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

Icônes 1950 at Galerie Jacques Lacoste

This week, Galerie Jacque Lacoste in Paris is closing a beautiful show, Icônes 1950, which features drool-worthy master works by major mid-century French talents—Max Ingrand, Georges Jouve, Mathieu Matégot, Serge Mouille, Alexandre Noll, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, and Jean Royère. In case you can’t make it to Rue de Seine, you can tour the show through a lovely video here.

Stefan Rurak at Todd Merrill in Southampton

For its 7th summer pop-up in Southampton, Manhattan gallery Todd Merrill Studio presents new works by Brooklyn-based artist-designer Stefan Rurak. Including paintings, tables, credenzas, and lighting in hand welded, hand patinated steel, the collection calls to mind the mid-century furniture of Paul Evans—whose work is also championed by Merrill—but the vibe is decidedly more colorful, youthful, and fun. The show runs through the summer.

Don’t Wake the Snake by Carmen D’Apollonio at Friedman Benda

On view now at Friedman Benda in New York:  Don’t Wake the Snake, the first solo show for LA-based, Swiss artist Carmen D’Apollonio. Self-taught in ceramics, D'Apollonio presents new works—loveable, pathos-filled lamps, vessels, and sculptures—that are the culmination of seven years of research and experimentation. This wry new collection alludes to diverse influences, from the canon of modern art and ancient archaeological artifacts to mundane moments from everyday life.The show runs through August 13th.

“Each lamp becomes its own character and seems like a little human. I never know what’s going to happen. One piece leads to another piece and there is no control. I just go with the flow.” —Carmen D’Apollonio

Modern In Your Life by BassamFellows for R & Company

This month, New York’s R & Company opened Modern In Your Life, the second installment of a two-part collaboration with BassamFellows, examining the Connecticut-based studio’s ongoing dialogue with the legacy of modernism. Presented in a landmark Philip Johnson building in Ridgefield—restored in 2018 by BassamFellows to serve as its HQ—Modern In Your Life presents the studio’s current work alongside iconic 20th-century designs curated by James Zemaitis from R & Company’s collection and a grouping of modern art masterpieces curated by art advisor Erica Barrish. Part one of the collaboration, Carve, Curve, Cane, exploring BassamFellows’ approach to materials, opened at R & Company in Tribeca in June.

Bloom by Lake Verea via Ago Photo

Ago Projects has just launched Ago Photo, the Mexico City gallery’s new initiative aimed at showcasing stellar contemporary Latin American photography. The debut project, Bloom, is a digital exhibition of recent photographs by Lake Verea, the collaborative studio of artist-photographers Francisca Rivero-Lake Cortina and Carla Verea Hernández. Bloom features 25 sublime and moody images of the natural and architectural elements found at the Casa Wabi Foundation in Oaxaca, embodying the studio’s perspective on architecture: “something that intensifies our contact with the ground, the sky, and the outside world.”

Culture Object's Adaptation Supports H.R.1

This month, New York gallery Culture Object opened a new show entitled Adaptation. While the works in the show are wonderful—richly textured vessels by rising star talents Kim Markel, Cody Norman, Ane Christensen, and more—we are especially moved by the fact that gallery founder Damon Crain is using the project to advocate for crucial legislation that would protect voting rights in the US.

Currently across country, conservative state legislatures are swiftly passing legislation that suppresses the votes of BIPOC and other vulnerable communities. The antidote is the For the People Act (a.k.a. H.R.1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which if passed would safeguard access to voting, reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders. We join Damon in asking all eligible voters in the US to call their Senators and Congressperson in DC and demand passage of both federal acts. Dial (202) 224-3121 to be connected to your representatives.

“The single characteristic most essential to the survival of a democracy is the equal and free access of its citizens to exercise the right to vote. When that process is threatened by the very servants tasked with its defense—who perversely masquerade their restrictions as a defense—swift and aggressive corrective action is imperative. H.R.1... needs your advocacy, in words and action, which is why I am using this exhibition as a forum to bring attention to it.” —Damon Crain, Culture Object