Sewn into the day lit public volume of Shigeru Ban’s unassuming “Metal Shutter House” tower is L’SPACE gallery, the new headquarters for New York Textile Month (NYTM) and host to its recent event FIBRATION – a group exhibition presenting a patchwork of seminal pieces from artists embracing textiles as their primary medium. The showcase revealed a post-pandemic yearning for tactility that cannot be derived from most two-dimensional artifacts or other forms of conventional fine art.
My earliest discernible memory of color – and graphic design – dates back to childhood when I watched my mother change the commercial printer inks on equipment for her graphic design business. I vividly recall the fluids’ deep hues and the slight vinegar odor they omitted, not to mention my amusement with Pantone Formula Guides. So when Pantone Color Institute and Valentino launched this capsule collection I knew I had to own a piece of graphic design history – my purchase included the thermo steel drinking bottle and pencil cup.
The brainchild of award-winning designer and color savant Laura Guido-Clark, LOVE GOOD COLOR is a proprietary methodology that discerns color’s influence on consumer and designer choices through emotions. Her practice empowers designers to use impact when considering color for product or environments.
I delight in the silhouettes of Micah Rosenblatt’s Column Chairs. His use of metal to trace the outline of the form rather than its volume pays homage to the Ionic order while being grounded in the contemporary. The welded steel chairs are available in two sizes and when positioned down a long dining table give the illusion of a colonnade.
A designer myself, I am constantly in awe of the brilliant imagination exercised by my peers – especially when it is daring or defiant. Sophie Parker is the Brooklyn-based artist and creative director behind these works specializing in plant-based compositions. The mix of natural ephemera, paint, and the passage of time makes each arrangement’s fleeting existence that much more romantic.