Damien Wright, 2.22pm 2/2/22 Mono-block, 2022, 10,000 year old Ancient Red Gum, Polypropylene 80 x 100 x 80 cm. Photographed by Bernie Wright.
The fair pops up across the globe, from LA to Basel and Paris, with December 2024’s iteration at its mecca, Miami Beach. It has strict rules to ensure this is very much a design, rather than fine art, event, and Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, which opened in 2019, specialises in traversing these two disciplines. “The gallery was established to champion Australian and New Zealand design,” Dan-Cuthbert says, although her professional background in fine art at Christie’s, in curation and advisory roles, meant that including art as well proved too irresistible a force. “We are one of the first galleries to really champion art and design together,” she states, and her selection for the fair certainly reflects this crossover.
Damien Wright, Tectonic (Side table/stool) and Tectonic (Console), 2023, DW02 10,000 year old Ancient Red Gum, resin, bronze. Edition of 10 plus 2 AP. Photographed by Bernie Wright.
Through the Design Miami lens, the gallery’s participating talent may change the way the world sees Australian art and design. It is not one thing; it is varied; kaleidoscopic, just like the country’s population. “Something that I really want to champion is that we are a very diverse nation,” Dan-Cuthbert says. “We don’t choose our artists based on who they are, we choose them on the quality of their work, on what they are trying to say.”
