Welcome to The Buzz, our monthly roundup of design world news and inspiration for Design Miami’s discerning community of creatives and collectors. Enjoy!

Jakob Jørgensen: Take Root at HB381

At HB381 in Manhattan, you’ll currently find Take Root, a solo show of monumental steel sculptures by Jakob Jørgensen. Well known for minimalist, wood furniture, the Danish artist-designer has recently taken an interest in experimenting with the sculptural potential of standardized steel piping. In Jørgensen’s capable hands, the unassuming industrial material is utterly transformed, imbued with a warm, organic quality that echoes the rugged Danish landscape surrounding his studio in Bornholm. The show is on view through April 22nd.

LEVEL Presented by Laffanour—Galerie Downtown x Charles Riva Collection

Following up on his successful collaboration with Galerie Perrotin earlier this year, Parisian gallerist François Laffanour has joined forces with Brussels-based art collector Charles Riva to present LEVEL, an exhibition that once again brings collectible design in conversation with contemporary art. On the design side, Laffanour has contributed iconic mid-century French works by Jean Prouvé, Pierre Jeanneret, and Le Corbusier, as well as contemporary pieces by Korean designer Choï Byung Hoon. Riva, meanwhile, has contributed paintings and prints by conceptual American artists like Paul McCarthy, Richard Prince, and Christopher Wool. The show in Paris runs through April 29th before traveling to Brussels, where it will be on view at the Charles Riva Collection from April 19th through July 1st.

Garden Futures: Designing with Nature at Vitra Design Museum

Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein has recently opened Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, an exhibition exploring gardens past, present, and future. From deck chairs to community and urban farms, the show examines humans’ changing relationship with nature, with a hopeful eye on how we can build a more just, sustainable, and livable tomorrow. The exhibition design, notably, has been created by the always thoughtful Italian design duo Formafantasma. Garden Futures is on view through October 3rd.

Hanne Friis: Torrent at Galerie Maria Wettergren

This past weekend, Galerie Maria Wettergren in Paris opened Torrent, a selection of master works by Hanne Friis, several of which were recently exhibited at the Vigeland Museum in Oslo. The title of the exhibition, Torrent, refers to the roiling, fluid movement that defines Friis’ intricately handcrafted sculptures and has established her among Norway’s most celebrated textile artists today. “I have been working with the same themes since I was an art student,” Friis explains. “It’s all about how we as humans are connected to nature… we are constantly changing, which eventually leads us to death. It’s a kind of processing of this insight, that life and death are connected.” Torrent is on view through June 17th.

Emma Donnersberg x Abel Cárcamo: PENZAI at Les Ateliers Courbet

Opening today at Les Ateliers Courbet in Manhattan, PENZAI is an exhibition of new, bronze works collaboratively created by Paris-based designer Emma Donnersberg and Chilean sculptor Abel Cárcamo, with assistance from French master founder David de Gourcuff. The culmination of a three-year process, the limited-edition collection includes zen-garden-inspired tables and lamps that were hand-modeled by Cárcamo under Donnersberg’s creative direction and then cast in bronze and hand-patinated at Fonderie Fusions, de Gourcuff’s esteemed art foundry in Auvergne. The show runs through June 10th.

Rafael Prieto: Together Over Time at Emma Scully Gallery

This week, Emma Scully Gallery in Manhattan unveils Together Over Time, a debut solo show by NYC and CDMX-based designer Rafael Prieto—promoted with the intriguing tagline “a poetic showcase of aesthetic happenstance.” An homage to Manuel DeLanda’s theories about art’s interconnectedness with chance, chaos, and everyday life, the show features furniture, sculpture, and lighting produced by Prieto in a range of materials, each positioned in the gallery space to invite interpretation. “I see this as a concrete poem or haiku,” Prieto says, “something for others to engage with and feel connected to, as I do.” The show is on view through June 3rd.

The Dennis Freedman Collection at R & Company

Later this month, R & Company in Manhattan will open an exhibition of more than 50 rare and visionary design objects from the renowned Dennis Freedman Collection. Freedman’s eye for style came to prominence during his creative director tenures, first at W Magazine followed by Barneys New York. He went on to become a sought after consultant for fashion brands and design galleries, all while building one of the world’s premier private collections of postwar experimental design. The forthcoming show at R & Company will showcase Freedman’s collection through a selection of European surrealist furniture; iconic 21st-century designs by Joris Laarman and the Campana Brothers, among others; and classic chairs, from Gerrit Rietveld to Shiro Kuramata. The Dennis Freedman Collection will run through August 11th.

Southern Guild debuts at EXPO Chicago

Expo Chicago Activations: Southern Guild x Norman Teague Design Studio x Michael Graham/ Balloon

On the occasion of the gallery’s debut at the EXPO Chicago fair, Southern Guild has planned three stellar events, produced in collaboration with some notable Chicago locals: designer and UIC professor Norman Teague and Michael Graham of Balloon and Converso. If you’re in town, don’t miss what they have in store:

Live Braiding: Zizipho Poswa and Shani Crowe

South African ceramic artist Zizipho Poswa and American interdisciplinary artist Shani Crowe are staging a cross-cultural collaboration on site at EXPO Chicago. Within an interactive and informal setting that recreates aspects of an African hair salon, Shani will create a unique hairstyle on Zizipho and the two artists will talk about their work, the creativity and heritage inherent in Black women’s hairstyles, and issues that affect Black women on both sides of the Atlantic. The audience will be encouraged to participate in the conversation, to “drop in” during the afternoon. Once the hairstyle is complete, Zizipho will make a miniature ceramic sculpture of the hairstyle. The vision is for both artists to share their craft and encourage cross-continental dialogue on issues important to Black womanhood. The event will take place at EXPO Chicago at Navy Pier on April 15th, 12pm-5pm.

South x South: Andile Dyalvane in conversation with Ashara Ekundayo

On April 15th (7pm-10:30pm) at Blanc Gallery, the public is invited to enjoy a conversation between Chicago-based independent curator Ashara Ekundayo and Andile Dyalvane, one of South Africa’s foremost ceramics artists. In addition to discussing Dyalvane’s renowned, ancestor-inspired iThongo series, the duo will explore the connections between Black artists from South Africa and Chicago’s South Side. And as if that weren’t enough, the event also includes a short film screening; a performance by Chicago’s African Dance and Music Institute; and house music by Celeste Alexander, aka CelestetheDJ, the only female DJ from the earliest days of Chicago House. Blanc Gallery is located at 4445 S Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago.

Book Launch & Children’s Workshop: Connect the Dots by Zanele Muholi



On April 16th (10am - 1pm), South African artist and activist Zanele Muholi will launch Connect the Dots, her dot-to-dot image workbook for children of all ages. The project grew out of Muholi's ongoing series of photographic self-portraits and is aimed at inspiring the next generation of creatives. The public—and especially kids—are invited to come meet the artist and participate in an  interactive workshop, while collectors and organizations are encouraged to purchase workbooks to donate to schools. The event will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, 600 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago.