5 highlights from London’s Collect: The ­International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects

Courtesy of Paragon Press and Victoria Miro

Courtesy of Galerie Michel Giraud

Courtesy of Rachel Ward-Sale

Courtesy of Artcourt Gallery

Selina Denman

Now in its 13th year, Collect was launched by the Crafts Council in the United Kingdom as part of its efforts to uplift and nurture the country’s crafts industry. Here are some of the highlights to look forward to at the event.

Flow Gallery

The London-based Flow Gallery represents a curated collection of contemporary craft makers, working in ceramics, glass, paper, wood, textiles, metal and jewellery. At Collect, it will present a selection of ceramic, glass, wood and mixed-media works that examine shape, pattern and texture within a monochromatic palette. Lauren Nauman, whose piece Line is pictured above, was intrigued by the ideas of distance, lines, fragility and the vessel form, and explores the boundaries of clay through experimental processes.

Grayson Perry tapestries

During this year’s Collect, the Crafts Council will unveil the latest addition to its national collection of contemporary craft: a pair of tapestries by the Turner Prize-winning British artist Grayson Perry. The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope (2015) tells the story of an imaginary woman, Julie, an Essex everywoman whose biography Perry has also charted in a long poem. The pieces present a social history of Essex since the Second World War and were acquired by the Crafts Council with the support of the Art Fund, Victoria Miro Gallery and Crafts Council Patrons.

Galerie Michel Giraud

Best known for its interest in art-deco pieces, the Paris-based Galerie Michel Giraud will exhibit a solo show of work by leading coppersmith Hervé Wahlen. Wahlen’s stunningly simple sculptures, crafted using the dinanderie method of copper hammering, and often finished with gold leaf, as with Coelome pictured above, are found in collections around the world.

Designer Bookbinders

Designer Bookbinders will be offering Collect visitors an insight into the exceptional art of bookbinding. On show will be a series of contemporary examples of bookbinding by fellows and laureates of the Designer Bookbinders society, which was launched 50 years ago to preserve and protect the reputation of British bookbinding. The society’s inspiration is: “The book in all its aspects — text, structure, illustration, print and paper — and the completed bindings are as diverse as the individuals who create them”.

Artcourt Gallery

Founded in 2003, Artcourt Gallery represents established and upcoming artists in the Kansai region of Japan, specialising in ceramics and pottery. Returning to Collect for the second year, the gallery will present works by five Japanese makers that combine traditional craft techniques, including Constellation 98-S by Shihoko Fukumoto, pictured here.