NOMAD'S LAND
An itinerant Gianluca Longo selects his highlights from Nomad St. Moritz 2023
Coming full circle, the travelling Nomad arts fair returns to St. Moritz for four days this February. Conceived in 2017 by Italian art curator Giorgio Pace and Canadian architect Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, the fair tours Europe both literally and virtually, transporting a wealth of contemporary and modern art to various spectacular architectural locations. From Karl Lagerfeld’s Villa La Vigie in Monaco to the Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel in Venice and Palais Bulles in France’s Théoule-sur-Mer, Nomad’s destinations betray a keen eye for the wondrous. This year, the elegant boutique hotel Grace La Margna, designed by Nicolaus Hartmann in the Art Nouveau style, rivals the awe inspired by the designs themselves – and the encircling backdrop of the Swiss Alps provides more than a dash of drama. Gianluca Longo encountered much to write home about.
Lola Schnabel at Nilufar Gallery
US-born Lola Schnabel, currently based in Sicily, exhibits ceramic artichoke candleholders at Nilufar Gallery. An extension of her ‘Le Castraure’ collection, these playful plants flower and then flower again with flame.
Francesca Neri Antonello at Volumnia Gallery
Architect and interior decorator Francesca Neri Antonello’s collaboration with Volumnia Gallery brings together textiles and vintage furniture in a collection of new designs, made with recycled materials by Italian artisans.
Hugh Findletar at The Spaceless Gallery
The Spaceless Gallery presents Jamaican artist Hugh Findletar’s imagined muses, all made from Murano glass. Each of the flower-crowned figures has their own distinct personality, inspired by the Caribbean legends and traditions their creator grew up with.
Fornasetti
Exclusive new designs for Nomad by Fornasetti are inspired by playing cards – once collected by Piero himself and a source of inspiration for the atelier ever since. Wood panelling and brass inserts stylishly offset the suits.
Daniel Piršč at Rossana Orlandi
Daniel Piršč’s amphora-inspired ceramic vases at Rossana Orlandi have a surreal quality. The optical illusion created by their ingeniously atypical forms demands that one take a closer look.
Florian Germann at Galerie Gregor Staiger
A glass table by Florian Germann looks almost liquid – or at least brimful of it. Decorative as an Art Deco perfume bottle, it’s strikingly luminous when the light hits it.
Tsherin Sherpa for Mt. Refuge
The mesmerising design of this Tibetan rug by artist Tsherin Sherpa is rooted in ancient Buddhist imagery, fragmented here in a clearly modern creation for Mt. Refuge, a contemporary design studio.
