Design Miami/ 2016

The Jason Jacques Gallery Design Miami/ exhibition this year will be housed in three pre-fabricated, flat-packed, and rapidly re-assembled rooms made of cross-laminated timber (CLT). A collaboration between Digifabshop and DR Johnson, the 8’ x 8’ x 8’ and 8’ x 8’ x 16’ structures consist of six massive 4” thick solid wood panels and were designed to create smaller and more intimate spaces within the larger space of the event, while demonstrating the scale of the simplest of architectural and digital fabrication possibilities this material allows. Digifabshop, a specialist in combining the use of computer controlled machinery and craft, sees the exploration and use of CLT as a natural progression from its architectural interior roots into building construction. DR Johnson, for its part, remains the sole manufacturer of Douglas fir CLT in North America. The company is a major force in burgeoning interest in this relatively unknown but game-changing material.

The display will be used to showcase three main solo exhibitions, Gareth Mason, Kim Simonsson and Beate Kuhn. The perimeter will showcase the newest Rick Owens furniture designs, and major new works by Katsuyo Aoki, Eric Serritella and Beth Cavener.

The main structure will feature Gareth Mason: Kissing Fire, an exhibition of forty major new works by master potter Gareth Mason (UK). He was the first contemporary artist added to the program at Jason Jacques Gallery’s 2010 solo show entitled Other Forces. A major success, this exhibition launched the acclaimed contemporary program at the gallery.

Gareth’s work has been collected by some of the world’s most exciting contemporary art collectors and has recently been shown at Anthony Meier Gallery, Hiram Butler Gallery, and Emily Summers Design Associates. His work will also be a main attraction of the upcoming Yale Center for British Art exhibition, Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery, opening in September 2017.

The second space will be a tower of Kim Simonsson’s Moss People. This series of sculptures, featuring a cast of dream-like, fairytale characters, possesses a universal appeal that has been fascinating audiences for years. In a world filled with brutality, his work is a breath of fresh air. Simonsson had recent solo exhibitions at Galerie NeC Nilsson et Chiglien in Paris, France, and at Galleria Sculptor in Helsinki, Finland. His sculptures are held in collections of prestigious museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Museum of Norway.

Lastly, a small, immaculate collection of Beate Kuhn works, the star of German Modern Ceramics, will be on view in the third space. Exceptional works ranging from the 1950s to the end of her career in 2015 will be presented. Beate Kuhn received numerous awards and honors throughout her life. Her work has been exhibited and collected in a number of important institutions. They include the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Stiftung Keramion Museum which hosted a retrospective of her oeuvre in 2007. We miss her, but her legacy will live on through her work.

Jason’s ambitious presentation with Digifabshop results from a conversation over a year in the making, and the finished product is three monumental structures that were an engineering feat for our team to realize. This design investment is characteristic of the gallery presentations you will see at Design Miami/ year after year.

Show Hours:

Tuesday, November 29/ Preview Day
Wednesday, November 30/ 12pm - 8pm
Thursday, December 1/ 10am - 8pm
Friday, December 2/ 11am - 8pm
Saturday, December 3/ 12pm - 8pm
Sunday, December 4/ 12pm - 6pm