8 Collectible Design Shows to See in May
From an upstart Turkish studio’s dazzling Paris debut to a ceramist’s exquisite takeover of Jacques Couelle’s former villa near Cannes
May ushers in a fertile stretch for collectible design as galleries and studios unveil exhibitions attuned to material experimentation and sculptural ingenuity ahead of a packed season of fairs and cultural events. We travel from Olivia Cognet’s exquisite takeover of sculptor Jacques Couelle’s fantastical hillside villa above Cannes, whose organic interiors echo the curves of her site-specific ceramic works, to Ingrid Donat’s commanding bronze commodes in Los Angeles. The selection below intentionally skips New York City ahead of dedicated coverage of the sundry exhibitions opening across town during NYCxDesign later this month.
1. “Depth of Field” at Augusta | Brussels
“Depth of Field” gathers the work of Brussels-based studios Cru Atelier, La Gadoue, and Ariane van Dievoet into a richly textured meditation on material reuse. Consoles, lamps, mirrors, and sculptural objects reveal fractured stone, raw earth, recycled wood, and deadstock textiles transformed through handcraft and experimentation. Cru Atelier contributes pieces fashioned from lime, hemp, and excavated soil, while La Gadoue introduces sweeping textile compositions alongside ceramic lighting. Van Dievoet’s joinery-driven works elevate salvaged materials into sharply composed collectible furnishings.
Until May 30
2. “Ingrid Donat: Tatoo” at Carpenters Workshop Gallery | Los Angeles
In her first Los Angeles solo exhibition, Ingrid Donat presents bronze commodes, sculptural seating, and collectible works steeped in Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and global decorative traditions. “Tatoo” centers on the commanding Commode Tatoo, whose geometric surface recalls reptilian skin and mythic creatures through deeply engraved square motifs. Elsewhere, scarified bronze frames, hand-painted textiles, and richly upholstered seating reveal the Galerie Creative Mind designer’s extraordinary command of material and surface, achieved through meticulous wax casting and handcraft techniques honed over decades.
Until May 30
3. “Forms and Temptations” at Sceners Gallery | Paris
Created in collaboration with Almine Rech, this distinctive show stages a charged exchange between early 20th-century decorative arts and the provocative Pop sensibility of Allen Jones. Historic works by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, Carlo Bugatti, Jean Dunand, Koloman Moser, and Pierre Legrain appear alongside Jones’s seductive sculptures and painted figures, tracing a pivotal moment when furniture gradually drifted beyond utility and into expressive territory. Lacquered screens, parchment-clad cabinets, and surreal body-objects reveal how desire, surface, and material transformed objects into imperfect vehicles for fantasy and projection.
Until June 13
4. “Nahıl: Redefining Objects, Space, and Rituals” at Boon_Monceau | Paris
For its first Paris solo exhibition, Ahu unveils a limited-edition collection inside Boon_Monceau, a grand 19th-century hôtel particulier overlooking Parc Monceau. Founded by Eda Akaltun and Mevce Ciraci, the London- and Istanbul-based studio translates centuries of heritage Turkish craftsmanship into boldly sculptural furnishings crafted alongside Istanbul artisans. Monolithic cabinets, marquetry tables, embroidered seating, and richly patterned carpets draw from Ottoman ceremonial traditions, hand-embroidered textiles, and ebru marbling, channeling such rarefied techniques as Anatolian wood carving, stonework, and embroidery at risk of disappearing into a richly contemporary decorative language.
Until June 26
5. “The Ground of Things” at Charles Burnand Gallery | London
For London Craft Week, Dawn Bendick expands her sculptural practice into textiles with a suite of rugs developed alongside New York tapestry specialists FJ Hakimian and woven by master Nepalese artisans. Presented with luminous new kiln-formed glass sculptures, the plush works translate the American-born, Kent-based artist’s expert command of color and light into Senneh looping, Tibetan sheep wool, and small-batch pot dyeing. Wall-mounted throughout the gallery, the richly textured works wield the same sculptural force as her luminous glass sculptures.
Until May 17
6. “Ryan Belli: Of Two Minds” at Marta | Los Angeles
In “Of Two Minds,” Pasadena-based artist Ryan Belli presents functional sculptures that probe how perception shifts through material and recollection. Hand-carved redwood stools, cast aluminum mirrors, quilted ribbon lamps, and textile-covered furnishings blur distinctions: between hard and soft, stable and pliant. Belli’s peaked light shades draw from traditional bricklayers’ patterns and Josef Albers’s investigations of color, while his anthropomorphic wood pieces introduce a playful presence. Across the exhibition, distorted reflections and supple surfaces examine how contradictory truths coexist within personal and collective experience.
Until June 6
7. “Olivia Cognet: Inhabiting the Landscape House” at Dragon Hill Sculpture Park | Mouans-Sartoux, France
Nestled in the rolling hills above Cannes, Olivia Cognet presents site-specific ceramic furnishings and sculptural works inside the fantastical home of architect Jacques Couelle. Bas-reliefs, lighting, monumental seating, and stone-like tables settle seamlessly into the residence’s curving niches and cavernous interiors, extending its organic architecture through each work’s richly tactile surfaces. A sculptural tapestry sofa produced with Lyon upholsterer Degut transforms one salon into an inhabitable terrain, while outdoors, monolithic garden seating rises from the landscape like weathered archaeological fragments shaped by erosion.
Until November
8. “Sense of Place” at Available Items | Glenford, NY
Staged inside the newly unveiled Ohayo Mountain House, a striking Catskills residence designed by Amin Tadj Studio, “Sense of Place” assembles nearly 70 works by 21 Hudson Valley artists and designers into an immersive domestic setting. Sculptural furniture, ceramics, paintings, and lighting by the likes of Katie Stout, Kieran Kinsella, Jackrabbit Studio, Office of Tangible Space, and LikeMindedObjects animate the cedar-clad home through distinct vignettes. Throughout the exhibition, richly tactile surfaces and inventive material pairings reflect the ever-dynamic Hudson Valley’s flourishing contemporary creative scene.
Until May 31