A prominent trend that emerges at PAD London 2018 – the city’s leading art and design fair in Berkeley Square on 1-7 October – is the influence of nature on contemporary designers who experiment with organic materials and natural forms. Parisian heavyweight Avant-Scène curates a selection of new pieces inspired by nature, loyal to its program focusing on emotional pieces that carry their designer’s imprint. The gallery brings together powerful works by Franck Evennou, Elizabeth Garouste, Andrea Salvetti, Hubert Le Gall and Mark Brazier-Jones. Peter Petrou introduces a fascinating new work by Irish artist and sculptural furniture maker Sasha Sykes, known for exploring and challenging the material language of the natural world. Her 40-panel Gyre (From the Sea) screen features transparent squares containing seaweeds. Conceived as a Wunderkammer, the gallery’s booth also features Danish glassblower Steffen Dam’s new Sea Life Installation featuring imaginary creatures in glass. New pieces from Marlène Huissoud’s recent collection Cocoon made from thousands of silkworms’ cocoons varnished with a thin layer of a dark natural honeybee bio-resin are unveiled at Sarah Myerscough. Gosserez presents new sculptural works by Valentin Loellmann experimenting with materials such as brass and copper and alluding to organic forms. All the joints are hidden in his pieces, which makes each object look like one solid piece of nature’s own creation. Mayfair-based FUMI uncovers new works including an extraordinary mural piece by sculptor Rowan Mersh. His process is labour-intensive, involving the hand-assembly of many thousands of individual components, evocative of ruffled patterns in nature and selected for their specific sculptural qualities when used en masse in organic ways. PAD London 2018 present an impressive selection of 68 galleries from 12 countries showcasing masterpieces across design, art, antiquities, tribal art and collectable jewellery. Patrick Perrin, the founder of PAD fairs, said “I am delighted to present the 12th edition of PAD London, which will host an unparalleled selection of international galleries. I look forward to discovering the presentations of our new galleries: Roman designer Achille Salvagni, modern art expert Hélène Bailly, ceramicist Karen Swami, and a fine selection of international jewellery galleries. In this category, we can expect a dazzling array of contemporary pieces by Lorenz Bäumer and Walid Akkad from Paris, as well as G. by Glenn Spiro and Valery Demure from London.” Brand new works by emerging and established designers, exhibited for the first time, take centre stage at PAD. Among contemporary design premieres Rossana Orlandi present at PAD a selection of high-end pieces by designers and artists such Nacho Carbonell, Anotherview, Fernando Mastrangelo, Hillsideout, Kiko Lopez, Christopher Boots, Major Darling, Yukiko Nagai, Emanuela Crotti, Matt Gagnon and Germans Ermics. The selection mixes in an eclectic way several different styles which range from digital art to unexpected materials, from sophisticated artisanal techniques to contemporary manufacturing process giving a 360° overview on Rossana Orlandi continuous research. Rossana Orlandi – one of Milan’s influential design hubs with a hybrid model between a gallery and a design shop – puts forward a new ensemble by rising Italian designer Guglielmo Poletti from his Equilibrium series comprising a table, a chair and a lamp, which continues to explore his interest in balance and order.
