Calm modernism is out and anarchic forms are in at this year's Design Miami collectors' fair, as designers respond to tumultuous political times.
The fair, which for the last few years has been dominated by mid-century French and vintage furniture, is this time stuffed with more experimental pieces.
"Times are crazy," said Juan Garcia Mosqueda of New York gallery Chamber. "No-one wants to play it safe any more."
Misha Khan's collection for the Friedman Benda gallery at Design Miami 2016 Photograph by Adam Reich
"On the contemporary side, designers like Misha Khan are going for this really pop, expressive thing, which I also think is a response to feeling too boxed in by culture and society," Primack said. "I think we're going to see even more of it now with these shifts with Brexit, with Trump, all these political shifts that seem to be pulling us really far to the right." This was coupled with a sense that the mid-century revival has run its course and people are looking for something new, Primack added.
"Mid-century French has now become the median, the starting point for so many people and for aesthetics, when we look at magazines, at houses, what people want to live with," he said. "Ten years ago it didn't look like that but today the starting point, the basic aspiration for so many people is to have a very chic interior with a Jean Royère sofa and Le Corbusier Chandigarh chairs.
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