Five Objects to Take Home
Miami has so many facets that it’s hard to say what exactly is typical, except for strong colors, a modern bent and influences from all over. These are five beautiful objects that would look good in any home, and have a Miami connection.
An Iran Khan Art Photograph
Iran Issa Khan, born in Tehran and raised in Europe, is known as a nightlife photographer. But she has also mad series of fine-art photographs of flowers, shells and nature that approach Georgia O’Keefe in their beauty and eroticism. Her large-scale photographs are in many local homes. They can be purchased through her studio; a book of her photographs, with an introduction by her friend Zga Hadid, is available at her website.
www.ironissakhancom
A Luis Pons Frame Chest
A Venezuelan architect and industrial designer, Luis Pons creates his Frames furniture by stacking picture frames, making a tactile object that also has real presence in the home. Each chest is, of course, handmade. They can be seen at NiBa Home
www.nibahome.com
Vintage Furniture by Paul Evans
The American designer Paul Evans worked in the 1960s and 1970s. His last line, Cityscape, is immediately recognizable by its bronze and chrome geometric surfaces. Almost every piece is signed and dated. Miami is a goldmine of Paul Evans furniture, much of it available on vintage row in North Beach, or from Michel Contessa.
www.michelcontessa.com
A Rug from the Rug Company
The Design District has one of the Rug Company’s two showrooms in the US. Suzanne Sharp, who founded the company with her husband, Christopher, creates some of the freshest designs, especially geometric ones in vibrant colors that look essentially Miami. Flat weave dhurries and kilims in eye-popping modern designs can be folded and slipped into a suitcase.
www.therugcompany.com
A Cardboard Suitcase from the Wolfsonian
The Wolfsonian Museum, a thriving local institution, celebrates decorative arts and its gift shop offers items from the modern design world, including a limited-edition suitcase made in the Czech Republic and designed by Mr. Somebody and Mr Nobody. Heidi Chisholm and Sharon Leonard, the designers behind the company, are from South Africa and their designs refer back to childhood memories of items they knew there. Sharon Lombard now lives in Miami. What could be more emblematic of Miami’s multicultural vigor than packing a Mid-Century Modern Treasure to take home in a cardboard suitcase designed by someone born in South Africa, that was made in the Czech Republic, and sold here?
www.wolfsonian.org