NYCxDesign. Suggestions and tips from New York gallerists

NYCxDesign is a festival organised by the city of New York to stimulate and promote the best talents fron the world of design. With 10 schools, 800 museums and galleries, and thousands of designers involved, the 13-day festival (11-23 May 2018) includes exhibitions, installations, debates and events which examine the most diverse of disciplines and projects on a wide range of scales. Now in its sixth edition, the festival covers all five of New York’s districts, from the very central area of NoMad and the Flatiron Building, to the seafront of Brooklyn, contributing to the regeneration of spaces such as Industry City and Brooklyn Navy Yard.
We asked some of the most important design gallery owners in New York – participants in the festival – for some suggestions on what to see, and to comment on the current state of design in the Big Apple.

Suggest us a designer to follow during NYCxDesign.

Patrick Parrish: Chris Wolston is doing amazing furniture work in clay, he’s not to be missed and his former classmates at RISD Katie Stout and Misha Kahn as fun to follow too.
Salon 94: Philippe Malouin.
Friedman Benda: We are excited for Calico Wallpaper to be nominated for a 2018 NYCxDesign Award.

An event/exhibition/installation not to be missed.

Jamie Gray (Matter Made): Please don’t miss our exhibition at Matter (405 Broome street NYC) where we’ll be exhibiting the latest collections from Matter Made and Established & Sons, both of which were just launched during Milano Design Week.
Patrick Parrish: Carl Emil Jacobsen opens at my gallery on 17th of May, so everyone should make sure to see that! Also “Designing Women ll – Masters Mavericks, Mavins” opens on May 10th. Some heavy hitters both dead and alive in that show.
Salon 94: Raquel's Dream House at 79 Greene Street, New York.
Friedman Benda: Although we are biased, shows not to be missed are the U.S. premieres of gt2P and Erez Nevi Pana, which we opened on May 3rd. Both are multi-year projects and both have institutional support.

A comment about how the NYC design scene is developing and how events like NYCxDesign can help to improve it.

Jamie Gray: I think we’re entering the post NYC design scene. It feels like the days of specific regions of the world dominating a particular movement are becoming more and more a thing of the past as we head deeper into a more connected global community. That said, it’s exciting to have our government working so closely with the local design community to give our design week in NY some momentum.
Patrick Parrish: The “design scene” in NYC is vibrant, and NYCxDesign is a foggy window into it, but I feel it gets better every year. We still have a long way to go to come close to the reach and depth of Salone in Milan, but maybe one day…
Salon 94: ...no comment.
Friedman Brenda: The design scene has become exciting. When we started out 15 years ago, it seemed a wasteland and now we’re seeing a young generation bring fresh energy into the field. Major drivers have been the design programs at Cranbrook and RISD, as well as a burgeoning gallery scene.

Is it possible to recognize a North American design style or identity?

Patrick Parrish: That’s a question I get asked a lot, and I would have to say no... with the immediacy of social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc), anyone around the globe with a decent phone signal can see anything and everything as it is happening. This levels the playing field, and allows people to be seen from their remote spot on the globe, while simultaneously influencing other people in other regions far far away. Because of this, the “regionalism” of design starts to fade away. It will never be completely gone, but I know the artist and designers I work with want to be just that, artists & designers, not “American artist & designers”.
Salon 94: “It’s a little too early to declare an actual youthquake, but suddenly, after decades of European dominance (Studio Alchymia and Memphis in Italy, ‘Creative Salvage’ in Britain, the Droog collective and subsequent Dutch design), the most vibrant energy in the field seems to be right here in the USA.” [from Glenn Adamson’s review of the “Chris Schanck: Unhomely” exhibition at Friedman Benda] 
Friedman Benda: It hard to say while you are in the middle of it, but in future years we believe people will look back at this time as a defining and creative movement.