Must-Sees at the 10th Edition of Design Miami
The 10th edition of Design Miami, which opened Tuesday, is something of a victory lap, and it started off with a relaxed, upbeat feeling. Thirty-five galleries gathered in a tent just behind the Miami Beach Convention Center, home to Art Basel in Miami Beach, and the dealers and organizers celebrated making it this far, this fast over glasses of champagne.
When the fair started in 2005, it wasn’t clear whether the market for high-end design could sustain such an event. At an opening panel discussion, co-founder Craig Robbins, the local Miami real estate magnate, recalled the origins of the fair as a risky attempt to be a “stand alone, not an adjunct to contemporary art.” He was on stage with performance artist Marina Abramovic; designer Peter Marino, who is being honored at the fair and at the Bass Museum of Art this year; and Sam Keller, the former director of Art Basel who also helped launch the Design/Miami.
“The energy has changed,” says Zesty Meyers, one of the principals of New York’s R & Company, about the crowd at the event. “It’s off the hook. I don’t have to explain what I do anymore. That bridge has been crossed.” Early-bird collectors, who streamed in Tuesday to snap up some of the best pieces, were evidence of Meyers’s claim.
R & Company and Cristina Grajales are two of the 11 founding galleries, specially designated as such this year, along with a few newcomers for good measure. “There were just 15 of us at the beginning,” recalls Grajales. “When you walk about and see the quality now, it’s very exciting. A fair is only as good as its participants.”
See our slideshow for just a few of the can’t-miss highlights from Design/Miami, open through Sunday ($25 admission).
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