Welcome to The Buzz, our monthly roundup of design world news and inspiration for Design Miami’s discerning community of creatives and collectors. Enjoy!

San Francisco’s Jessica Silverman kicks off its 2024 program with Enthroned, a group show celebrating innovative, women-led design practices. Co-curated by Silverman and Marc Benda of Friedman Benda, the exhibition features chairs, ottomans, side tables, and lighting by some of our favorite contemporary designers, including Ibiyanε, Faye Toogood, Najla El Zein, Jay Sae Jung Oh, Frida Escobedo, Johanna Grawunder, Carmen D’Apollonio, Lara Bohinc, Anna Aagaard Jensen, and Barbora Žilinskaitė. On view January 11- March 2

Now showing: In Chicago, Volume Gallery’s latest show, Apex, spotlights a cohort of exceptional contemporary American artists working in fiber. Guest curated by craft specialist Meaghan Roddy, the exhibition features work by the likes of Tanya Aguiñiga, Lia Cook, Ricki Dwyer, Terri Friedman, Ferne Jacobs, SHENEQUA, and more. The title, Apex, refers both to a meeting point for the artists—many of whom arrived at working in fiber through different media—as well as the joining of an array of technical and material differences, practical approaches, generations, geographical locations, and cultural backgrounds of the makers in the show. On view til February 17th.

In New York, R & Company is ringing in the new year with a trio of intriguing exhibitions. Kicking things off, the gallery presents Sayar & Garibeh: Broomlithic, the Beirut-based duo’s first US solo show. Inspired by Lebanese life and culture, the pair is known for experimental, playful designs that blend traditional craftsmanship with contemporary perspectives and innovation. Their NYC debut features a selection of new furniture and objects that reflect the studio’s distinctive stone carving while paying tribute to the simple, functional broom.

In parallel, the gallery opens Evelyn Ackerman: The Collection of Gary and Laura Maurer and Forma: Bridging Cultures in Modern Design. The former is the first solo exhibition focused on Ackerman’s vision and work outside of California. Featuring more than 30 of her iconic tapestries and mosaics, the exhibition coincides with the 100th anniversary of Ackerman’s birth.

The latter is the gallery’s second exhibition spotlighting work by the mid-20th century Brazilian design firm Forma, and will include a selection of furniture and objects produced mainly between 1950 and 1960 that highlight the intricacy and singularity of Forma’s production—and champion Forma’s place in design history.  All on view January 12 – March 29

Upon entering the recently launched, oh-so-chic Parisian showroom of rising star architect-designer Nathan Litera, visitors encounter an installation aptly titled “Il nostro sogno” (Our Dream). The elegantly renovated apartment boasts gorgeous archways, millwork, and stone elements, and currently features a combination of  exceptional midcentury furniture by the likes of Pierre Jeanneret and Gabriella Crespi; Fontana Arte lighting by Carlo Scarpa and others; photographs and paintings by an array of voices from the French contemporary art scene, as well as luxe pieces from Litera’s own Altana collection—including velvet swivel chairs, elm burl coffee tables, and other beauties. By appointment only.

This month, Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris opens Seeing Things, an exhibition celebrating the work of contemporary ceramicist Gareth Mason. The acclaimed artist has crafted new large-scale sculptural works, every one a testament to his mastery over the medium. The resulting, intensely expressive pieces—richly textured, energetic manipulations of clay, stone, and raw minerals—nod to the forces that shape both the artist himself and the physical world around us. January 18 - April 7

Also this week, Friedman Benda in New York opens The New Transcendence,  the last in a trio of exhibitions guest-curated by historian and curator Glenn Adamson. The new show explores the place of the spiritual in contemporary design today, through pieces by six acclaimed designers—Ini Archibong, Andrea Branzi, Stephen Burks, Najla El Zein, Courtney Leonard, and Samuel Ross. Against the backdrop of our digital age, the featured designers reflect on how design can serve as a vehicle for personal and societal transcendence. On view January 11-February 24

This week in Miami, Mindy Solomon Gallery opens Drift, a solo show spotlighting American ceramicist Linda Lopez. The exhibition features a new collection of abstract “Dust Furries,” each marked by Lopez’s amorphous, whimsical signature aesthetic and inspired by the poetry that exists all around us in the often overlooked— and, specifically, dust. As the gallery explains: “Drift serves as an invitation to reimagine the mundane, discovering wonder in life’s simplest elements and embracing the narratives interwoven into the fabric of our everyday lives…Dust possesses an enchanting allure. Within the perfect stream of light, these minute particles gracefully waltz around the room, engaging in a mesmerizing ballet… Layer upon layer, they settle like the pages of a book, chronicling stories day by day.” January 12-February 14

Later this month, Ceramic Brussels—a new fair dedicated exclusively to contemporary ceramics— launches at Tour & Taxis, a former customs facility turned event destination set in the heart of Brussels. The inaugural edition will welcome nearly 60 international galleries, and present a selection of special awards and installations spotlighting emerging talents. We’re  looking forward to seeing an array of both familiar and fresh faces who together demonstrate the medium’s versatility. January 25-28th

Finally,  in LA, Marta has just opened On Fire, a solo exhibition featuring new works by master ceramicist George Sherman. The new body of work is inspired by Sherman’s home-base in the dramatic foothills of Pasadena’s San Gabriel Mountains, evoking the sinuous bodies of snakes, the ripples of a diver’s splash, and beyond. Collectively, the gallery observes, these new pieces “reiterate Sherman’s technical capacity to render the grandeurs, both great and small, of the organic world.” ’Til February 17