Superhouse Highlights Rare American Art Furniture from the 1980s at Design Miami 2025
- camilarosiaz
- Nov 18
- 2 min read
Superhouse returns to Design Miami with American Art Furniture: 1980–1990, a focused presentation of landmark works from a decade that reshaped the boundaries between design, craft, and sculpture. Installed at Booth C02, the exhibition marks the gallery’s third appearance at the fair and its first dedicated entirely to historical pieces, offering visitors an opportunity to encounter works seldom seen outside major institutional collections.
Alex Locadia. Batman Chair, 1989. Molded leather, lacquered steel, wood, pin 21.5 x 25.75 x 33 H in (54.2 x 65.4 x 83.8 cm)
The presentation features 12 artists who helped define the emergence of American art furniture, a movement marked by experimentation, attitude, and an embrace of furniture as a medium for personal and political expression. Works on view include rarely exhibited pieces by Alex Locadia, Elizabeth Browning Jackson, Gloria Kisch, Wendy Maruyama, Dan Friedman, Forrest Myers, and Michele Oka Doner, among others.
Superhouse founder Stephen Markos notes that the 1980s marked a turning point: a period when American designers treated furniture as art, collapsing distinctions between disciplines and embracing bold forms, cultural commentary, and conceptual intent.
The booth’s scenography, created by Studio AHEAD in collaboration with Farrow & Ball, draws from the postmodern spirit of Bay Area artist Garry Knox Bennett. Referencing the cast-iron columns of downtown New York galleries and infusing them with a Northern California sensibility, the installation bridges East and West Coast design influences of the era. The entire space is finished in Graupel, a richly pigmented color from Farrow & Ball, and debuts the brand’s new Flat Eggshell finish—an ultra-matte surface applied seamlessly from walls to floors.
Tom Loeser. Folding Chair, 1989. Wood, paint, stainless steel. 34 x 25 x 22 H in (86.4 x 63.5 x 55.9 cm)
Among the exhibition’s highlights are long-hidden works and pieces making their public debut. Locadia’s Batman Chair (1989) channels cinematic noir into a sculptural seat; Friedman’s LM Screen (1982) appears for the first time since its use in the WilliWear offices; Oka Doner’s Burning Bush (1990) brings her nature-driven bronze work to Miami; Snyder’s Round the World (1990) combines mechanics and humor in a layered rotating cabinet; and Tom Loeser’s Folding Chair (1989) transforms a Shaker form into a vivid, collapsible wall piece.
Dan Friedman. LM screen, 1982. Medium-density fiberboard, paint, mirror, fabric, cork, casters. 84 x 1 x 83.5 H in (213.4 x 2.5 x 212.1 cm)
Together, these works reaffirm the movement’s significance as a distinctly American moment in design—one defined by ingenuity, boundary-breaking ideas, and a willingness to treat functional objects as expressive, sculptural forms.
Gloria Kisch. Sliding Down the Mountain IV, 1990. Aluminum, stainless steel. 42 x 17 x 39 H in (106.7 x 43.2 x 99.1 cm)
Superhouse’s programming continues to explore the intersections of craft, material, and narrative. More information is available through Superhouse’s Website, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, as well as via Farrow & Ball and Studio AHEAD for additional context on the collaboration.