PAD London returned to Berkeley Square this October for its 18th edition. Sixty-six galleries from eighteen countries. Five days. Objects ranging from 17th century paintings to furniture made this year in Los Angeles.
The first thing that we noticed was a chair. Its back was shaped like a spine. Its legs like a scorpion’s. A patch of fur sat under the seat. Made by Polish artist Wojtek Józefowicz, shown by Boketto gallery for their first time at PAD.
Next to it, a floor lamp by Thibault Philip that looked like butterfly wings. Made from pig intestines.
Gastou gallery rebuilt the Guerlain couple’s Paris apartment from 1935, designed by Jean-Michel Frank. A brass chair by Philippe Hiquily next to a marble table by Ettore Sottsass. Lamps by Irene Cattaneo. Sculptures by Raymond Delamarre whose work stands today on the Palais de Chaillot.
The booth prize went to Voena, showing at PAD for the first time. They described their booth as a wealthy bachelor’s apartment. Soft cushions on the floor, a Lucio Fontana work on the ceiling, a 17th century painting by Domenico Gargiulo on the wall.
Obsessing Over
Pulp gallery founded in Paris in 2022 has been showing at PAD for a few years now and every time they do something worth stopping for. This year Paul Ménacer-Poussin and Paul-Louis Betto built a room. Blue-grey curtains, an intimate interior, furniture from the late 20th century arranged like someone actually lived there. A Cactus chair (1985) by Hilton McConnico. A table by Shiro Kuramata from the same year. A coffee table by Néotù from 1990, one of only 25 made. And a door by Gaetano Pesce that you walked through to get inside all of it. The gallery specializes in furniture that sits between sculpture and object. Here it felt like a home that understood that distinction and ignored it.
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