The Best of NYCxDesign According to Curators and Designers

The city’s design week, traditionally anchored by ICFF, has ballooned into a full month of events and installations. Technically, this year’s NYCxDesign festival starts on May 15, but many independent galleries like Colony and TIWA have opened shows earlier in the month and emerging design hubs are adding to the geography of the fair. This year there’s even a new design fair in Chelsea, Shelter, by the folks at Afternoon Light, an online furniture platform from the founders of Shoppe Object, along with a number of other group shows exhibiting emerging designers, including those showing work for the first time. There’s also a fair number of new showrooms launching this May, from more established brands like Vitra, reopening in Chinatown, to Villa AM, a new West Village gallery from Amanda Pratt of Salon Design. In recent years, the industry event has also gotten a jolt of DIY energy, with designers organizing satellite events in unexpected and far-flung locations, such as “Forced Perspective,” a group show happening in an old Greenpoint radio station, and a design performance by Nifemi Ogunro at Fort Greene’s Naval Cemetery. This ad-hoc energy offers a welcome break from fair fatigue, but it can be overwhelming to sift through it all. To make sense of it, we spoke to curators, gallerists, and designers on what they’re keeping an eye on at this year’s festival.

Designers, Chen Chen & Kai Studio

We are curators for this year’s Jonald Dudd show, which will be part of Shelter, so we are definitely excited to see all the work by these emerging young designers in person. The theme of this year’s Jonald Dudd is “Grateful Dudd,” a play on Grateful Dead, and rather than taking it literally as tie-dye aesthetics, we thought about it more in terms of a DIY ethos. A very refined version of this is Hayden Allison Richér’s Solitary Stem Vase, which functionally is just an aluminum tube, but this very industrial reduction of a vase is surrounded by delicate handmade gestures in porcelain that seem to be assembled in a very ad-hoc, intuitive way.

Hayden Allison Richér’s Solitary Stem Vase for Jonald Dudd.
Photo: Hayden Allison Richér.

Maybe it’s confirmation bias, but last year we launched some furniture pieces with ceramic tile as part of our Sacred Tree Collection, and now we’re noticing it more and more. It feels like we’re seeing more ceramic-clad case goods like Danny Kaplan’s Tile Relief Credenza. We always stop to inspect how the designer has solved for connecting the ceramic pieces to the wood and accommodated for the shifting of the wood substrate over the seasons.

“Jonald Dudd 2025” will take place at Shelter from May 17–19 at the Starrett-Lehigh Building.

Creative Director of JONALDDUDD

It seems like there’s more stuff than usual happening this year, and I’m not sure I’ll get to see any of it. I’m looking forward to seeing what Matt Pecina’s been doing with Rarify x Gantri. Matt involves himself in a wide range of projects, often community-driven, and with the skepticism required to invite more voices into the design conversation. I also want to see the Bower collaboration space with Mociun and the Forced Perspective show at Radio Star in Greenpoint.

CubeOne, a new light produced by Rarify x Gantri.
Photo: Gantri, Nate Sprecher, Rarify

Some people are going to hate to hear this, but I’m curious to see the ways in which AI is employed as a tool in practice. AI alone has virtually zero appeal to me, but I think it has some interesting potential as part of a larger whole. More specifically I’d like to see its evident influence on form, but in a clunkier self-aware way, like the post-internet art movement in the early 2000s. Most of what I’ve seen has been pretty basic. I’m sure people are employing it in a behind-the-scenes workhorse role, but I’d like to see its shortcomings exposed and turned into aesthetic points of interest. I think great art does that. It provides an opportunity to expand your understanding and appreciation for something.

Rarify x Gantri will launch its CubeOne lamp on May 17 at 46 Hester Street. “Forced Perspective” will be on view May 19–20 at Radio Star.

Gallerist, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery

Our friends at Marta, a gallery from L.A., were in NYC for NADA, showcasing new jewelry works from A History of Frogs, a collaborative project between L.A. artists Antonia Pinter and Chase Biado. I’ve been a big fan of Antonia’s work for a while now; she recently participated in our show “The Loving Cup.” I love her brain and everything she makes.

Photo: Erik Benjamins/

A History of Frogs at NADA New York 2025.
Photo: Sean Davidson

I also always look forward to seeing what Tione Trice, from Of The Cloth, is up to. I met Tione when we both exhibited in the North American Pavilion at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street in London, and he’s become a good friend. His new exhibition, “Innerwoven,” is debuting at the Standard in the East Village this week, featuring works by artist Sarah Nsikak amongst others. I always enjoy seeing the multitude of ways that fiber is utilized in works of art and design.

I’m also looking forward to seeing the many expressions of metalwork. Our show at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, “The Semiotics of Dressing,” includes a diverse variety of works in metal on a variety of scales — from jewelry to furniture and lighting.

From “Innerwoven,” at the Standard, East Village, an exhibition of works curated by Tione Trice, founder of Of the Cloth.
Photo: Elevine Berge/

“Innerwoven” is on view at the Standard, East Village, through May 31. “The Semiotics of Dressing” is on view at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery through July 12.

Founder and Curator, Colony

I’m really excited about a new trade show called “Shelter” founded by the same people behind Shoppe Object. They are sort of disrupting the entire city’s design-week flow. Usually it’s really centered around ICFF, and even though I have a lot of fond feelings about that show, I think when something has been going on too long without any kind of real challengers it’s always good to have someone on the scene who is trying to do something new.

It’s really about investing in the future of the American independent-design community as a whole. When I founded Colony there really wasn’t enough infrastructure around that or space for it. But last year, I was excited by the independent spirit, not just in the work but also the homegrown shows popping up in the city. It felt like there was a pulse in the city because so many young designers took it upon themselves to find space or collaborate with shop owners. I hope we can see more of that.

PELLE’s 1x2x3 Bench and the Overlong Bubble Chandelier.
Photo: Eric Petschek

Detail of the Overlong Bubble Chandelier.
Photo: Eric Petschek

This year I’m also interested in fine craft, a mastery of material or process that feels like an impossibility. I really like PELLE, a design studio based out of Red Hook that makes these incredible botanical chandeliers. I also really love Sarah Sherman Samuel, who works with woodworkers out in Michigan. She has an amazing bench practice and also made this cherry curiosity cabinet with a marble top for our “Independents” show that I can’t stop thinking about.

I think it’s important given everything that’s going on in the country and the idea of manufacturing coming back to the U.S. I feel like there is a falsity to that idea. The reality is that we can excel at the intersection of great craftsmanship and creative ingenuity — that feels more realistic than what this administration is proposing.

Sarah Sherman Samuel at Colony.
Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Sherman Samuel

“Shelter: Vol. 1 Mart Nouveau,” runs from May 17–19 at the Starrett-Lehigh Building. PELLE’s “Lines, Squares & Painterly Light” exhibit is open from through May 21 at 55 Ferris Street, in Brooklyn. Colony’s “Independents” show is on view through May 21 at 196 West Broadway.

Co-founder, Sight Unseen

I’m always interested in how design bleeds into art, and vice versa. For example, I really love everything that Danny Kaplan is doing and his latest collection of rugs, which are on view at the DKS showroom. Each rug is almost like an art composition, and they actually really remind me of Francis Bacon’s art rugs.

It’s not a big design trend, but Jill [the co-founder of Sight Unseen] and I are always batting things we see back and forth, and this year in the art fairs we saw a lot of curtains. There’s this artist named Caroline Walls, who I’ve been following, who makes these amazing paintings of drapery. And there’s this piece by Atarah Atkinson, Inheritance, in Love House’s new show that plays with drapery. It plays off of the maximalism and baroque layering that is so popular now, particularly with textiles. There’s a softness to it that offers a contrast to cold minimalism.

Atarah Atkinson’s Inheritance at Love House.
Photo: Joe Kramm

This year I’m also ready to move away from the male-woodworker narrative. Which isn’t to say that I don’t like the work that’s coming from it, but I’m like, Let’s see some women doing this. Or even a narrative that’s different from this. To speak to the female genius aspect, I’ve been really inspired by the work coming out of Alexis and Ginger, a Brooklyn-based design studio that’s part of our show with Petra Hardware. They really focus on craft, which is traditionally seen as women’s work, but in a way that isn’t too literal. It’s very balanced, elegant, and chic.

Love House’s “Family” show is on view through May 31 in its new showroom at 179 East Broadway.

Contemporary Design Curator, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

This year I’m hoping to see more and more clusters of 20th-century-design exhibitions situated alongside the contemporary launches. I’ve noticed a particular attention to the 1980s and ’90s, in particular Superhouse’s show last summer of American metalworkers like Michele Oka Doner and Elizabeth Browning Jackson and Michael Bargo’s upcoming “Néotù” show at Galerie Gabriel. I’m also looking forward to many shows, especially group exhibitions with strong social narratives like “Outside/In,” presented by Hello Human and Lyle Gallery; “Songs of a Decoy” at Galerie Santangelo; and “The Semiotics of Dressing” at Jacqueline Sullivan.

Installation of “Outside/In” at Lyle Gallery, presented by Lyle and Hello Human.
Photo: Jonathan Hokklo

From “Songs of a Decoy,” left to right: Bow Back Windsor Chair, by Cameron Lasson; Plinth Stool, by Kira Wilson; Folk Chair Replica in Stone, by Cameron lasson; and Log chair, by Jonathan Dinetz.
Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Dinetz, Cameron Lasson, Rusty Adelstein, and Aydan Huseyni

Last year’s design week was remarkably more social than in years past, and I hope the trend continues. These events are as much about connecting with people in the field as they are about the designs themselves. I’m noticing more events for design magazines from Ark Journal to PIN UP’s “XXL” issue with Design Within Reach to AN Interior’s tenth anniversary.

“Outside/In,” presented by Hello Human and Lyle Gallery, is on view through June 1. “Songs of a Decoy” will be on view May 15–17 at Galerie Santangelo. “The Semiotics of Dressing” is on view at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery through July 12.

Co-founder, In Common With

I loved the new Faye Toogood work that TIWA Gallery and The Future Perfect presented earlier this month, and Kawabi’s pieces at Colony really stood out — beautifully elemental and restrained. I’m also excited about some of the independent exhibitions happening around the city; there’s real momentum this year around smaller, more experimental showcases. It’s been exciting to contribute to that energy ourselves with the launch of Strata, our new lighting collection on view at Quarters in Tribeca.

Faye Toogood’s lamps at TIWA Select.
Photo: Sean Davidson

Kawabi at Colony.
Photo: Kawabi

One trend I hope continues is the emphasis on material integrity — designers leaning into craft and process, rather than surface. Over the past few years, there’s been a noticeable move toward more tactile, grounded work. I’d love to see less design that chases trends without a clear point of view.

With Strata, we explored hybrid techniques like slumped and fused glass — approaches I’m hoping to see more of across the fairs and independent presentations. I’m especially drawn to work that sits between disciplines, where the hand of the maker is visible and time is embedded in the process. It’s most exciting when those techniques are used architecturally, not just ornamentally.

“Lucid Dream,” presenting the works of Faye Toogood, on view at TIWA until June 21 and on view at The Future Perfect until June 16.