What to look out for at PAD London
The brightest and most beautiful pieces by to seek out at this year’s fair
Once more, the annual PAD fair – a highlight of every collector’s autumn calendar – has transformed Mayfair’s Berkeley Square from a quiet leafy enclave to a vibrant epicentre of modern design.
Within the chic black tent are treasures ranging from slick mid-century lighting and contemporary bouclé armchairs to glittering emerald earrings, so to help you navigate your way through efficiently, we have picked out our favourite pieces to make a beeline for.
'Cloud Chair' by Voukenas Petrides (2023)
"The works are abstractions of function," say the Greek/American design duo Voukenas Petrides of their creations. "Their sculptural forms have a structural purpose." This approach is beautifully exemplified in this gleaming chair, cast from solid bronze.
At Gallery FUMI
'Eva' by Fernando Botero (2017)
A resplendent painting by the late Colombian artist, who drew on Renaissance masters, including Rubens and Velazquez, to portray his subjects with inflated forms and wry facial expressions in a mischievous depiction of the comedy of life.
At Opera Gallery
'Concetto Spaziale Natura' by Lucio Fontana (1967)
The 20th-century pioneer of abstract art and founder of Spatialism, Lucio Fontana, is most famous for his ‘slash’ paintings – rarer to see is this gesture in sculpture form.
At Giulia De Jonckheere
'German Iris' by Kaori Tatebayashi (2020)
The London-based Japanese ceramicist exquisitely captures a moment in time of the changing of the seasons with her delicate botanical clay sculptures.
At Tristan Hoare
'Oiseaux Amoureux' by Niki De Saint Phalle (c.1988)
A typically thought-provoking yet playful collage by the late model-turned-artist Niki de Saint Phalle (who graced the pages of Bazaar in her first career).
At Opera Gallery
'Femme au Miroir' by Joan Miro (1937)
PAD provides a glorious opportunity to see one of the Spanish surrealist’s most vibrant lithographs that proffers his take on that timeless scene of a woman standing in front of a mirror.
At Galerie Hadjer
'Long Chair' by Yoomoota (2023)
The Yoomoota Universe, a fictional cosmos, is helmed by the innovative multidisciplinary Bangkok-based artist Taras Yoom who describes chairs as "four-legged inhabitants of our house". This design is inspired by his invented Planet of Errors, where some inanimate objects acquire life.
At Yoomoota
'Glacier with Coloured Petals', tapestry by Alexander Calder (1971)
In this textile work, planes of the American sculptor’s signature hanging mobiles are interpreted through woven Aubusson wool.
At Galerie Hadjer
