Pictured: Edgy Modular Fabric Tiles by innovators Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kravdrat

From NYSID’s Judith Gura

Let us know what you think.

What are your favorite videos?

What designers do you want to have a dialog with?

Where do you shop? What showroom products do you want to see more of?

What trends are you seeing when you shop the market? Let us know.

Give us a shout, leave comments and engage in the conversation on godesigngo.

How would you define your design philosophy?  The creation of sophisticated, intelligent, witty spaces is my goal. I like rooms that have a sense of surprise, that put a sly smile on your face. Rooms that are chic and knowing.

What are your favorite D and D resources? Pick a favorite child??? Sophie’s Choice??? A very difficult question, but a few are Lorin Marsh, Bergamo, Richard Schultz, Holly Hunt, Clarence House, Stark, PFM, Schumacher.

What is the next trend or style you see emerging? Color palettes are staying bright and fresh, but becoming lighter and more pastel. A lot of pattern, or zero pattern: extremes. Rare and unusual materials: semi-precious stones, onyx and agate: warm tone metals (bronze, gold) replace cool tones (nickel, chrome). Bold but simple lines.

What is your favorite color combination? Another Sophie’s Choice question!!! As a lover of all colors, impossible to answer, but we recently presented a scheme of champagne accented with  topaz and emerald that especially sang to me.

Being based in NYC, what inspires you about your environment? The streets of the greatest city in the world, and its citizens are endlessly inspiring. Whether barrelling up Madison Avenue or strolling the Chelsea arts district, inspiration leaps out at me.

LOS ANGELES—Despite its mammoth proportions and glittering facade that reflects sunlight as if made out of water, the Pacific Design Center (a.k.a. the “Blue Whale”) in the middle of Los Angeles has long remained under the radar of Angelino art collectors. All that changed this year with the inaugural production of Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC), a new cutting-edge expo that debuted over the weekend as a 50,000-square-foot melting pot for 55 blue-chip and emerging galleries from Los Angeles and around the globe. Organized by Fair Grounds Associates‘ Tim Fleming, director of the fair and a former director of ART LA and photo Miami, ALAC stood apart from last month’s bigger Los Angeles Art Show as a juried event with a selection committee composed of taste-making L.A galleries 1301 PE, David Kordansky Gallery, Peres Projects, andSusanne Vielmetter.

With the most affordable admission cost of any of the season’s L.A. fairs at $16.00, ALAC attracted 9,000 attendees and collectors from the United States and abroad, as well as celebrities like Anthony Kiedis, Neil Patrick Harris, and Drew Barrymore. Hip galleries ranging from New York’s Lisa Cooley and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise to London’s Museum 52 and Guadalajara’s Charro Negro Galeria occupied booths in a grid enclosed by gloor-to-ceiling glass partitions, giving collectors an appealing sensation of viewing the art through storefront windows.

Attendees strolling the fair could not miss John Miller’s room of fiercely shining sculptures at Patrick Painter, where the imitation gold-leaf coating the works added a chintzy luster to the work’s humble materials of plaster, cloth, and Styrofoam. Michael Briggs, the gallery’s director, said interest in Miller’s work in the booth signaled a “pickup in the higher end as well as the lower end” — appropriately enough for an artist whose work is both valuable and a critique of commercial value. “Obviously it’s not like the boom times again in 2006 or 2007, but it’s pretty steady,” Briggs said. “There are serious collectors and they are still buying serious art.” Over at Honor Fraser’s booth, which was showing work by the rising New York-based artist Robert Lazzarini, gallery director Michelle Pobar agreed. “$10-30,000 is a great price range right now,” he said. “People are really responding to that range of work.”

Closing sales were still being finalized this week and galleries remained tight-lipped about profits, but artists known to have sold at the fair include Miller; Sage Vaughn at Kim Light; Erin Shireff at Lisa Cooley; and Kerry Tribe, Pae White, and John Reynolds at 1301 PE(which sold upwards of $100,000 worth of work, according to Fleming). New York’s I-20 gallery also sold two large “video engines” by artist Peter Sarkisian, each in the $100,000 range. New York-based artist Lisi Raskin also generated buzz with her collaged work inspired by nuclear missile sites at The Company’s booth. According to artist Annie Wharton, who founded the Los Angeles gallery with curator Anat Ebgi in 2008, collectors were drawn to the way Raskin’s art engaged with “the notion of the handmade, taking paper and re-working into very elaborate pieces.”

Director Tim Fleming believes the Pacific Design Center’s proximity to neighboring galleries and the Culver City Art Walk helped make the inaugural fair a success by reinforcing the art’s connection to the urban fabric of the city.

Lisi Raskin, Container. Collaged paper, archival adhesive, graphite, acrylic paint, 28 x 22 in.

Courtesy the Company from Artinfo

Let’s get to it. The first thing you need to do is pick an installer.  You definitely want a knowledgeable one. So where do you find a reputable, trustworthy installer? The National guild of professional paperhangers is a good place to start; showrooms will also have a few tips that can help. Ask lots of questions, and if you get a recommendation from a reliable source, you can start heading in the right direction.

The material is one of the most important things to pay attention to, and we, the paperhanger, need to educate you, the decorator/designer.  Whether your in the business a while or just starting out, some things are doable, and some things are just not possible!  I know you  think we are magicians, but we do the best we can.  Some seams DO  show depending on the material you are using, but we will get into that another time. Materials are  an investment,  whether it costs $20.00 a yard or $500.00 a yard,  since it adds up in the end. But as you know, this a worthwhile expense . One of the best ways to keep cost down is getting the proper measurements of the space you are doing and the specifics of the paper or fabric.  Showroom salespeople help you as much as they can, but it is essential to confer with your paper hangers so no detail is overlooked.  Remember, you have windows, doors, and closets, so ask  an installer for estimates since they are often free.  Get your measurements and your pricing all at once.  On the job site, ask your installer what prep you might need–some papers require wall liners,   recommended for a reason.  Educate yourself to ask for the directions on the material or wall covering you are choosing, read it at lunch, on the train, or in the cab, and gain the knowledge to save time and money. don’t cut corners or someone will pay.

If you have any questions or your installer needs to ask a question I work with many of your favorite showrooms I am here for you, just ask and I will lead you in the right direction!

Best In Show  Wallpaper from Osborne and Little

Photos by Troy Campbell Photography

Pictured: Brunschwig & Fils Chevron Bar Silk