9 Collectible Design Shows to See in July 

July always feels like a lull in the cultural calendar as the design world soaks up spritzes under the summer sun in dreamy destinations, but there’s still a wealth of must-see collectible design on view to keep the creative synapses firing. Many are in unexpected locales, from the first-ever solo exhibition Oliver Gustav is hosting in his neoclassical former museum in Copenhagen to the first gallery devoted to collectible design in Minneapolis, where ceramicist Jeremy Anderson is presenting a trove of vivacious ceramic vessels and bronze furnishings.  

1. “Michèle Lamy: Staging” | Studio Oliver Gustav, Copenhagen 

Oliver Gustav had been in conversation with Michèle Lamy and Rick Owens about possibly presenting the fashionable duo’s sculptural furniture within his secluded Copenhagen since pre-pandemic times. They finally made it happen with “Staging,” whose opening coincided with the Danish capital’s annual 3 Days of Design festival but which Gustav insists was separate from the citywide festivities. The show expands Owens and Lamy’s recent outing at Salon 94—pieces that channel natural shapes, Constantin Brâncuşi, and California’s skateparks into one-of-a-kind furniture crafted from rare earth materials alongside unexpected adornments like moose antlers. Gustav’s studio, housed in a neoclassical former museum, serves as a striking backdrop for the pieces, which he paired with his own furnishings and pieces by Giovanni Bassan, Kaare Golles, Rasmus Rosengaard, and Scarlett Rouge, Lamy’s daughter.  

Through October 11 by appointment only

2. “Jeremy Anderson: Homecoming” | Prospect Refuge Gallery, Minneapolis 

Jeremy Anderson returns to Minnesota to present his finned vessels, whimsical lighting, and growing body of cast bronze furniture to a hometown audience. The title actually reflects multiple layers of return: not only geographically, but to his earliest creative impulses and the emotional textures that continue to shape the Galerie Creative Mind ceramicist’s practice. Anderson’s signature “piccolos”—vivacious vessels with off-center openings and layered, bodily forms—often read like abstracted figures in repose. A breathtaking new bronze console table, made of 152 hand-cast components, signals ambitious new experiments in scale and weight while preserving the tactile imperfections that define his practice. 

Through August 7 

3. “Ralph Pucci: Pure” | Château La Coste, Aix-en-Provence, France 

A chance encounter between venerable design gallerist Ralph Pucci and Château La Coste owner Paddy McKillen led to the creation of “Pure,” an exhibition of sculptural plasterglass works within the stunning Aix-en-Provence vineyard’s new pavilion by Oscar Niemeyer. Punctuating its heavenly interior are unique pieces by 13 renowned artists and designers on Pucci’s prestigious roster—Patrick Naggar, Eric Schmitt, John Koga, Paul Mathieu, and Elizabeth Garouste among them—rendered in a pristine white devoid of ornamentation. The objects, many situated on wooden crates, will be situated to complement and accentuate the scale and form of its neighbors. It also reveals how the pieces come together. To celebrate the exhibition’s opening and closing dates, Ralph Pucci’s longtime master sculptor, Michael Evert, will conduct live sessions so visitors can get an inside look at the plasterglass sculpting process  

Through September 21 

4. “Hostler Burrows x HB381: Summer Group Show” | HB381, New York 

This stellar summer group show rethinks the ever-blurring line between art and craft with compelling works that revel in the handmade. Expect Taher Asad-Bakhtiari’s airy kilims, Frida Fjellman’s molten-looking glass lamps, Sigve Knutson’s raw, shotcrete-inspired ceramics, and Anne Brandhøj’s sculpted timber that honors the grain’s natural quirks. Zimra Beiner’s brambled clay plant stands, meanwhile, ooze gothic excess—a lush riposte to factory uniformity. Together, the artists on view reconsider domestic objects as philosophical provocations that hum with the stubborn beauty of the imperfect. 

Until August 15 

5. “On a Comfortable Sofa Dreamed” with Studio Ahead | Superhouse, New York 

Guest-curated by Homan Rajai and Elena Dendiberia of the fast-rising Bay Area firm Studio Ahead, this group show furnishes a fictional interior with weird and wonderful pieces that transcend functionality and make a compelling case for the artist’s hand being visible in the built environment. Gay Outlaw seemingly fashioned a wall of leaning 2x4s; look closely and the support structures are actually made of puff pastries. Ficus Interfaith contributes a hybrid object—part reading nook, part library ladder—with an integrated lamp. Nico Corona’s massive candelabra evokes medieval light fixtures through inventive use of chain links. The result is a sharp yet tactile meditation on patronage, ornament, and the intimate act of living alongside art. 

Until August 2 

6. “Ana Pellicer: Tienes Que Olvidar Para Recordar” | MASA Galeria, Mexico City 

The final presentation that Ana Pellicer was involved in conceiving and realizing before her death in May, “Tienes Que Olvidar Para Recordar” spans five decades of the Mexican sculptor and goldsmith’s fearless, visionary work. Sculptures in copper, bronze, and amate channel ancestral memory into forms that blur function and abstraction, while archival materials and her final interview deepen the portrait of an artist who turned metal into light. Pellicer’s commitment to teaching metalsmithing—especially to women—and preserving Michoacán’s craft traditions underscores her legacy as both maker and activist. The show even includes her famed to-scale jewelry for the Statue of Liberty’s centennial celebrations in 1981. 

Until July 26 

7. “Kris Van Assche: Nectar Vessels Bronzes” | Laffanour Galerie Downtown, Paris 

Kris Van Assche is no stranger to furniture—the former artistic director of Dior Homme and Berluti once reinterpreted Isamu Noguchi’s iconic Akari lamps—but he’s now venturing into collectible design with a series of bronze vase-sculptures. The series of 14 objects, produced in partnership with the Fodor foundry in Port-sur-Saône, is clad with a matte, powdery lacquer that absorbs light; a polished finish inside reveals the warm glow of rose gold bronze, drawing the eye inside toward luminous hollows. The enigmatic vessels are the result of a two-year collaboration with François Laffanour, who gave Van Assche carte blanche to transform the gallery into an immersive scenography evoking a mysterious forest. “I created vases that don’t need flowers,” Van Assche says. “These vases become the flowers themselves.”  

Until July 19 

8. “B G Robinson: Palace Intrigue” | Ashlee Harrison, New York 

In the spring, when curator Ashlee Harrison quietly debuted her Upper East Side townhouse as an offbeat yet dreamy collectible design salon, she teased a smattering of Brett Robinson’s slick aluminum furnishings alongside concrete pieces by Maria Pergay, Marc Newson, and Rick Owens that were similar in spirit. Now comes the time for the California designer’s solo debut, which presents a minimalism-defying collection of low-slung lounge chairs, polished tables, and decorative objects fashioned using aerospace-grade techniques with unapologetically ornate details. Each piece flaunts silvered finishes, custom alloys, and lacquered surfaces crafted through precise industrial processes, which Robinson mastered while spending his formative years in a Manhattan Beach hot rod repair shop. He often utilizes plate rollers—the same apparatuses used to make airplane wings—to precisely sculpt each piece’s rounded forms, embracing the paradoxes of modern production. “It’s about working with the world as it exists,” Robinson says. “Not as it should be.” 

Until July 25 

9. “Vestigia: Design in a Real World” | Villa Marie, Lucca, Italy 

Set among the magnificent Villa Marie within Tuscany’s resplendent rolling hills, “Design in a Real World” celebrates local craft with a sharp focus on process and place. Perched within the villa’s lush gardens, the lineup of one-of-a-kind collectible design objects shed light on the beauty of artisanal processes through thoughtful material selections and the exploration of new techniques combined with local traditions. The show features Sara Ricciardi’s glass-and-brass Metamorfosi vases, Finemateria’s geometric polyurethane foam chairs, and playfully sinuous stone furniture by Pietro Franceschini. Duccio Maria Gambi brings terrazzo-like benches made with recycled plastic, while Elakform and Movimento Gallery showcase hand-carved elm wood seats and travertine tables. Each object “was chosen for its connection with the territory and their affinity with craft practices,” says curator Jonathan Bocca, who contributed sculpted paper lamps and tables. “The works embody materiality, care, and respect for this unique context.”  

Until September 28