When you decide to buy something, there are many key factors involved. Customer experience has become one of the most relevant aspects to consider when designing a retail journey, whether physical, digital, or both. It’s time to define how retail spaces will evolve in the next years and to do so, Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) Florence just launched a brand-new Master Course in Future Store Design. 

In an era marked by rapid change, the course imparts essential knowledge and the skills required to design effective retail spaces, recognizing the profound shifts in this domain. The dynamic interplay between physical and digital has become increasingly integral to our daily lives. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores now serve as focal points for hybrid experiences, seamlessly integrating online and offline elements through omnichannel services.

Portrait of Joana Vasconcelos at Exposição “Extravagâncias,” Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Curitiba, Brasil. Photo © Lionel Balteiro for Atelier Joana Vasconcelos

Delivered entirely in English, the Master Course features celebrated Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos as a Mentor. With more than three decades of experience and a diverse portfolio spanning monumental sculptures and immersive installations, she brings a wealth of expertise to the program. Having exhibited in several prestigious venues worldwide, including at the Uffizi Galleries and Pitti Palace in Florence, Vasconcelos’s international acclaim underscores the caliber of mentorship students can anticipate. Characterized by the recontextualization of everyday objects and a penchant for challenging societal norms with wit and irony, her distinctive perspective promises to enrich students’ educational journeys. 

Geared toward postgraduate students proficient in design elements with creative and visual skills, the Master Course in Future Store Design seeks to redefine the future of retail spaces. With an ambitious mission to equip a new generation of designers with a keen focus on future trends and the challenges posed by innovation, this program at IED Florence cultivates ideas that resonate with market demands and caters to the evolving needs of brands and consumers. 

Mentors like Vasconcelos play a pivotal role in guiding students through the ever-evolving challenges of the industry. By sharing their expertise and insights, they prepare students for the competitive landscape awaiting them upon course completion. Coordinators Imma Matera and Tommaso Lucarini, founders of the design studio Tipstudio, ensure a seamless learning experience by leveraging their expertise and extensive network within the design industry.

Project by A. Valente and J. Ratanawijit, in collaboration with Adidas. Image courtesy of IED Firenze

With a specialized focus on the customer experience, students will gain an understanding of the importance of materials to generate sensorial exchange or immersive installations to create immediate connections. Now that the boundaries between functionality and aesthetics are blurred, technology and craftsmanship must join hands in these future spaces to respond to consumer expectations. As such, Florence is an ideal setting for this course, with Vasconcelos and Tipstudio Studio well-suited as its leaders.

The Master Course in Future Store Design at IED Florence represents a new opportunity for aspiring designers to learn from industry luminaries and shape the future of retail environments. With a curriculum designed to foster creativity, innovation, and critical thinking, graduates will be well-equipped to make significant contributions to the ever-evolving realm of design.

For more information, visit ied.edu.

IED Firenze .Photo by Federica Fioravanti

IED Firenze. Photo by Stefano Casati

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Now obsolete, the term zoophytes once referred to organisms that exhibited both animal and plant characteristics. It’s also an apt title for a poetic exhibition of sculptures blending beastly and botanical forms by the late Claude (1925-2019) and François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008).

On view at Kasmin in New York, Zoophites brings together dozens of surrealist works from the French artists, known together as Les Lalanne, that bridge the divide between kingdoms. Included are iconic pieces like François-Xavier’s “Grand Chat polymorph,” a ten-foot cat with a tail fin and wings that open up to reveal a fully functional bar cart, and a similarly multi-purpose bull whose bronze belly flips open like a small desk. Having worked as a guard in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries of the Louvre, the artist often referenced ancient mythology and hybridity in his figures.

While François-Xavier gravitated toward the animal, Claude was drawn to the plant world. Oversized ginkgo leaves line “Les Berces adossées,” an elegant bench with four fan-shaped seats. The pair lived together but tended to work separately, and their rare collaborations maintain both of their natural affinities. “Gorille consolé,” for example, features a seated primate by François-Xavier that grasps branches by Claude.

As its name suggests, that glass-top piece is made to hold objects, and some curators and critics struggled to classify the duo’s works because of such functionality. “It was difficult to be accepted in the art world,” Claude said. “We used to have a lot of trouble because we made useful things and made them ourselves. This is automatically considered as so called ‘decorative arts,’ a lesser, secondary art.”

Zoophites borrows its title from a 1964 show in Paris that was the first the pair presented together and is on view through May 9. For more about Les Lalanne, visit Kasmin.

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

Claude Lalanne, “Les Berces adossées” (2015), bronze, 42 1/8 x 96 1/8 x 29 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

François-Xavier Lalanne, detail of “Bouquetin (grand)” (1999/2016), bronze and black patina, 37 x 53 1/8 x 11 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Gorille consolé” (2002/2016), bronze and glass 33 7/8 x 72 3/5 x 19 5/7 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Oiseau de Peter branché (grand) (Modèle de montage)” (2004), bronze, 40 1/8 x 54 3/4 x 44 1/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne, “Centaure (moyen)” (1995/2008), gilt bronze, 48 3/8 x 33 7/8 x 13 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne in 1985. Phot by Jean-Philippe Lalanne, courtesy of Caroline Hamisky Lalanne and Kasmin

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SALAMANCA — Come to the Ohi:yo’ Art Market this Saturday at the Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino to celebrate Native American resiliency through art and culture. The event is free and open to all from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Presented by the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center and Visit Seneca Nation at the casino’s event center, the art market will allow visitors to experience a juried art show featuring the fine works of approximately 50 Native American artists from nations all across the United States and Canada. Before the public event, an artist will be awarded a $7,000 Best of Show prize.

The day’s events will also include Hodinöhsö:ni’ social dancing at noon and 2 p.m., a plant sale by the Seneca Nation’s Gakwi:yo:h Farms, programming by the Seneca Language Department as well as a multi-faceted children’s area and a demonstration space called Dwahšönih, which means “we make it together.”

Dwahšönih is an interactive pop-up family area focused on Haudenosaunee cultural-arts-based learning for all ages. Visitors will work alongside artists and makers from the community to make objects to contribute to a larger piece of art that will evolve throughout the day. Cornhusk flowers will slowly form a wreath. Splints added by different visitors will come together to create a basket. Sewn squares will become a quilt and individual paintings will join together to make a mural, while everyone can enjoy eating traditional foods.

The central area of the structure will create a safe space for the smallest guests to play and explore while being encircled by artwork of cornhusk dolls dancing eskanye, as imagined by Randee Spruce. Facilitators include artists and makers Angie Ferguson, Bernadette Scott, Chandra Maracle, Cheryl Graham, Courtlyn Jones, Dan Hill, Holly John, Kira Bloxsom, Lauren Jimerson, Leeora White and Marissa Manitowabi.

“When the Seneca Nation of Indians opened the Onohsagwe:de’ Cultural Center in 2018, part of our vision was to utilize the center as a true hub where we could celebrate and continue to grow public awareness of Native culture and traditions on a larger scale,” said Seneca Nation President Rickey Armstrong, Sr. “The Ohi:yo’ Art Market is an exciting step along that path.”

Hayden Haynes, director of the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, said organizers hope the new juried art market will become an annual event that will blossom into a leading destination for years to come.

“We want Native artists and our friends and neighbors from near and far to come together and join us in Ohi:yo’,” he said. “By sharing our creativity and works with one another, we can celebrate Native culture and resiliency through artistic expression.”

The Ohi:yo’ Art Market builds on the success of a juried art competition show, established in 2018, which the Seneca Nation hosted for Haudenosaunee artists. By inviting all native artists to attend and participate, organizers hope to develop the market as one of the premier art markets in the northeast.

Haynes said those shows were competitions while this new Ohi:yo’ Art Market event is more about Native American artists coming from all over to sell their art. He said, “In a lot of ways the competition is an incentive from not only a monetary standpoint but also from a recognition standpoint.

“Part of the mission of the cultural center is to create a major Native American art market in the northeast because there really isn’t anything like that here for all Native American people,” he continued. “Out west, they have the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico, the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market in Phoenix, Arizona, and all those big shows that people come from all over the world to see. So, we are basically trying to establish a major art market in the northeast.”

Because the northeast doesn’t have Santa Fe and Phoenix weather, Haynes said the best option is to utilize the event center at the casino. He said it’s a beautiful space to have the art market, rain or shine.

The Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino is located at 777 Seneca Allegany Boulevard in Salamanca. For information, visit senecamuseum.org or call (716) 945-1760.

In the historic South Street Seaport area of Manhattan, a former 18th-century mercantile warehouse sets the scene for a monumental exhibition of contemporary textile art. The Golden Thread: A Fiber Art Show, presented by BravinLee, gathers more than 100 artworks by 61 artists into the cavernous space, including ten site-specific installations that riff on the building’s history, character, and original machinery.

Metaphorically, the golden thread is a feature or concept that is present in all parts of something, holding everything together and imbuing it with value. This notion provides the framework for an ambitious presentation of dozens of pieces by artists who utilize or incorporate fiber into their work, formed around questions like, “How are textiles enmeshed with power?” or, “How can the medium’s previously outcast status at once be challenged and reclaimed?”

Tracing its roots back tens of thousands of years, fiber has played an intrinsic role in human society, used in everything from garments to homewares to industrial equipment. Historically defined as a craft, trade, or hobby, fiber encompasses a vast range of practices, from knitting and embroidery to weaving, quilting, and carpet design. During the past century, textiles and their processes have increasingly found their way into fine art, tying contemporary practices to timeless traditions.

If you’re a regular reader of Colossal, you’ll recognize works by Melissa Webb, April Bey, Jean Shin, Wangechi Mutu, Sarah Zapata, and more. The Golden Thread continues through May 18, with variable hours. If you’re in New York, visit BravinLee’s website for more information and opening times.

April Bey, “If You Hate Your Enemies, Your Enemies Shine” (2023), jacquard woven textiles, with hand-sewn fabric and sequins, 76 x 54 inches

Rachel B. Bayes, “Pixel Dreamin’” (2024), monofilament thread, polycarbonate Roscolux filters, shimmer poly-organza, and marine vinyl binding, 92 x 108 x 36 inches

Jean Shin, “S.O.S.3,” “S.O.S. 6,” and “S.O.S 7” (2020-2022), salvaged hemlock branches from Olana State Historic Site, leather remnants, and upholstery tacks, 12 x 13 x 83; 11½ x 13 x 85; and 11 x 12½ x 82½ inches

Melissa Webb, “Manifestoon” (2024), hand-dyed and manipulated vintage cotton textiles, site-responsive installation, dimensions variable

Jeila Gueramian, “It Reminds Me of You” (2024), mixed media, site-specific, dimensions variable

Erin LeAnn Mitchell, “Equally Yoked” (2024), acrylic, fabric, buttons, yarns and loop hair rollers, 60 x 40 inches

Sarah Zapata, “A Famine of Hearing (Green Ruins 1-4)” (2019), natural and synthetic fiber, wood, dimensions variable

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When Nicolas V. Sanchez’s dad was young, he was partially raised by his grandfather in Mexico while his own father established roots in Michigan. “My great grandfather bred show horses for festivals and performances, and my dad told me about a specific horse in particular that did not meet my great grandfather’s ‘standard’ for showing,” Sanchez tells Colossal. “He gave that horse to my dad as a childhood pet.”

This particular equine was a skinny, scraggly white horse that was blind in one eye, and Sanchez’s father named him Ojo de Vidrio, or “glass eye.” The artist (previously) was struck by this story and the connection to his relatives and ancestral traditions. He says:

When I decided to include Ojo de Vidrio in my work, my intention was not to paint a breathing, living horse. I don’t know this horse firsthand. The texture of the horse are like the textured, colorful walls in Mexico ,with bright colors peeking through. Not fur. This horse is an emblem, serving as a vessel that carries with it my family history from a different place and time.

Sanchez has long been fascinated by stories and memories of his heritage in Mexico, and in an ongoing series of sketchbook titled Herencia, or “inheritance,” he calls on memories and narratives that connect his past to the present. Meticulously detailed, realistic renderings emerge from ballpoint pen, and recently he has scaled up considerably to translate some horse portraits into life-size oil paintings.

Ojo de Vidrio’s story led Sanchez into the realm of equine culture and the nuances of traditional portraiture. Paralleling the standards for which horses are bred, the artist became more and more interested in visually capturing the subtleties of how the animals stands, its muscle movement, the degree to which it holds up its head, or the way it faces the viewer— “all details and considerations that go into the composition of a life-size, fully depicted horse painting,” he says.

Sanchez was recently part of a two-person exhibition at Galerie Mokum, which featured his ballpoint pen drawings alongside friend and fellow artist Dina Brodsky. This September, he will present a solo booth of new work at Art on Paper in New York City, and his next major exhibition in the U.S. will be with Trimper Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut. See more on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.

“Flash 1,” oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches

From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen

“Axle,” oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches

From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen

“Chicago” (2023), oil on canvas, 6 x 8 feet

From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen

From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen

“Tiempo,” color ballpoint pen, 3.5 x 5 inches

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In the village of Dien Phuong in the Quang Nam Province of Vietnam, a thriving workshop received a striking expansion with the help of Ho Chi Minh City-based architects Tropical Space. In 2016, the design firm conceived of a cubic studio for local artist Le Duc Ha in the form of an airy, seven-square-meter brick structure situated among geometric gardens on the bank of Thu Bon River.

Last year, Tropical Studio completed the stunning Terra Cotta Workshop, a major addition to the complex that includes zones for the craftspeople to work and for the public to engage with different activities. A courtyard connects the spaces and holds an enormous cylinder around a brick kiln, which is original to the building previously occupying the site. One long exterior wall, which doubles as an extensive shelf, displays numerous terracotta pieces produced in-house.

Baked brick is a popular and cost-effective material in Vietnam because it is sustainable, locally produced, and steeped in tradition. Due to the country’s balmy climate, brick provides an appealing facade while also allowing for natural ventilation and light openings, especially when arranged in lattice patterns. Terra Cotta Workshop utilizes a series of interconnected walls to create passageways and manage airflow and shade, simultaneously dividing and connecting various spaces.

Explore more projects on the studio’s website.

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The term “spoke” has traditionally referred to a piece of split log, like those used as supports in a wagon wheel. Traditional basket-making techniques draw on that same concept by weaving flexible material through a stronger framework. For French artistic duo Daniel Dewar and Grégory Gicquel, notions of interlaced strands, patterns, ecosystems, and vessels shape their solo exhibition, The Weaver and the Spoke, at Antenna Space in Shanghai.

Permaculture, a land management approach geared toward working with, rather than against nature, suffuses Dewar and Gicquel’s work, which often depicts animals and habitats coexisting alongside interspersed human-made elements. The chart-like quilts take cues from folk art or early natural history illustrations, where flora and fauna intermingle with items the artists employ in their studio, like thread and sewing machines. Knitted sweaters, woven loafers, and snail shells continue their interest in repetition, receptacles, and protective layers.

Dewar and Gicquel toy with the distinctions between art and function. The traditional purpose of quilts as bed coverings complements sculptures that double as storage, like in “Oak cabinet with woven loafer shoe and leg.” Hats and shoes nod to the garment industry, making a lighthearted comparison between textile’s pliable role throughout fine art, craft, apparel, and decorative arts.

The Weaver and the Spoke continues through May 11. See more on the artists’ Instagram.

“Embroidered quilt with common flax plant, sticky flax plant, narrow-leaved flax plant, mottled grasshopper, meadow grasshopper, Moroccan grasshopper and bobbin” (2024), cotton and polyester thread on linen fabric, cotton batting, 168 x 140 centimeters

“Oak bench with white-tailed bumblebees, mallow flowers, dandelion flowers and snails” (2024), embroidery on cushion and oak, 60 x 146 x 66 centimeters

“Oak cabinet with woven loafer shoe and leg” (2024), oak, 155 x 65 x 56 centimeters

“Embroidered quilt with earthworms, cockchafer beetle larvae, dandelion plants, Brussels sprout plants, pe-tsaï cabbage plants, kohlrabi cabbage plants, striped shield bug, green bottle flies, cabbage white butterfly caterpillars, cauliflower cabbage plants, savoy cabbage plants, white-tailed bumblebee, cabbage white butterflies, ladybird beetle, red-tailed bumblebee, honey bee, sewing machine and overlocker machine” (2024), cotton and polyester thread on linen fabric, cotton batting, 194 x 248.5 centimeters

“Oak relief with cable stitch pull-over” (2024), oak, 117 x 112 x 9 centimeters

“Oak cabinet with courgettes and body fragments” (2024), oak, 155 x 89 x 70 centimeters

“Embroidered quilt with earthworms, cockchafer beetle larvae, false barley grass, red fescue grass, poppy plants, meadow fescue grass, English ryegrass, cinnabar moth caterpillar, giant peacock moth caterpillar, hebe tiger moth, death’s-head hawkmoth caterpillar, magpie moth, giant peacock moth, death’s-head hawkmoth, cinnabar moth, sparrow and recorder” (2024), cotton and polyester thread on linen fabric, cotton batting, 166.5 x 210 centimeters

“Embroidered quilt with earthworms, dandelion plant, clover plants, pea plant, beetroot plants, swallowtail butterfly caterpillar, 22 punctata beetle, ladybird beetle, honey bee, red-tailed bumblebee, white-tailed bumblebee, swallowtail butterfly, Parnassius apollo butterfly, Parnassius apollo butterfly caterpillar, desert cap, cap and work shoe” (2024), cotton and polyester thread on linen fabric, cotton batting, 166.5 x 194.5 centimeters

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Have you ever sent a knit sweater through a dryer cycle and returned to find it a fraction of the size it once was? Well, think even smaller. Althea Crome’s incredibly detailed miniature sweaters didn’t shrink in a dryer but were instead created stitch by stitch with scrupulous dexterity over hundreds of hours.

The Indiana-based fiber artist began knitting in college and refined her skills by frequenting knitting shops. Crome was eager to learn new methods, and like many who are part of knitting communities, the artist was happily welcomed with advice, knowledge, and guidance. Mastering one technique meant moving onto another, and when it came to constantly challenging herself, Crome always rose to the occasion.

As time went on, she eventually found herself in the throes of micro-knitting. For Crome, there was something particularly stimulating and liberating about knitting small. Designing tiny garments and being able to knit them relatively quickly provided instant gratification. As she continued to create increasingly small and detailed pieces, her practice began to evolve.

“Starry Night”

In comparison to the average knit sweater that holds about four to eight stitches per inch, Crome has achieved a gauge of more than 80 stitches per inch, meticulously entwining extremely fine silk in different hues. For “Nativity II,” the artist blended over 70 individual colors of thread to achieve detailed shading effects.

Crome is inspired by iconic works such as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” ancient Greek amphoras, and Warhol’s soup cans. Before starting each miniature garment, she first designs her own pattern, then she works underneath a high-powered magnifier, using minuscule knitting needles that she made herself from high-tensile-strength surgical steel.

“We’re always looking at other people’s art, trying to understand it,” Crome says. “Taking those images and working with a different medium, I just want to dig in further than my eyes. I want to dig in with my hands.” This way, the artist feels closer to the works that influence her, contemplating ideas for some time before testing new skills and bridging the gap between conceptual ideas and physical manifestation.

Find more of Crome’s work on her website.

“Starry Night”

“Ancient Greek Amphora I”

“Picasso, Woman in a Yellow Hat”

“Pop Art Cardigan”

“Nativity II”

“Sheep Farm” series

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From pudgy pugs to a precisely groomed poodle to a deliriously happy Shiba Inu, Misato Sano’s waggish pups emerge from single blocks of wood. The artist (previously) chisels expectant eyes and goofy grins, revealing individual personalities that showcase each breed’s distinctive look and attitude.

Misato views our canine companions as mirrors of our own personalities, and she began making these sculptures as reflections of her own thoughts and emotions, from excitement to worry to longing. Each portrayal channels myriad ways dogs can be free and open in their expressions of devotion, passion, and play.

Her solo exhibition will open this October at Cyg Gallery in Morioka City, Iwate, Japan. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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