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      Inferences/Inferencias exhibition aims to “arouse curiosity towards contemporary design”

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      Barcelona-based gallery Il-lacions has opened an exhibition at Madrid Design Festival that features over 70 furnishings, sculptures and design pieces in an effort to explore contemporary design.

      The theme of the exhibition is centred around its name, Inferences/Inferencias, which Il-lacions described as “the action and effect of inferring one thing from another, a link between ideas, the consequence of something.”
      Inferences/Inferencias is a group exhibition that was exhibited as part of Madrid Design FestivalThe gallery selected one piece of work by each of the artists it represents, who were then asked to become co-curators of the exhibition and invite a designer, maker or artist whom they admired to also exhibit a piece of work.
      The resulting 74 sculptures and furniture pieces displayed in the exhibition were arranged on and around a large angular display table that was finished to mimic concrete.
      A wooden stool by Sanna Völker is a tribute to architect Louis KahnAll of the works in the show focus on one or more topics specified by the gallery, such as research and development in new materials, object functionality, sustainability and production processes.

      “We would like to arouse curiosity towards contemporary design, visitors can read about the pieces and even touch them with care,” Il-lacions founder Xavier Franquesa told Dezeen. “We would like them to learn about materials, functionality and ingenuity in design.”
      A light installation titled Ignoring Helena by Michael Roschach is placed nearby Burned Ode Chair by Sizar Alexis”We hope people understand the amount of work behind each piece, there’s a lot of research and experimentation,” said Franquesa.
      “These are inspirational objects that contribute to giving interiors something more than just a function, they are emotional and unique,” it added.

      Antoni Arola creates architecture “from light” for Madrid Design Festival

      “We would like to stimulate new views on design and thinking to shape contemporary values, and together with the creators to generate a cultural heritage that reflects this time and this place,” he said.
      Among the pieces on display is Joel Blanco’s Shiba-Inu dog sculpture with a built-in ASIC cryptocurrency miner. This uses the exhibition space’s electricity to mine Dogecoin and is a commentary on financial freedom and an anarcho-capitalist future, according to the designer.
      Also exhibited is a Jesmonite and fibreglass chair by Six N. Five, embedded with an authentication chip built on Blockchain technology that allows the piece to be minted as an NFT.
      Objects, fixtures and furnishings were hung from walls and placed throughout the gallery spaceA number of the works on show also feature reused and recycled materials.
      “Josep Vila Capdevila is reusing pieces from old factories (fluorescents, cables, a pulley) and he mixes it with noble materials such as marble to create the Suspended Lamp exhibited – he classifies this piece as ‘Random Luxury’,” said Franquesa.
      “The ‘Aluminium Block’ side table by Toni Pallejà is reinterpreting industrial materials, transforming them into elements that convey luxury and fashion.”
      The exhibition features 74 objects, furnishings and sculptures that discuss contemporary designIl-lacions was founded in 2011 by Xavier Franquesa. Inferences/Inferencias forms part of the fifth edition of Madrid Design Festival, a month-long event that transforms the city into a design hub.
      Also exhibited at this year’s edition is a light installation by Antoni Arola that forms architecture from light. Previous editions saw Jorge Penadés invite 14 designers to showcase “bold ideas in small boxes”.
      The photography is by Asier Rua.
      Inferences/Inferencias is on display at the Cultural Centre of Villa Fernán-Gómez as part of Madrid Design Festival, which takes place from 15 February to 13 March 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Transatlántico exhibition “forms a bridge” between Latin American and European design

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      Brutalist furniture by Rick Owens, a shaggy pink sofa and ethereal lighting feature in Transatlántico, an exhibition of Latin American and European sculptural design presented by Galerie Philia in Mexico City.

      Transatlántico brings together furniture and ornaments by emerging Latin American designers from Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
      Top: a wall hanging by Mexican studio Caralarga. Above: Pietro Franceschini presents his Waldo sofa, among other seatingTheir pieces are presented alongside work by leading European designers such as Pietro Franceschini and Pierre De Valck, some of whom are showing in Mexico for the first time.
      “The aim was to create an authentic, specialised event around the Latin American design scene and its very distinct identity, but also include new collections by European designers,” Transatlántico co-curator Alban Roger told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to establish a dialogue between the two continents, with both their own distinctive styles but also strong inter-influences.”

      Carob wood furniture by Cristián Mohaded features in the exhibitionIn line with this theme, a shaggy pink “yeti” sofa by St Petersburg-based artist Vladimir Naumov for Missana Lab is included alongside delicate carob wood furniture by Argentinian designer Cristián Mohaded, who explores carpentry using native materials from his birth country.
      An ethereal light named Ghost Pendant was crafted by Mexican designers Héctor Esrawe and Emiliano Godoy and Los-Angeles born designer Brian Thoreen, using handblown glass, silicon tubing and LED lights.
      Vladimir Naumov offers a shaggy pink sofaOther pieces include dark-coloured brutalist furniture by Paris-based American fashion designer Rick Owens that is made from a mixture of bronze and camel skin, as well as Mexico City-based Platalea Studio’s playful Happiness Bench formed from three curvy slabs of pink and brown terrazzo.
      “We reached out to talents we believe in and who fell within our criteria of sculptural design,” explained co-curator Jorge Brown, with regard to how Galeria Philia selected the participating designers.
      “Our main criteria was the originality of their design exploration but also their creative research on various materials and sculptural techniques.”

      Mario García Torres curates design exhibition in Mexico City house

      According to Galerie Philia, sustainability was also a factor in Transátlantico’s curatorial ethos.
      This is reflected in pieces such as a series of delicately woven wall hangings by Mexican artisanal studio Caralarga, which are crafted using raw cotton yarn and discarded fabric waste.
      Ghost Pendant is a light by Héctor Esrawe and Emiliano Godoy and Brian ThoreenColombian designer Alejandra Aristizábal also presents textile wall hangings that resemble jumbo rolls of sewing thread, although hers are made from fique – a natural fibre from the Andean region that has historically been used to create ropes and hammocks.
      “Transatlántico is founded on the idea of forming a transatlantic bridge between the contrasting cultural and artistic worlds of Europe and Latin America, identifying how we establish a creative discourse across the social boundaries associated with the geography that divides us,” said Galerie Philia co-founder Ygaël Attali.
      Rick Owens presents a selection of brutalist bronze furnitureWith galleries in Geneva, New York City and Singapore, Galerie Philia is an international contemporary design and art gallery that also presents group exhibitions at temporary spaces around the world.
      Previous Galerie Philia exhibitions include a furniture show in Manhattan’s Walker Tower and an exhibition presenting emerging Italian designers’ responses to Rick Owens’ work in Milan.
      Happiness Bench is playful terrazzo seating by Platalea StudioThe photography is courtesy of Galerie Philia.
      Transátlantico is on show at House of Kirschner’s gallery space, Avenida Ejército Nacional 676, in Mexico City from 8 to 12 February 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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