Part of the advisory panel for Collect 2024, writer and curator Melanie Grant shares her highlights from the upcoming fair (at Somerset House and open to the public from 1 to 3 March).
The potter Edmund de Waal once compared being an artist to being a swan, unsteady and anxious on the knife-edge of life before launching into the floods. His porcelain vessels represent a blurring of lines between the notions of art, craft and design, which has gathered pace in the last few decades, spurred on by museum-quality acquisitions, rising auction prices and international fairs dedicated to ceramics, glass and textiles.
Design fair Collect sits at the pinnacle of this movement and is enjoying its 20th anniversary this year, acting as an incubator connecting galleries, dealers and artists with collectors. It was started by the Crafts Council back in 2004 to showcase works that were growing in prominence, but which were sometimes overlooked by the fine art market, with artists like de Waal often attending to discuss their work. It now welcomes 41 galleries representing more than 400 artists from countries as diverse as the US, Japan, Nigeria and Mexico.
Collect 2024 at Somerset House
On wall: ‘Stix’ by Jim Gladwin (from 155A Gallery). On plinth: sculpture by Erum Aamir (from Ruup & Form), and ‘Split’ by Richard Goldsworthy (from Craft Scotland)
'I think that so often the artists aren't at gallery art fairs very much partly because some of them are dead,' chuckles the fair’s director Isobel Dennis, also once a ceramist. 'But that's the beauty of Collect, it’s about supporting people who are making now.'
The fair only features work made in the last five years, opening a door to new and emerging talent using materials as diverse as wood, paper, lacquer, resin, mica plastics, metal and even corn-starch. Many of these materials are reused and recycled. The fair resides in Somerset House, a neoclassical landmark perched on the banks of the Thames and previously the official residence of Elizabeth I.
Top left: 'Seed Pods' by Rachna Garodia, presented by gallery Ruup & Form. Bottom left: 'Muluvenice 3' sculptures by Marco Bellini, presented by gallery Maud & Mabel. Right: 'UNTITLED #15' by Heechan Kim presented by gallery Charles Burnand Gallery
From left, ‘Inversion’ by Scott Benefield (from Design-Nation gallery), candelabra by David Clarke (from BR Gallery), and ‘Light it up’ by Mathieu Frossard (from Galerie Revel)
The building's spiral staircases, antique pillars and domed ceilings provide an intriguingly paradoxical backdrop to Talia Ramkilawan’s ‘Love me Harder’ a wool and cloth on hessian work analysing her queerness and South African identity, or Simon Dredge’s porcelain and ceramic plate, referencing the use of Polari in the 1950s, which was a secret language used by gay communities in the UK. Mind-bending ceramics by Oriel Zinaburg, Ikuko Iwamoto, Mattieu Frossard and Sayaku Shingu are also worth investigation as are the gravity-defying metal works of Angela Cork, Yingze Chen and Cathryn Shilling.
'Muluvenice 3' (2023) sculptures by Marco Bellini, presented by gallery Maud & Mabel
The ethereal glass poetry of Sunghoon Park, Toshio Lezumi and Sila Yucel may well compel the sweeping of an arm across any current shelf-space of all previous collectibles. As interior designers, architects, museum curators, patrons and investors gather for the fair, they will no doubt be considering the continuously evolving concept that is craft. Collect will as always make launching into the floods that much easier for all who visit.
Collect is open for private views on 28-29 February 2024, and opens to the public from 1-3 March
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 1LA
-
Olfactory Art Keller: the New York gallery exhibiting the smell of vintage perfume, blossoming lilacs and last night’s shameOlfactory Art Keller is a Manhattan-based gallery space dedicated to exhibiting scent as art. Founder Dr Andreas Keller speaks with Lara Johnson-Wheeler about the project, which doesn’t shy away from the ‘unpleasant’
-
Explore a barn conversion with a difference on the Isle of WightGianni Botsford Architects' barn conversion transforms two old farm buildings into an atmospheric residence and artistic retreat, The Old Byre
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
One to Watch: Family Project’s ‘furniture friends’ are elegant and humorous with lasting emotional valueFamily Project, founded by Francesco Paini, is a London-based design practice drawn to human connection, creating portraiture through furniture and injecting artful expressions into interior spaces
-
Martino Gamper creates a joyful tapestry of colour, pattern and eras in an immersive showcase'I'm always interested in what is considered kitsch, what is considered contemporary, what is ugly, what is beautiful—it's a subtle line'. Martino Gamper‘ presents 'Before; After & Beyond’
-
Pierre Jeanneret’s Chandigarh furniture meets South Asian diasporic art in an unusual London exhibitionRajan Bijlani opens a show combining Pierre Jeanneret furniture for the Indian city of Chandigarh with works for sale by six artists of South Asian origin – in his own London townhouse
-
Mud celebrates turning 30 with a new Islington storeTo celebrate its 30th anniversary Mud opens a new Islington store, showcasing its Australian ceramics where beautiful design meets utility
-
PAD London’s 16th edition is a blisteringly optimistic case for human achievementAt PAD London, collectible design is more than rarefied furniture; it is a compelling case for the uplifting power of craftsmanship at the dawn of the AI revolution
-
Lucienne Day’s lesser-known silk textiles are a splendour of geometry and colour at Margaret HowellMargaret Howell presents British designer Lucienne Day’s 'Silk Mosaics' in a solo exhibition, alongside the launch of the brand's 2025 calendar in homage to Day
-
The Home of Sustainable Things is a trove of circular design for domestic lifeThe Home of Sustainable Things (HOST), is a homeware shop in London, focused on circular design to encourage mindful living and more conscious consumption
-
‘At its best, it's all an act of love’: Apparatus’ Gabriel Hendifar on building a cult design brandFor our interview series with those lighting up London Design Festival 2024, Apparatus’ co-founder Gabriel Hendifar reflects on the New York brand's future, and its first year in London
