The architect behind landmark cultural projects at the British Museum and the AlUla Contemporary Arts Museum discusses reimagining museums as evolving, participatory spaces. Kimberly Lloyd, Courtesy of LG—A
Lina Ghotmeh, recognized on this year’s Art Power Index, is changing the global conversation between art, architecture and place. Based in Paris and raised in Beirut, Ghotmeh has emerged as one of the defining voices of a new architectural sensibility rooted in sustainability, memory and cultural dialogue, rather than spectacle. Her recent and forthcoming projects span continents and histories: the British Museum’s sweeping Western Range redesign, the AlUla Contemporary Arts Museum in Saudi Arabia, the Jadids’ Legacy Museum in Uzbekistan and Qatar’s Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Each project, in her words, sits “at the crossroads of this transformation—where local narratives meet global dialogues.”
Ghotmeh’s approach, which she refers to as an “archaeology of the future,” treats architecture as both excavation and invention, a process of uncovering the social, material and emotional layers of a place before imagining what comes next. This philosophy took shape in her acclaimed Serpentine Pavilion in 2023, a table-like structure that beckoned visitors to sit, share and converse, turning architecture into an act of gathering.
The shifting power dynamics in the art world, from the rise of voices across the Global South to the integration of technology and A.I., are redefining cultural institutions. Ghotmeh envisions museums as “living environments” that immerse audiences in the creative process and connect them to the broader human story art continues to tell. For the architect, buildings are never neutral containers but vessels for dialogue, resilience and renewal. In reimagining how and where art is experienced, Ghotmeh is rethinking culture itself as a space for belonging, continuity and care.
What do you see as the most transformative shift in the art world power dynamics over the past year, and how has it impacted your own work or strategy?
Over the past year, I’ve felt a profound shift in both voices and geography within the art world. We are finally witnessing the rise of influential perspectives from the Global South and other historically underrepresented regions. This expansion of voices is not only reshaping who gets to speak but also how and where art is being shown. It signals a move toward a more plural and inclusive understanding of art as a critical platform—one capable of engaging with the most pressing social, cultural and environmental questions of our time.
This shift deeply informs the type of work I pursue and aligns with a trajectory I’ve been committed to for years. Projects such as designing Qatar’s National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the Jadid Museum in Uzbekistan, and the AlUla Contemporary Arts Museum in Saudi Arabia all sit at the crossroads of this transformation—where local narratives meet global dialogues.
Similarly, reimagining the British Museum as a vessel for a truly global art history offers an opportunity to rethink cultural institutions as spaces of exchange rather than dominance. It’s an invitation to reframe how we tell the story of humanity through art—decentering traditional hierarchies and embracing a more interconnected, equitable cultural landscape.
As the art market and industry continue to evolve, what role do you believe technology, globalization, and changing collector demographics will play in reshaping traditional power structures?
Art not only reflects culture but actively shapes it, serving as both a social force and an economic driver. As collector demographics shift, we’re witnessing new modes of collecting and new ways of constructing cultural narratives—ones that move beyond Western-centric frameworks and embrace more diverse and interconnected perspectives.
Technology, particularly A.I., is playing a transformative role in this process. It enables new kinds of artistic experiences and provides tools for reinterpreting and visualizing data in ways that were previously unimaginable. In our recent work with A.I. artists, for example, we’ve been exploring ways to visualize art histories from the Arab world. This process begins with the crucial task of collecting and structuring data that has long been overlooked or rendered invisible. Through this, knowledge and cultural memory that were once marginalized are reemerging, allowing for a more inclusive understanding of global art histories.
In this sense, technology and globalization are not merely reshaping the market—they’re redistributing cultural power, enabling new voices, narratives and regions to participate in defining the future of art.
Looking ahead, what unrealized opportunity or unmet need in the art ecosystem are you most excited to tackle in the coming year, and what will it take to make that vision a reality?
I’m deeply interested in rethinking how we show art and in reaffirming its central role within society. I believe museums and cultural spaces should evolve into living environments—places that not only exhibit art but also immerse audiences in the creative process itself. Spaces where people can experience how art is made, why it matters, and how it continues to shape our collective consciousness.
Art has accompanied humanity since its very beginnings—it is how we have sought to understand ourselves, substantiate our existence and give meaning to the world around us. Yet many institutions still treat it as something static or distant. The opportunity now lies in transforming museums into dynamic ecosystems of learning, participation and dialogue—bridging artists, communities and new technologies.
Realizing this vision requires rethinking institutional models, fostering collaboration across disciplines and embracing innovation in both curation and architecture. Ultimately, it’s about restoring art’s fundamental purpose: to connect us more deeply to one another and to the shared human story we continue to write.
You grew up in Beirut, a city with a complex history of destruction and rebuilding. How has that background shaped your approach to sustainability, resilience and place-making?
Living in a city where buildings are constantly collapsing and rising again, you understand that architecture is never only physical—it’s social, emotional and deeply tied to survival. Sustainability, for me, comes from that consciousness: to build with care, to use what is available, to adapt rather than erase. In Beirut, you see nature reclaiming ruins, and people reinhabiting them with extraordinary creativity. That taught me that true resilience lies in continuity, in working with the traces and resources already present. Every project I design begins with that same listening to place, so that what emerges feels born from its ground rather than imposed upon it.
You coined the term “archaeology of the future.” How do you balance uncovering historical traces and designing something genuinely new?
“Archaeology of the future” is both a method and an ethic. It means that before drawing, we excavate—not with shovels, but with research and attention. We study a site’s geology, its crafts, its human stories, its past uses. But this act of uncovering is not nostalgic. The goal is to let those traces inspire something that speaks to today and tomorrow. In Stone Garden, the innovative technique of hand-plastered façade carries Beirut’s collective memory, echoing natural forms found in the city and belonging to the ground, yet its vertical form points to regeneration. The building rises as a novel form anchored in its place. In the Bahrain Pavilion for Expo 2025, we drew on traditional boatbuilding to create a light, demountable timber structure, entirely new but rooted in cultural memory. The past is not a model; it’s a fertile ground from which the new can grow.
How does that translate when designing spaces meant to hold art—objects that carry their own histories and spiritual weight?
Designing for art demands humility. These are spaces of encounter, between artworks, viewers and time itself. Architecture must offer silence and presence at once. The space should talk about the place where we are. Building in AlUla, for example, is an invitation to think of the galleries as earthly structures warmly welcoming art, all while framing nature. At the British Museum, we are working within a building dense with history, yet our aim is not to add another layer of authority but to open it up—to allow light, porosity and new readings of the collection.
The architecture becomes a mediator, a frame that encourages reflection rather than spectacle. Some new spaces we are designing restore a lost feeling of openness, of sky, the use of local stone for the finish reminds us about the place we are in. I like to think of architecture as a vessel for dialogue, where both the art and the visitor can breathe, all while allowing us to dream.
Many contemporary buildings feel imposed rather than born of their surroundings. How do you resist that tendency in your own work?
A building is not an exercise of style; it is an extraordinary place that needs to be inhabited. With my team, I begin each project with listening, to the land, the resources, the crafts, the wind, the people. Context is about an environment; it is not a constraint; it’s the material of the work. I try to design buildings that feel as though they could not exist anywhere else if they are meant to stay still in their place. In Normandy, the Hermès Workshops were built with bricks made from the site’s own earth. We worked with local brick makers and revived an artisanal work present for decades in the region. These gestures root the project in its environment. I think architecture should belong to its place as naturally as a tree grows from soil—it should feel inevitable, not imported.
In redesigning major cultural and arts institutions, you are dealing not just with architecture, but with narratives, audience behaviors and institutional purpose. What can you tell us about the experience of collaborating with curators, conservators and communities?
Architecture is the art of collaboration. It begins with an idea—a concept rooted in a place and informed by its history and context. From there, it becomes an act of orchestration: a dialogue among disciplines, a collaborative process in which all voices are heard, allowing the building to embody and integrate diverse perspectives and skills.
In Qatar, we are currently working on several museum and exhibition projects. These are developed in close collaboration with curators, whose experience across different institutions brings depth and richness to the work. The community is also ever-present, through the ways people will use these spaces, the possibilities they create and the processes of making itself. I believe architecture is a means to guide knowledge and empower people through creation.
What do you see as the most under-addressed challenge or challenges in cultural architecture at this moment?
We still design too many cultural buildings as static monuments rather than evolving ecosystems. This risks alienating art and cultural spaces from the public, rendering them inaccessible, even though art is essential to our humanity and part of everyday life.
The future demands openness and flexibility: spaces that can adapt to changing programs, technologies and communities. Another challenge lies in the diplomatic role of cultural spaces: in a world that may grow increasingly divided, museums and cultural institutions can serve as bridges between people, reminding us of our shared humanity while celebrating our differences as a source of richness. They are platforms for critical questions and spaces for meaningful dialogue.
As Bruno Latour reminds us, “We have never been modern,” and this insight urges us to reconsider the artificial separation between culture, nature and technology. Cultural buildings must embody this continuity: becoming living, relational environments that connect human, material and ecological realities.
Moreover, the ecological dimension of cultural spaces is an ever-growing concern. Museums remain among the most resource-intensive building types. We need to rethink how we conserve artworks, how we build, reuse and manage energy, all without compromising the sensorial and human experience of art.
You often operate at the intersection of architecture, national identity and culture with projects like the Osaka Expo 2025 Bahrain Pavilion or the AlUla Contemporary Arts Museum in Saudi Arabia, slated to open in 2027. How do you think about the role of architecture in articulating both place and global aspiration?
Architecture has the power to express identity while remaining open to the world. In Bahrain, the pavilion embodies the island’s maritime heritage—its wooden craftsmanship and its relationship to the sea—yet it also speaks of shared ecological values with Japan. In AlUla, surrounded by desert and archaeology, the Contemporary Art Museum will be a dialogue between landscape and art, history and the future. It suggests that the museum become a series of open pavilions, intertwined and interacting with nature. For me, global aspiration should not mean universality through sameness, but connection through specificity. The more rooted a building is, the more it resonates beyond its borders.
When you imagine the art spaces of the future, what do they look and feel like?
I imagine future cultural spaces like a kitchen—alive with cooks and guests in constant interaction. They thrive outside the box, in lively places where texture, light and life unfold intensely.
These spaces will also extend into immaterial worlds. With the rise of digital platforms, we are invited to experience art in a new, hybrid dimension—one that merges the virtual and the physical. This deepens the need to intertwine both realms, to strengthen the sensoriality of the physical while embracing the possibilities of the digital.
Museums and cultural spaces of the future will be lighter, more open and deeply connected to their environment. I imagine buildings that breathe—filled with natural light, porous thresholds and a tactile sense of material. Spaces that invite people to gather, not only to look. They will reuse what exists, evolve over time and dissolve the boundaries between art, nature and daily life. Above all, they will cultivate presence: places where people feel grounded, inspired and connected to one another through beauty and thought.
Last Spring, Kasmin New York staged “Les Lalanne: Zoophites,” featuring works by the acclaimed French designers drawn entirely from the collection of their eldest daughter, Caroline Hamisky Lalanne. Courtesy of Kasmin
While global auction sales slipped 6.2 percent in the first half of 2025—with post-war and contemporary art down 19.3 percent to $1.22 billion, impressionist and modern sales dropping 7.7 percent and luxury barely budging (down 0.5 percent to $805.9 million)—design, decorative arts and furniture experienced significant momentum. According to ArTactic, the category surged 20.4 percent to reach $172 million in 2025, compared to $143 million the previous year. This growth occurred despite concerns over new tariffs. While fine art remains exempt from tariffs due to a legal loophole, design objects, antiquities and other collectibles are not, yet the market continues to thrive. This sustained growth is driven by a broader collector base and ongoing institutional interest, making it worth a deeper analysis of its various tiers and areas of activity.
Recent numbers from design auctions show strong growth: Sotheby’s design sales in New York this June achieved $37.5 million, followed by Christie’s with $23.6 million and Phillips, which staged just one sale, bringing in $4 million. Altogether, the June auctions saw a 62.3 percent year-on-year increase—proof that, at least for now, the design market is not just holding steady but gaining momentum. In the same period last year, Sotheby’s reported $19.5 million, Christie’s $15.5 million and Phillips $5.1 million across two sales with significantly more inventory.
The first half of 2025 marked a landmark period for design at Sotheby’s, according to chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th Century design, Jodi Pollack. Fueled by strong global demand, record-setting prices and an expanding international collector base, the market saw particular momentum among new and younger buyers, with increased cross-category collecting. Sotheby’s reported a $75 million combined total across New York and Paris this season, among the highest series totals ever for Sotheby’s Design sales worldwide. “These exceptional results reflect the galvanizing strength of the global design market and the discerning collectors who continue to passionately pursue rare pieces of extraordinary quality,” Pollack commented.
The Lalanne obsession continued its upward trajectory, but records were also shattered in unexpected areas: the monumental Danner Memorial Window—designed by Agnes Northrop for Tiffany Studios—achieved a staggering $12.4 million last November, setting a new auction world record for Tiffany glass. Not far behind, Frank Lloyd Wright’s double-pedestal lamp reached $7.5 million after an eleven-minute bidding war this May, marking another record in the category this year.
Tiffany Studios’ Stillman Memorial Window sold for $2,390,000 at Sotheby’s in June 2025. Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Another magnificent glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Stillman Memorial Window, sold in June at Sotheby’s for $2,390,000 (estimate: $1.5-2.5 million) as part of the sale Masterpieces by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Featuring The Ann and Robert Fromer Collection. The sale generated $6.3 million (estimate: $3.6-$5.6 million) with 96 percent sold by lot and nearly 60 percent of lots selling above their high estimates. Notably, 21 percent of buyers participating in Sotheby’s design sales this June were new to the auction house.
Strong institutional demand is also driving the surge in the market for Tiffany Studios pieces, with museums actively acquiring the studio’s masterworks. In 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the three-part, 10-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide Garden Landscape, while this past May, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, announced its acquisition of the monumental stained glass window Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window).
Meanwhile, the remarkable market surge for François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne continues unabated, cementing the duo as blue-chip fixtures in the design-art hybrid space. According to Artprice, the average auction price for their works has more than quadrupled since 2015, with major pieces now regularly surpassing six figures. The current auction record belongs to François-Xavier’s 1964 Rhinocrétaire I, which sold for €18.33 million ($19.4 million) at Christie’s Paris in 2023.
Between 2019 and 2024, Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold over 700 works from the private collections of Les Lalanne and their daughters, Dorothée and Marie, through a series of high-profile auctions in Paris and New York, generating a combined total of $330.2 million.
Demand remains strong—just this June, François-Xavier’s Grand Rhinocrétaire II (2003) fetched $16.4 million at Sotheby’s, five times its low estimate and accounting for nearly a quarter of the auction week’s total revenue. Christie’s New York also staged a dedicated sale in October 2023, François-Xavier Lalanne, Sculpteur | Collection Dorothée Lalanne, featuring works from the artist’s daughter and curated by French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, closing with white gloves and a $59 million total, with at least fourteen lots surpassing six figures.
This October, Di Donna Gallery will present a museum-quality exhibition featuring a groundbreaking dialogue between Magritte’s surreal vision and the whimsical world of the Lalanne couple. The show will highlight their shared surrealist sensibilities and historical connection through gallerist Alexander Iolas in the 1960s. Over fifty works will be on display, including rare pieces from the estates of François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, as well as paintings, works on paper and sculptures by René Magritte. Among the highlights is Magritte’s enigmatic L’ami intime (1958), which fetched $33.66 million at Christie’s London in March. During the last Venice Biennale, Ben Brown presented an extensive exhibition dedicated to the Lalannes, “Planète Lalanne,” featuring more than 150 works by the celebrated French duo.
The François-Xavier Lalanne, Sculpteur | Collection Dorothée Lalanne sale generated nearly $59 million at Christie’s New York in October 2024. Brian W. Ferry, all rights reserved
Phillips’ design specialist Kimberly Sørensen says the market is still strong, but more names are gaining momentum: their June Design auction in New York achieved a 91 percent sell-through rate by lot and 96 percent by value—an exceptional result. This followed their April Design sale in London, which reached 94 percent by lot and 97 percent by value. “These figures underscore the strength of the market and the continued appetite for exceptional design and craftsmanship,” Sørensen commented.
He told Observer that he’s seeing particular interest in female designers: Judy Kensley McKie’s Fish bench led Phillips’ June Design sale in New York, achieving $406,400 and setting a new world auction record for the artist. This, after her Leopard couch already led the top lot at Phillips’ London Design sale in April—further proof of her growing international appeal. Other standout female artists performing well in the recent sale included Line Vautrin and Claude Lalanne, whose works were among the session’s top lots. The American architect and designer George Nakashima also remains a beloved figure with a truly international market, according to Sørensen. “His daughter, Mira Nakashima, now the creative director of Nakashima Studio, is a remarkable designer in her own right and her work not only continues her father’s legacy of craftsmanship, but has also successfully introduced it to a new generation.”
Studio ceramics is another area in which Phillips has seen tremendous success. Phillips’ December New York sale, Moved by Beauty: Works by Lucie Rie from an Important Asian Collection, was a White Glove auction, which followed a dedicated London sale featuring Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. “We’re proud to hold the auction records for Rie and Coper and have previously set benchmarks for Lucie Rie and Doyle Lane,” he said.
Judy Kensley McKie’s Leopard Couch (1983) sold at Phillips’ April Design Sale for £177,800 ($237,736), while her Fish bench set a new record, achieving $406,400. Courtesy of Phillips
Sørensen confirms that design today attracts a broader and more diverse audience than ever. Even looking at their numbers, so far in 2025, 20 percent of Phillips’ design bidders were new to the auction house, which speaks to the category’s growing appeal. The Phillips specialist also points out that they’re seeing an encouraging rise in interest from younger collectors; Millennials and Gen Z now make up 20 percent of the Design bidders. “Many of them are drawn to the sustainability of the secondary market, where Design objects are not only beautiful but also environmentally conscious choices,” he explained. “Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have played a big role in this shift, making it easier than ever for collectors to discover and connect with designers across periods and geographies.”
Looking ahead to the final few months of 2025, Sørensen and his team are optimistic. “The momentum we’ve seen so far suggests sustained interest, especially as more seasoned and new collectors recognize the value and artistry within the category.”
Despite the swoon in the broader art market, design has continued to hit new highs with world record prices in all of Christie’s top markets, according to Alex Hemingway, Christie’s global head of design. Asked about the most sought-after names, he pointed to Lalanne, Giacometti, Tiffany and Royère, adding that today’s buyers are especially drawn to masterpiece-level works with strong provenance and compelling narratives.
George Nakashima’s Three-door room divider sold at Phillips for $209,550. Courtesy of Phillips
This June, Christie’s Design auction and the single-owner American Avant-Garde: The James D. Zellerbach Residence by Frances Elkins sale brought in a combined total of $23.6 million. Leading the auction was The Goddard Memorial Window by Tiffany Studios, which achieved $4,285,000, soaring past its $2-3 million estimate and becoming the second-highest price ever realized for a window from Tiffany’s studio. Nonetheless, the world record remains The Danner Memorial Window, which sold for $12.5 million with fees at Sotheby’s Modern Art evening sale last November. Before this, the studio’s record was $3.4 million for a Pond Lily lamp sold by Christie’s in 2018.
The Goddard Memorial Window, part of the American Avant-Garde sale, brought in $8.1 million, with 81 percent of lots selling at or above their high estimates. Other top-performing lots included two rare Oiseaux sculptures by Alberto Giacometti (sold for $2,954,000 and $2,833,000, respectively) and a pair of rare ‘Pyramides’ andirons (sold for $378,000). Jean-Michel Frank’s Aragon low table sold for $819,000, and his ceiling light brought in $277,200—more than five times its low estimate.
Lalanne led the $15.4 million Design sale. Claude Lalanne’s unique Structure végétale aux papillons, souris et oiseaux chandelier (2000) fetched $1,865,000, while her L’Enlèvement d’Europe (1990) sold for $1,134,000. Works by François-Xavier Lalanne also performed strongly, with Le Métaphore (Canard-Bateau) (ca. 2002) soaring to $667,800—five times its high estimate—and Rhinocéros Bleu (1981) achieving $327,600, well above its low estimate of $70,000. Animal-inspired design by other design masters drew significant interest as well, with Jean Royère’s Éléphanteau armchairs realizing $743,400. Notably, demand surged for Alberto and Diego Giacometti’s sculptural and lighting designs across Christie’s sales, with aggregate results finishing 147 percent above the combined pre-sale low estimates.
Claude Lalanne’s Unique ‘Structure végétale aux papillons, souris et oiseaux’ Chandelier (2000) sold for $1,865,000. Christie’s
Vintage design has become a market of its own over the past decade, confirms Alessandra di Castro, a renowned antiques dealer and the fourth generation of her family’s historic business based in Piazza di Spagna. Over time, she has progressively expanded her offering into broader categories to meet the evolving tastes of a more diverse and constantly shifting collector base. Di Castro pointed out that demand is especially strong when it comes to prominent names, particularly among the many foreign buyers who, encouraged by the flat tax, are purchasing homes in Italy. “They furnish them with Italian taste and aesthetics—those are very interesting clients,” she explained, noting how quickly international buyers absorb the beauty around them and want to live surrounded by it, much like travelers during the era of the Grand Tour.
“Even decorative art and design have become a global market—much more conscious and diverse than in the past,” she said, noting how it’s no longer just architects searching for the perfect piece. Auction houses have opened dedicated departments, and people now come with very specific requests—asking, for instance, whether they have or can source a particular piece by Scarpa.
“Personally, I always buy unique pieces, because I view them through my own lens—as a kind of continuity with the periods I’ve always focused on, particularly the 18th and 19th Centuries,” Di Castro explained. “But with my particular approach to research and my eye for unusual objects, I really look at everything.” Still, the expert dealer admits it’s somewhat disheartening that certain categories—like sublime examples of 18th- and 19th-century cabinetmaking—are now valued far less than when she began her career, even though they remain extraordinary works.
The market for big Italian design names like Carlo Scarpa or Ettore Sottsass remains strong, even in the international market. In December 2023, a rare Pennellate glass vase by Scarpa fetched $107,100 at Wright Auction House—starting from just $24,000 after being acquired for $3.99 in a thrift shop. The Italian architect’s latest record was set just this March for a special-order display cabinet that fetched $489,868 at Piasa. The most recent record for Memphis visionary Ettore Sottsass was set in 2018 at Phillips in London, where his iconic undulating mirror sculpture fetched $430,221. Since then, his furniture and ceramics have consistently crossed into mid- to upper-five-figure territory at European post-war and design sales.
Collectible design for new collectors and expanding geographies
According to Jennifer Olshin, partner and founding director at Friedman Benda, the term “collectible design” feels arbitrary—and even reductive—especially now that the categories of art and design increasingly overlap, both in how works are created and how they circulate. “We tend to avoid using the term because it doesn’t reflect how artists and designers think about their work. For them, it’s about creating something that expresses who they are, that pushes beyond what already exists. They don’t frame it as ‘collectible’—it’s just design, in the same way we don’t say ‘collectible art,’ we say art.”
“Ettore Sottsass 1947-1974” at Friedman Benda in 2023. Courtesy Friedman Benda and Ettore Sottsass | Photo: Daniel Kukla
Friedman Benda is a leading gallery at the intersection of contemporary design, craft and art, representing a highly diverse, intergenerational roster of designers and artists from around the world. Many challenge conventional boundaries between disciplines, materials and cultural narratives, often in cross-disciplinary ways. “Our focus is more on the making, the expression, the stories and commentary—the reason the work exists in the first place,” said Olshin. “Every artist on our roster is doing something we haven’t seen before. Together, they form what almost feels like an encyclopedia of what’s happening in design today.”
The gallery opened in New York in 2007 with an inaugural exhibition of legendary Italian designer Ettore Sottsass—his final show before his death. Since then, Friedman Benda has staged numerous exhibitions exploring the many phases of Sottsass’s complex, imaginative career and continues to represent his estate, along with other historically significant names such as Andrea Branzi, Gaetano Pesce, Wendell Castle and Shiro Kuramata. At the same time, the gallery champions emerging and multidisciplinary voices such as Samuel Ross, Misha Kahn, Ebitenyefa Baralaye and Formafantasma. “We’ve built a program that spans three or four generations of designers, artists and architects, many of whom play off each other in fascinating ways,” Olshin noted. “There have even been moments when a collector comes to us as a Sottsass collector and leaves with a work by Misha Kahn—because they sense a shared spirit between the two.”
Misha Kahn’s “Rien à voir” at Friedman Benda, Paris, in June 2025. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn | Photo: Fabrice Gousset
Olshin sees the early generation of design pioneers like Sottsass as having paved the way for younger talents. “They fought the initial battles and made things possible. Now, younger designers are building on those hard-won foundations and pushing things forward in their own way. After 18 years, we’re starting to see generational connections—designers introducing us to other designers, former students becoming peers, friends becoming collaborators. These evolving communities are really what we try to make the gallery about.”
Design itself is not new, nor is its market, Olshin pointed out. There have always been iconic collectors—especially in the U.S.—who’ve played a key role in shaping the broader design landscape. Many are deeply embedded in museum and institutional ecosystems, supporting exhibitions, publications and emerging practices. “These great patrons are integral to the cultural infrastructure,” she said. “By helping bring design into public view—through shows, dialogue and visibility—they create ripple effects that expand awareness and accessibility, shaping how wider audiences engage with design.”
What has changed more recently, however, is the breadth and diversity of the collector base. Interest in unique design pieces has expanded significantly since the pandemic, particularly among younger generations and across new geographies. “It’s not necessarily a new market, but we’re seeing a broadening of interest,” Olshin observed. “There are more players, more people engaging with what we’re doing—and a younger generation is coming to design in a really exciting way. They’re not drawing the same distinctions that once existed. For them, design isn’t separate from broader cultural conversations around art—it’s all part of the same dialogue.”
This new generation of collectors is looking to define their environments in more personal, meaningful ways. “It’s not just about aesthetics—it might be a single detail or object—but about surrounding themselves with stories and significance,” Olshin clarified. That shift has also changed who the buyers are. They’re no longer from a single social stratum or traditional collecting circles. Architects and interior designers now find themselves in closer dialogue with increasingly international, hands-on clients. “They’re interpreting the ethos of their clients—their values, daily lives, habits and aspirations. It’s about translating those stories on a deeper, more integrated level.”
Installation View: FormaFantasma’s “Formation” at Friedman Benda, New York. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Formafantasma. Photo: Izzy Leung
If there’s one common thread among today’s collectors, it’s a desire to live with design—intentionally and fully. “They’re not just acquiring objects to display in a corner; they’re integrating design into their daily lives in meaningful ways,” Olshin said. “It’s about creating environments that reflect how they live, think and feel.”
We’re also seeing notable geographic shifts beyond a handful of major centers. “Even in the U.S., we’re seeing collectors engage with cutting-edge work from regions that didn’t have a strong design presence in the past,” she said. “Whereas before they may have traveled to New York to experience it, now they’re building collections in their own communities.” Museums are starting to reflect this expanded interest as well. Some institutions have long been ahead of the curve, while others are now adapting to meet their audiences’ growing appetite for design. “There are curators who have been championing this for years and others who are now taking cues from their patrons, local communities, or academic circles.”
At the same time, the perspective has become truly global in terms of makers and collectors. “We used to talk about the U.S. market versus international markets, but now the gaze is much broader,” Olshin added. “It’s being driven partly by institutional collecting and design initiatives in places like Australia, the Middle East and Asia.”
“Summer By Design 2025” at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris. Photo: Benjamin Baccarani
“The collector base has indeed grown and diversified over the years,” confirmed Cyrelle Herve, director of Carpenters Workshop in Paris, when Observer asked her to speak on the pulse of the market. “We naturally work with contemporary art collectors. We also engage with enthusiasts of vintage design and even more classical pieces. We particularly enjoy seeing our artists’ works interact with other styles, creating a sense of harmony and aesthetic balance.”
Founded in 2006 in a former carpenter’s workshop in London’s Chelsea, the gallery has since expanded globally, with locations in London (Mayfair), Paris (Le Marais), New York and Los Angeles. With a research-driven curatorial approach that remains attuned to both emerging talent and evolving trends in limited-edition functional sculpture and collectible design, the gallery now boasts a prestigious roster of artists, including Maarten Baas, Wendell Castle, Ingrid Donat, Studio Drift, Rick Owens and Antonio de Cotiis, among others.
Since the gallery’s founding, the design-art segment has undergone a remarkable transformation, Hervé reflects. “Just 15 to 20 years ago, it was still considered a niche market. Today, it holds a prominent place on the international art scene, and its market has evolved rapidly.” A visit to Design Miami or Art Basel’s Paris fair makes this shift palpable: the growing hybridization between art and design has fueled fluid collaborations across disciplines, resulting in exclusive, editioned works that blur the line between functional object and collectible sculpture.
According to Hervé, there’s a growing appetite for works that merge craftsmanship with a strong conceptual or material narrative. “Limited-edition design has moved from a niche interest to a core category in contemporary collections,” she said, noting how the gallery has recently seen a broadening audience—from seasoned contemporary art collectors to new generations drawn to tactile materials, storytelling and the individuality of each piece. “The act of collecting is no longer driven solely by function or decoration, but by a desire for meaningful, enduring works with cultural or sculptural depth. Buyers are more informed now—often researching materials, processes and the artist’s intent before purchasing.” At the same time, Carpenters Workshop is seeing increased demand for commissioned and site-specific pieces. Clients today prioritize sustainability, provenance and innovation as much as aesthetics.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery Paris showcases historic and contemporary works united by aesthetic associations. Photo: Benjamin Baccarani
Regarding trends, Hervé has seen a renewed interest in Brutalism and materiality, alongside a consistent appetite for statement pieces by established names such as Ingrid Donat, Vincenzo De Cotiis and Wendell Castle. Organic design is also on the rise, with artists like Najla El Zein and Wonmin Park gaining traction. At the same time, designers blending technology and form—such as Studio Drift and Random International—are increasingly in demand.
Asked about what she hopes to see next, Hervé is clear: “I would like the next trend to focus on narrative and sociopolitical engagement—pieces that address the environment, identity, gender, memory or decolonization.” She confirmed that the market in Paris—and more broadly in France—has grown significantly in recent years. “We work closely with many interior architects, who play a key role in promoting design art.” While the market remains sensitive to political and geopolitical shifts, which can introduce unpredictability, she notes that the market has been consistently dynamic and expansive in the United States, both on the B2B and B2C fronts. Still, she added, the French approach tends to be more measured and reflective. “More broadly, across all our markets, collecting is often guided by an intellectual process—an interest in the history of forms, the artist’s gesture and the meaning embedded in each piece. Our role goes far beyond simply presenting the work; we’re here to accompany, inform and at times, help educate the collector’s eye.”
The market for design is strongest in Europe. Artnet
According to 2024 data from the Artnet Intelligence Report published in March, sales in the decorative-art category—which in their analysis includes both design objects and furniture but also jewelry, watches and other collectibles—dropped nearly 42 percent year on year, netting $3.3 billion, the lowest total in a decade. In terms of geographical distribution, the market for the category at auction is much stronger in Europe ($1.3 billion in sales) and Asia ($1 billion), while North America maintains a third position for decorative art, generating just over $898 million.
The rise of fairs dedicated to Design
Meanwhile, new fairs are focusing on meeting the growing demand for collectible design. While Design Miami canceled its Basel edition, it has swiftly cemented its presence in Paris, becoming one of the most highly attended events during Art Basel Paris week. Its Miami Beach flagship returns for its 21st edition this December, curated by Glenn Adamson, and for the first time, Design Miami is also pushing into Asia with a curated exhibition in Seoul, timed to coincide with the city’s art week and tapping into the region’s booming market. Titled “Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design,” the show (which is part of Design Miami’s new In Situ series) will be curated by Hyeyoung Cho, chairperson of the Korea Association of Art & Design, in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation. It will feature over 170 works—from furniture to lighting to objets d’art—exploring the convergence of traditional Korean craftsmanship and contemporary innovation.
This September, The Armory Show will debut a new design-focused section, Function, that explores how artists blur the lines between art and design. Beyond the curatorial intent to expand definitions, the initiative is also a strategic play to attract a broader cohort of aesthetically minded collectors. “The more entry points we can offer different types of audiences, the better,” fair director Kyla McMillan told Observer.
That same week, COLLECTIBLE returns to New York for its second edition, expanding its footprint and exhibitor roster after a successful debut at the new WSA 2 building. Long established in Belgium as the only fair devoted exclusively to 21st-century design, COLLECTIBLE’s New York edition could fill a persistent void in the U.S. market for dedicated contemporary design fairs.
The FASHION section at COLLECTIBLE New York in 2024. Photo: Simon Leung
COLLECTIBLE distinguishes itself with a fluid, non-traditional format that prioritizes aesthetic experience over discrete objects with immersive presentations such as Vignette, a section inviting interior designers to stage fully realized environments, creating compelling conversations between contemporary and vintage works. “Vignette will explore the conversation between collectible and interior design,” said interior designer Michael Hila, who curates the section, in a statement. “Each Vignette becomes a curated mise-en-scène—a sort of ‘store window’—where contemporary works are paired with vintage or antique pieces to express a personal design ethos. While the spaces might be small, the ideas will be boundless.” Combining curatorial rigor with a spirit of experimentation, COLLECTIBLE also keeps an eye on the future of design through New Gaarde, a platform dedicated to pioneering emerging studios founded within the past three years.
“What was once a critically engaged field has in recent years gained momentum,” Liv Vaisberg, who founded the fair with Clélie Debehault in 2018, told Observer. “We have seen a marked acceleration: more galleries dedicated to contemporary collectible design, a growing base of committed collectors, increasing institutional interest and deeper media coverage. While the market remains selective in scale, its cultural relevance has expanded significantly—shifting from the margins to a more prominent, discerning place within the broader design landscape.”
COLLECTIBLE recently announced its first-ever Hong Kong edition—the fair is venturing into the Asian market with an event scheduled for December and supported by the Hong Kong Government’s CCIDA. Curated by co-founders Clélie Debehault and Liv Vaisberg, with scenography by Ann Chan (Hero Design), the show will be part of Design Factory, a new international platform presented by Maison&Objet in Hong Kong.
Luxury-branded design holds the furniture market
It’s important to note that the data and analysis above mainly refer to the art and collectible side of the design market, which consists of exclusive collaborations, special editions and artist collaborations that distinguish it from the broader design and furniture industry. However, even when considering the industry as a whole, the global furniture market showed consistent growth in 2024. According to Future Business Insights, it was valued at $568.6 billion and is projected to reach $878.14 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.65 percent. Asia Pacific led the market in 2024 with a commanding 48.68 percent share, underscoring the region’s manufacturing dominance and rising consumer demand. In the United States, the market is expected to reach $130.24 billion by 2032, driven by strong housing sales and growing demand for innovative, design-forward furniture.
The luxury segment remains a leader. According to Technavio, the Global Luxury Furniture Market is expected to grow by $9.54 billion from 2024 to 2028, driven by the increase in the number of luxury furniture showrooms and a demand for more eco-friendly, high-quality craftsmanship.
The market is holding up across different geographies, according to Marcello Lucchetta, a vice president of sales at Luxury Living Group. “It was certainly not the best year, but it has remained stable thanks to a specific and important factor: the world of branded real estate developments,” he said, referring to branded hotels, such as Bentley Residences, Dolce & Gabbana Residences and the Fendi Condo Residences.
At this year’s Milan Design Week, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled the new Verde Maiolica homeware line, its first-ever collection of bed linens, new Gotham furniture and its latest outdoor collection, Saint Jean, created in collaboration with Luxury Living Group. Dolce & Gabbana
And that segment is especially relevant in certain regions, Lucchetta adds, noting the growing presence of so-called “soft luxury” brands—those that aren’t overly loud—doing exceptionally well, like Fendi, automotive names like Bentley and Bugatti and fashion brands like Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana, which continues to show strong interest.
According to Lucchetta, the number of residential and hospitality developments tied to a brand and/or featuring branded interiors is growing, particularly in North America, extending beyond Miami. “Previously, most of the activity was centered in Miami, which now feels somewhat saturated, but the market is expanding across the U.S. and North America more broadly,” he said. “Compared to last year, the numbers are roughly the same, but there’s more uncertainty now, mainly due to tariffs and what could be described as trade wars or customs duty conflicts.” As for retail, it’s a different story—the market is weak for other products. “I think that’s a trend we’re seeing across various sectors, not just luxury.”
François-Xavier Lalanne, Lapin à vent Tortour, 2002; Patinated bronze, 72 ⅜ x 21 ¼ x 98 ⅜ in. (184 x 54 x 250 cm) (ears backward), 72 ⅜ x 21 ¼x 122 in. (184 x 54 x 310 cm) (ears forward). Courtesy of Christie’s
Les Lalanne, one of the most dynamic and inspiring art couples of the 20th Century, earned admiration from Surrealists and celebrities alike. Though often linked to the Surrealist movement, they rejected formal associations, creating a distinct artistic language that blended fine and decorative arts. Their work, largely inspired by naturalistic forms with sophisticated nods to classical literature, has garnered intense market attention in recent years, fetching record-breaking prices at auctions and being featured in exhibitions worldwide.
This October, Christie’s will host a special auction of works by François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008) from the collection of his daughter, Dorothée Lalanne. French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus will curate a unique exhibition in conjunction with the sale, offering his fresh perspective on the remarkable collection, on view at Christie’s New York from October 4 to October 10.
Fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus is curating a special exhibition at Christie’s on the occasion of the upcoming auction “François-Xavier Lalanne, Sculpteur | Collection Dorothée Lalanne.” Brian McCormick
Beginning in 1966, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, known collectively as Les Lalanne, developed artistic practices that were deeply intertwined. Claude’s sculptures often evoke flora, reimagining elements like ginkgo leaves, branches or apples with Renaissance and Baroque influences. François-Xavier, on the other hand, became renowned for his life-size animal sculptures, inspired by his time working as a guard in the Louvre Museum’s Egyptian and Assyrian galleries, where he absorbed the rich symbolism of ancient mythologies and civilizations. As he once remarked, “The animal world offers an infinite repertory of forms connected to a universal symbolism” that “children as well as adults are sensitive to.”
The couple’s surreal take on naturalism appeals across generations, tapping into a timeless desire to reconnect with nature and to integrate natural motifs—something modern man has sought since the onset of industrialization. Les Lalanne’s visionary work anticipates a profound reintegration of the relationship between humans and the natural world.
The upcoming auction at Christie’s will feature seventy lots, marking the auction house’s first solo presentation of François-Xavier Lalanne’s works. This follows a series of record-breaking sales of pieces from Dorothée Lalanne’s collection, including a landmark Sotheby’s auction in November 2021 that brought in €129 million—double the high estimate, making history as the highest-grossing collection sold in France in over a decade. In December of 2022, another record auction at Christie’s, “Sculpting Paradise: The Collection of Marie Lalanne,” featuring works owned by another daughter, Marie, fetched a staggering $77,043,008, with 100 percent of lots sold, 88 percent surpassing high estimates and eighteen works crossing the $1 million mark. Last year, François-Xavier achieved a new auction record at Christie’s with the sale of his Rhinocrétaire I (1964) for $19,418,556.
François-Xavier Lalanne, Tortue Topiaire III, 2000; Copper, stainless steel, 17 ¼ x 48 ⅜ x 29 ½ in. (44 x 123 x 75 cm. Courtesy of Christie’s
“A beloved post-war sculptor, François-Xavier Lalanne continues to amaze us with his joyful, highly refined work,” Alex Heminway, international head of design at Christie’s, said in a statement. “It’s been a thrilling few years for the artist’s market with significant institutional and gallery exhibitions.”
Recently, Kasmin Gallery in New York showcased a curated selection of Les Lalanne’s works, further cementing the couple’s boundless creativity in the American art world. The exhibition primarily featured pieces from the collection of their eldest daughter, Caroline Hamisky Lalanne. The family’s close involvement in their work has contributed to their success, allowing them to maintain a controlled market. At the same time, in Venice, Ben Brown orchestrated a curated exhibition titled “Planète Lalanne,” coinciding with this year’s Biennale. This comprehensive show created a captivating dialogue between the couple’s imaginative artistry and the opulent interiors of Palazzo Rota.
François-Xavier Lalanne, Très Grand Ours, 2009; Patinated bronze, 124 x 58 ¼ x 59 ½ in. (315 x 148 x 151 cm). Courtesy of Christie’s
François-Xavier’s whimsical animal sculptures and furniture, combining extraordinary sculptural talent, craftsmanship and imagination, possess a timeless charm that transcends cultural boundaries. Despite a market slowdown, demand for Les Lalanne pieces remains strong, and we’re likely to see record prices again. Among the highlights of the upcoming sale at Christie’s is one of François-Xavier’s most celebrated works, Le Très Grand Ours (2009), with a high estimate of $3 million, along with Lapin À Vent De Tourtour (2002), with a high estimate of $1.5 million. Both works were previously featured in the major institutional exhibition “Les Lalanne à Trianon” at the Château de Versailles in 2021. Additionally, the auction will include Oiseleur II (2003), which is being offered for the first time.
Martinique-born Julien Creuzet represented France at this year’s Venice Biennale, transforming the pavilion into a space where a radical and collective imaginary opens up. Photo: Djiby Kebe for CHANEL Culture Fund
Originally from Martinique, Julien Creuzet brought his distinctive French-Caribbean voice to the French Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale where he reflects on the sea as both a horizon of opportunity and a threat, a place of healing and life as well as death and suffering. In Venice, Creuzet envisioned a pavilion where ‘overseas territories’ and the ‘ultramarine’ merge into a fluid dimension, evoking our embryonic origins in water and humanity’s dependence on this vital element. His work, titled Attila cataracte ta source aux pieds des pitons verts finira dans la grande mer gouffre bleu nous nous noyâmes dans les larmes marées de la lune (or “Attila cataract your source at the feet of the green peaks will end up in the great sea blue abyss we drowned in the tidal tears of the moon”) reads like a poem that connects ancient mythologies and suggests a continuous flow of narratives and spiritualities born from intercultural exchange.
“We need to consider which is the first and oldest memory a child has, as an embryo, before birth,” Creuzet told Observer. “This is an immersive experience inside the liquid—the liquid of maternity and life. Sometimes, when we take a bath and go to the beach, more or less unconsciously, we can feel again and retrieve memories about that, especially when our body is floating inside the water.”
The static visual components of Creuzet’s work are paired with sound and video to create an immersive experience. Jacopo La Forgia
Building on this concept, Creuzet has created an immersive multimedia and multisensory installation that blends sound, video and sculpture to explore the myths of hybrid societies. Sculptural threads hang from the ceiling, rich in texture and pigment, unraveling across the space like an intricate forest of lianas or a coral cluster. These threads capture relics of human civilization entangled in the currents of nature and history. In crafting this sensory confluence of narratives and sensations, Creuzet has forged a radical imaginary that invites connection to the divine, ancestral and, simultaneously, to Venice, with its canals and maritime legacy.
In Creuzet’s work, water—particularly as it manifests in seas and oceans—serves as a vehicle for the continuous flow of history, the movement of people, energies and ideas shaping new forms. The mysterious narrative he weaves within the space embraces water as a repository of collective memories and traumas but also as a realm of initiation, healing and regeneration. As Creuzet recalls, although he was born and raised in the suburbs of Paris, his family took him back to Martinique before he was even a month old to have his first saltwater bath—a ritual of reconnection and the continuation of family heritage.
His evolving mythopoiesis through video, poetry and sculpture unfolds across media with a boundless flow, where imagination allows him to tap into and reactivate timeless archetypes and symbols in a cross-cultural dimension. This hybridization of traditions results in the creation of new mythological beings. As Creuzet explains, the deities and demons of the sea that fluctuate around the pavilion were conceived through extensive research by him and his studio into various mythological and religious traditions tied to the sea. “We did a lot of research on how different civilizations conceived representations and mythologies about water. It’s a mythology we find everywhere, with different names, as an innate necessity across geographies.”
Creuzet describes the pavilion in terms of form and sound, volumes and lines in movement and colorful encounters that combine in an intense experience. Jacopo La Forgia
Digital animation and new technologies serve as powerful tools in Creuzet’s hands, bringing his envisioned creatures to life as universal hybrids that embody various symbologies and traditions. These traditions have long sought to represent the mysterious forces and energies of the sea. As Creuzet noted during our conversation, monotheistic and polytheistic religions, particularly animism, once attempted to depict these forces as deities or demons. Today, in a society that has largely lost faith in religion, it seems artists are among the few who can still create magical representations. This ability is crucial for helping us visualize the unknown forces of nature and, more importantly, for imagining different futures. Artists hold a unique connection to the ancestral, with the ability to extend the past’s reality into the future.
Building on this idea, Creuzet has reimagined the statue of Neptune atop the staircases at Palazzo della Dogana in Venice. He explained that Neptune has symbolically entered the pavilion, embodying his classical role as the god of the sea and his cosmic connections. Other sculptural elements in the pavilion evoke ancient relics and remnants of a civilization lost to the sea. Yet everything in the pavilion exists in a suspended, liquid, embryonic space where past, present and future converge. The artist’s imagination, manifesting in this multisensory experience, invites visitors to immerse themselves and float between these dimensions.
“Creuzet’s forms stem from a locus of emancipation, which must be felt to see truly,” reads the exhibition description. “It is a moment of learning and unlearning as a reconciliation with our senses and a space to be untranslated and liberated.” Jacopo La Forgia
The artist reflected here that his Caribbean identity allows him to navigate and operate more consciously within these fluid, hybrid dimensions. Édouard Glissant’s concept of “Creolization” illustrates this well—the Caribbean’s history, with its composite population, exemplifies the fertile melting pot of cultures, deities and traditions that arose from centuries of movement, colonization, migration and trade.
“I think to be a Caribbean person is about this universalism,” said Creuzet. “Simply because the Caribbean is a considerable mixing of different civilizations.” Yet at the same time, this hybrid reality seems to be the only viable position for those in exile or distanced from a singular national perspective. Like Ovid writing Metamorphoses while in exile, Creuzet added, this detachment from dominant narratives opens the door to explore broader universal themes.
“Contemporary art is a question of metamorphosis, a potential metamorphosis of society’s vision,” he said, revealing his approach to art and this project. For him, art is an exercise in radical imagination. By drawing on the accumulated heritage of knowledge and symbologies from various cultures and historical moments, it can still shape a new, meaningful universe in a universal language, casting light on a more harmonious future.
Celebrating the boundless imaginative potential of art and poetry, the Biennale pavilion Creuzet conceived embraces a pioneering universalism—one already embedded in the Caribbean—that can inspire a rich and beneficial coexistence among diverse individuals and entities.
Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo at Silverlens Manila. Photo by Joseph Pascual. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
While the Philippines might not yet be considered one of the leading centers in the art world, the country has a vibrant and healthy art scene and market. The local art system already presents a mature structure, with long-established galleries and auction houses and regional artists with lengthy waiting lists commanding high prices.
According to most of the Filipino collectors we spoke with, the art scene in the Philippines dates back to even before WWII, despite at the time mainly focusing on memorabilia, religious art and the Philippines’ Masters. When discussing the pre-war era, people mention Roman Ongpin, a Chinese-Filipino businessman and philanthropist who established El 82 in 1882 in Binondo, Manila. The space was originally an art supply shop but later became a significant cultural and social hub, supporting Filipino artists and the Philippine Revolution when Alfonso Ongpin, his son, transformed it into a gallery that showcased important Filipino artworks.
The Filipino art market is very healthy and appears to be continuously growing. Exhibitions in Manila are often sold out, to the point that most galleries and artists don’t technically need to circulate their work elsewhere. The Philippines now has its own art fair, Art Fair Philippines in February, which was founded in 2013 by Lisa Periquet, Dindin Araneta and Trickie Lopa—passionate art enthusiasts and advocates for the Philippine art scene.
Since its beginning, the founder of the gallery Silverlens wanted to do things differently, applying an international gallery business model and aiming to bring Filipino artists abroad. We met with founder Isa Lorenzo, and co-director Rachel Rillo to learn more about their story and the Filipino art system in general.
“Causal Loops” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The gallery’s Manila headquarters are in an industrial building in Makati, a financial center and one of the wealthiest parts of the metro city. There are other art galleries nearby, though this isn’t yet what you could rightly call an arts district.
The gallery has a large open space upstairs, meaning they can host two exhibitions simultaneously. When we visited, it was during the last days of a show by Filipino artist Bernardo Pacquing, who, with a similar approach to Arte Povera and Art Informel, mixes found objects to conceive new abstractions dense with memory while playing with notions of “ugly” and “messy.” The artist is quite popular in the Philippines, although he has rarely been shown abroad. In the other room, they had a show of a younger artist, Dina Gadia, who, applying the strategy of Pop art’s burst brushwork and acrylic washes over printing ink, works on the images of school books Americans brought to the Philippines during the occupation, problematizing the imagination created during this time.
In Manila, we met with Rillo, who, after showing us around, invited us to sit at a large round table in the office. She told us that the gallery was founded in Manila in 2004 by Lorenzo, and then she joined in 2007 as co-director. Initially, the gallery focused on photography, then expanded to other media with time and the market evolving. More importantly, since their start, they had the ambition to be an international gallery, able to promote artists from the Philippines and the broader South Asia region to the global contemporary art world.
Rillo recalled that other galleries criticized their model, not understanding why they decided to have a bigger staff and space and participate in the international fairs. Most can easily survive and even do very well just by tapping into the local market, and so other Filipino galleries tend to avoid international fairs as they don’t see the need to invest money in something that will most likely bring more loss than profit. But to Lorenzo, from the very beginning, it was clear that Silverlens had to play a global game.
The gallery opened an outpost in Singapore in 2010, which was open for four years, and they started participating in international fairs. In 2017, they decided to expand their space in Makati to show how they could be the local powerhouse.
According to Rillo, another factor in their stable growth has been their unique approach to the business: being artists themselves, their philosophy is artists first, and their aim is to provide the platform for creatives to build solid careers within institutional settings instead of only thinking in terms of market success. While the market is fueling the careers of many Filipino artists, it’s a short-term strategy.
The institutional interest also pushed the gallerists to consider a big move to open in New York during the pandemic. Lorenzo told Observer that, “it was during the pandemic that we noticed that international curators were interested in the region. Perhaps as a product of art travel restrictions and museum programs halting during that time, we had several conversations with institutions from the U.S., that hinted at an interest in art from our side of the continent.”
“Soft Fantasy / Hard Reality” at Silverlens New York. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The challenge was significant, considering the prices in New York, but a space came to them as if by fate, Rillo recalled: “We started to ask around and explored, and decided to rely on an agent a friend suggested to us. We gave him the exact street and position where we wanted to be; we said either that or nothing. After a few days, he returned to us with an unreal offer, and the timing was right.” As sometimes happens, chances in life let things flow. After making the necessary arrangements, in 2022, the two opened in a premier position in Chelsea, at 505 on 24th Street, between Kasmin and Marianne Boesky.
The program space in Chelsea clearly shows their target is, first and foremost, institutions: this summer, they have a multimedia show curated by Lorenzo, “Hard Fantasy / Soft Reality,” featuring a group of Filipino and South Asians who stage a multifaceted and futuristic exploration of a body and identity reality that is constantly evolving today, despite the resilience of various conservative social systems that persist in parts of Southeast Asia. Video, sculptures and installation works are predominant in the exhibition, with many of the artists included already boasting institutional recognition and projects in their resumes.
When asked about feedback thus far and if they saw interest growing, Lorenzo responded that since the gallery opened in Chelsea, “interest has become more palpable, not only for art that comes from SEA but from the diaspora. The response and the energy from the Filipino-American and Asian-American community are overwhelming. So yes, there is an internationally growing audience in New York, but this is not something that just happened; it is the result of 20 years of Silverlens and 15 years of being part of several important art fairs.”
Silverlens now regularly participates in international art fairs, including the Armory Show, Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Fair Philippines and S.E.A. Focus, a more curated boutique event dedicated to South Asia art in Singapore during Art Week in January. “It’s more like a curated show or a Biennale,” Rillo explained. “I like the dialogue that this fair also creates with other colleagues in the region.” They used to do other fairs like Frieze London, but there are some regions where Filippino and South Asian art still do not resonate much with the public.
The Philippines has a complicated colonial history that connects it with Spain, of course, but also with Central and Latino America with the Galleons and later with the States for their influence during decolonization. In these geographical and intercultural exchanges, the Silverlens program can function as an essential platform to problematize and explore this history, these interconnections and the unique cultural hybridization that resulted from that.
When asked if there’s something particular in Filipino art today, compared to their Asian colleagues and their international counterparts, Lorenzo commented, “The Philippines’ complicated colonial history is ongoing. Our art history mostly starts and continues from a very European art practice/history via Spain via the Catholic church. Then, our modern and contemporary leans heavily on American postmodernism, politics and pop culture. It is in these interconnections and cultural hybridity (as you said) that make for a very dynamic art language both locally and in the diaspora.”
“Land Poetics” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
In the deeper analysis we had a chance to undertake while exploring the local art scene and talking with some of its players and patrons, what the art system in the Philippines seems to be now lacking is just a national infrastructure of public and institutional support. Surprisingly, despite the maturity of the system and the growing popularity of contemporary art here, there’s still no national museum or national collection of modern and contemporary art, except the national bank and the university galleries, which are very active. While the market for contemporary Filipino art is growing, challenges such as limited public funding for the arts and the need for more professional art management still need to be addressed.
Various private initiatives, however, are trying to compensate for this gap. One of the first was Pintô Art Museum, founded by Dr. Joven Cuanang, a neurologist and art patron, in 1988 as the first museum dedicated to contemporary Filipino art open to the public. Although the entire system relies on private endeavors, many local collectors, including regional and very established international names, are already planning to create private museums to open their collections to the public.
Meanwhile, Filipino artists are gaining growing international recognition, as we can see in the U.S. from the extensive survey MoMA Ps1 is dedicating to Pacita Abad (which showed at SFMOMA after premiering at Walker Art Center), the video work by Martha Atianza currently presented in ninety billboards in Times Square as part of the historical art program “Midnight moment,” as well as just the many names from the Philippines and the South Asian Region region that are showing this year at the Biennale.
The role of local art galleries in the Philippines like Silverlens is the key to putting the country’s contemporary art onto the world stage—participating in international fairs and bringing it to the attention of international institutions is step one. This will further validate Filipino artists’ careers and establish them within a global art history narrative when the national scene is still struggling to find public support.
