Art & Culture

The Standout Pieces at the Salon: Art & Design Fair in New York

The highly-anticipated sixth edition presents art, furniture, and objets from over 50 galleries

Fall 2017

Two modern oval tables with turquoise stone tabletops and gold cylindrical bases. — A gorgeous pair of turquoise coffee tables by Kam Tin at Maison Rapin. Photo: Courtesy of Maison Rapin

From ancient Egyptian artifacts to groundbreaking contemporary design, the Salon Art + Design fair brings its tantalizing, eclectic mix of top-tier fine art and furniture back to Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory from November 9–13. With a deliberately diverse offering, “it feels intimate, not intimidating,” says Marc Benda, cofounder of New York-based Friedman Benda, one of more than 50 participating galleries from 11 countries. “You can just go and have a good time.”

Frosted glass abstract sculpture with smooth curves and cylindrical supports on a white background. — Faye Toogood’s *Cup / Water,* 2016, is made of lithium-barium crystal. Angus Mill. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Faye Toogood

Friedman Benda’s presentation will include furniture with a primitive minimalist appeal by London talent Paul Cocksedge. After being evicted from his studio to make way for new development he took monstrous core samples from its floor and married them with glass to create pieces like the Core Shelf and Exploded Core Table. “He drilled through the historical layers of construction, down to the Victorian era,” says Benda.

Modern glass table with geometric stone base in a dimly lit room, person standing in the background against a textured wall — Paul Cocksedge’s *Exploded Core Table,* 2017, made of concrete and glass, is on display at Friedmann Benda. Mark Cocksedge. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Paul Cocksedge

London-based David Gill Gallery will bring two new chairs: Elle & Lui, a years-in-the-making armchair by Mattia Bonetti with a whimsical bronze frame that combines branches and human figures, and For Eve, a bronze chair by Michele Oka Doner that’s so organically shaped it looks as though it was formed with the detritus of some ancient garden.

Sculptural bronze chair with organic, uneven surfaces and three tapered legs against a plain background.

MICHELE OKA DONER Chair ‘For Eve’ 2017 Bronze H42 x L50 x D35 cm / H16.5 x L19.7 x D13.8 in Editions David Gill, limited to 20 + 2P + 2AP Courtesy of David Gill Gallery

Michele Oka Doner’s bronze chair is on display at David Gill Gallery.

Round pendant light with a textured surface made of red and brown dried leaves against a soft white background. — Barnaby Barford’s Future light sculpture at David Gill gallery is made of porcelain, decals, enamelled copper wire, and metal. Courtesy of David Gill Gallery

Galerie Negropontes, a newcomer from Paris, will show the latest creations of its art director, Hervé Langlais, including the Constellation coffee table: a circle of statuary marble punctured by a random arrangement of polished brass pillars, crafted with the painstaking precision of an early-20^th-century atelier. “We really work in the Arts Décoratifs style, even if it’s very contemporary,” says gallery founder Sophie Negropontes. With Constellation, she notes, the top of each brass pillar is removable. “They’re covers for hidden vases,” she says, “into which you can put a rose, a bouquet, or even a bottle of champagne.”