenager, I knew that this was a special place. The charm of the village and surrounding area is the same today as it was then thanks to the continuing work of our local organizations and societies. I still get the chills every time I turn from Woods Lane to Main Street and see the sun reflect off the town pond with the famous swans swimming and the history of the area in view in the background.”

 

Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical

July 21-October 8, 2017

The Met Breuer, Floor 3

945 Madison Avenue, New York, NY

For more information, visit: www.metmuseum.org

Courtesy WIkimedia Commons

A pivotal figure in 20th century design, Ettore Sotsass is perhaps most recognized for his work with the Memphis Group, a design collective which he founded in 1981. Working alongside Andrea Branzi, Michele de Lucchi, and Peter Shire, the Memphis Group carved out a niche for themselves with their brightly colored, asymmetrical, post-modernist furniture, which adorned the interiors of homes across the globe throughout the 80’s.

 

But Sotsass was much more than a furniture designer with an eye for flair, having branched out to design jewellery, ceramics, glass, textiles, lighting and even office machinery over the course of his incredible career. Opening this Friday, the Met Breuer will not only highlight some of the landmark projects that helped elevate Sottsass to the title of design master, but will juxtapose his work alongside some of the ancient and contemporaneous objects that influenced him during his travels across the United States and India. Of particular note at the exhibit will be the Menhir, Ziggurat, Stupas, Hydrants, and Gas Pumps (1965-66) projects displayed at the Galleria Sperone in 1967; the iconoclastic and minimalist "Superboxes" (begun 1966); and the "Environment"—a system of modular cabinets for MoMA's 1972 exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape.

 

Florida

 

Summer Market 2017 — Second Event

July 13, 20, & 27, 2017

Design Center of the Americas

1855 Griffin Road, Dania Beach, FL

For more information, visit: www.dcota.com

Courtesy DCOTA

The follow-up to last week’s yacht-centric design showcase, the Design Center for the Americas (DCOTA) will be hosting the second event of its 2017 Summer Market under the title “Summer Series Education Day.” Keynotes and presentations include Edelman Leather for Interiors, a discussion on how leather is made and a review of the innate green qualities of leather making and Luxury Project Spotlight, an in-depth exploration of the increasing impact that technology has had on the design world and the ever-shifting needs of its clientele as a result.

 

Maine

 

Betsy Wyeth Honored at Andrew Wyeth Centennial Celebration and Gala

July 21, 2017

The Farnsworth Art Museum

16 Museum St, Rockland, ME

For more information, visit: www.farnsworthmuseum.org

Photo by Peter Ralston

Andrew Wyeth’s impact on Maine truly cannot be overstated. As a painter, the man dedicated almost the entirety of his career to depictions of everyday life and the people found within the state where his summer home dwelled (as well as that of his home state, Pennsylvania), receiving countless honors and accolades for his hyper realistic, yet oddly dreamlike works. Having recently been honored by the Fenimore Museum on what would have been his 100th birthday earlier this year, Wyeth will once again be placed center stage at The Farnsworth Art Museum for the Andrew Wyeth Centennial Celebration and Gala.


But while it will be Andrew’s paintings on display at the Farnsworth, it will actually be his wife, Betsy, who will be receiving the honor this week. A generous and passionate woman who served as Andrew’s model, inspiration, advisor, curator, editor and business manager after the two were wed in 1939, Betsy additionally made a name for herself in creating the Up East Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of a seventeen-acre property that inspired some 300 of Andrew Wyeth’s works, including his iconic 1948 painting, Christina’s World. For her lifelong commitment to maintaining Maine’s coastal communities and the impact she had on her husband’s extraordinary body of work, Betsy will be receiving the 2017 Maine in America Award at the gala this week, exactly ten years after her husband received it.