Preview PAD London 2024’s Most Extraordinary Stars in Art, Design, Jewelry, and More

Perrin had another surprise when we spoke—apart from the fact that he is launching a new edition this July in St Tropez. “It’s the center of the world on the 14th of July,” he declares, referring to France’s big Bastille Day celebration. “All the designers, all the clients, everyone is there.”

Ever observant, Perrin has encouraged a swathe of young galleries into his fold, including the Belgian Objects with Narrative and the London-based JCRD (see below). “I’m really interested in bringing in the next generation,” he says. “That goes for my staff as well.” Expect to see daughter Marie more on the floor in London. In a few years, Perrin says he will be walking his dogs in the forest.

Here’s what to look for at PAD London this year:

Bryan O’Sullivan

The Irish interior designer opened his own Mayfair showroom last year and now comes to PAD for the first time. “We’re unveiling new pieces next to our signature lines,” says O’Sullivan. “PAD seemed the right place to do this.” Look out for the Baloo chair, a fresh take on the classic wingback, with cast brass legs, and the Hanami chandelier inspired by Japanese cherry blossoms in full flower, which is in an edition of 40. Those wanting more O’Sullivan can pop to the Red Bar at the nearby Connaught Hotel or even check into one of the 34 master suites at Claridge’s, completed just a couple of years ago.

JCRD Projects

Like so many before him, the Brazilian-born, London-based Luiz Kessler was a collector before he became a dealer. “I was shipping work from Brazil to London and friends wanted pieces,” he says. Now fully established as a nomadic gallery since 2021, he specializes in the best of Brazilian modernism, and will be showing works by Jorge Zalzupin, Joaquim Teneiro and Martin Eisler at PAD as well as paintings by Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, whose life spanned nearly the entire 20^th Century. Considered the seminal artist of his generation, Kessler says: “I love the colors and the naiveté of the subject matter. Lorenzato depicts Brazil in the best way. It brings back childhood memories.”

Ori Orisun Merhav at Sarah Myerscough

London gallerist Sarah Myerscough was championing a more sustainable kind of high design long before the S word came to dominate the conversation. In Ori Orisun Merhav she has found an exceptional talent who combines aesthetics with investigations into nature’s way of doing things. The 28-year-old Merhav has gone to the source of Shellac, a natural polymer, in Thailand, and is using the lacquer secreted by the Kerria Lacca beetle to create a substance that she blows like glass. She clusters the amber-colored bubbles into lamps and chandeliers. But at this early stage of development, Merhav equally views the work as a jumping off point for discussions about how to enhance the world with responsibly produced products.

Guy de Rougemont at Galerie Gastou

The painter and designer Guy de Rougemont is firmly in the spotlight following his death in 2021, aged 86. When talking of his paintings, he said that he “believed in the modifying power of color, and the meeting of a curve and a straight line.” The same could be applied to his furniture. On show at Parisian gallery Gastou will be his “Diderot” suite which demonstrates the interplay between art and design that de Rougemont espoused. The works are joyously painted in geometric patterns, with not an edge left unembellished.

Peter Schlesinger at Tristan Hoare

British gallerist comes to PAD for the first time with a showing of work by Peter Schlesinger that tells the story of this artist’s life. A number of Schlesinger’s photographic works focus on the company he kept in the 1970s, when he was David Hockney’s lover and model—dazzling images of Amanda Lear; Hockney himself balancing up a ladder. Schlesinger, now 76, went on to become an artist in his own right, and an impressive array of ceramics from 1997 to now will be on show. “Essentially it is Peter’s journey,” says Tristan Hoare, “From his glamorous life in London to his ceramics which are clearly inspired by antiquity.”

Super Jewellers

Valery Demeure keeps the world of contemporary jewellery moving with her unique take on wearable art. For PAD she has worked closely with fine jewellers Dries Criel, Sarah Dyne, and Fernando Jorge to create new pieces. “The energy that surrounds jewellery is part of human history,” says Jorge, whose work combines a Latin sensuality with the European training he received at Central St Martins. The Belgian Criel, whose work is made in Antwerp by master craftsmen, takes his inspiration from architecture and antique jewellery, as well as his own background in modern dance.