Art by Design 2019

Art by Design melds the worlds of interior design + art + entertaining + dining + fashion, to benefit ArtsMemphis. Several uniquely themed soirees were held during the course of the weekend, offering guests a festive setting to socialize and take in the interior designers’ stunning vignettes. Our designers tell us about their inspiration and implementation of their vignette.

A. Shaw Style Vignette featured at Art by Design

This year’s Art by Design was nothing short of spectacular. As a participating designer, I had the privilege of working and showing alongside several other local talents, and sharing space with their energy all week long was truly a gift. Taking the time to focus on a hometown show is very valuable as it puts me in contact with lots of new faces and allows me to be totally creative in my space, which was a gentleman’s lounge with Art Deco influences.

My booth was layered in different textures and colors for an overall cozy but refined experience. I started with tactile wall coverings. The main focus wall was covered in a wood veneer and set in a graphic pattern complemented by a metallic modern grasscloth on the other two walls. A 1940s sepia red bar with rose gold-mirrored front was centered on the wood veneer wall, and a non-representative painting from the 1970s hung above it along with a large-scale bronze Buddha head sculpture. A series of bone-carved medicine tusks were also on top of the bar.

The grass cloth walls were the perfect backdrops for art. I hung a grouping of red and black abstract faces on either side of enormous chrome and glass mirrors that were hand painted to resemble malachite. On the opposite grass cloth wall was a similar arrangement, but the abstract faces were black and blue. A pair of Hollywood Regency down-filled sofas anchored the space and a bronze ram’s head coffee table centered it. I had a pair of 1970s slipper chairs recovered in extravagant velvet that had really beautiful and interesting pattern play. The rug is a custom hide and shearling chevron that was produced for me in Argentina. Finally, the vignette was flanked by one of my prized possessions-my larger than life Senufo birds from the Ivory Coast made of a very dense teak wood and carved in a guardian mode of protection. The male and female pair welcomed everyone in to the booth and the lavish interior settled everyone in.

The best part of my experience in Art by Design is not only sharing creative energy with all of the talented participants, but also seeing everyone who came through during the variety of events and “hosting” so many great people inside my unexpectedly designed space. This is a show that I hope to be a part of for many more years to come.