Objects of Desire

Book Mykonos Muse, Assouline

Mykonos Muse. In our simple longing for sea, sun and escape, it’s easy to forget that Mykonos comes too with a rich cultural and mythological history. Fortunately this Assouline publication is on hand as a reminder to whet the holiday appetite with a colourful chronicle of Mykonos through the ages. Known as the island of the winds, it’s said to represent the bodies of the gods felled by Hercules. Fast-forward centuries later, it’s also been a hideout for luminaries such as Le Corbusier and Antonis Benakis, while serving as a mecca for the gay community. Lie back and enjoy the many stories associated with the island – ideally on a beach en place.

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Art ‘Linear Emotions’ Mykonos print, Maryam Eisler

Few contemporary artists have captured the magic of Mykonos as elegantly as the photographer Maryam Eisler. Her work is noted for its sublime themes and dramatic effects of light, both characteristics of this recent print series, Linear Emotions. In these graphic photographs, Eisler hones in on the architectural and natural details that make the island such a special and iconic place. Juxtaposing whitewashed walls against an electric blue sky, the result is a powerfully artistic and unique rendering of this Greek hotspot in all its geometrical and formal wonders. While travel remains complicated, this print brings the holiday home.

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Fashion Melanie Flamingo Kaftan, Melissa Odabash

Radiate your own summer vibes with this hot pink Melanie Flamingo Kaftan. The perfect adornment to your sun-kissed glow, the Melissa Odabash design features intricate full-length embroidery, airy holed sleeves and matching fabric belt tie. Queen of the Beachwear Look, American fashion designer Odabash – whose fans vary from Rihanna to the Duchess of Cambridge – has been noted by Vogue as creating the ‘Ferraris of swimwear’, and this piece is no exception. The perfect mix of high fashion and beachwear, your getaway case isn’t packed until it’s at top of the pile.

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Design Mesedia Chair, Versace Home

Bring a touch of colour and mystique to those dreamy outdoor summer evenings. In a now-iconic piece by Versace, the brand embeds its own Medusa figurehead into a climate-proof aluminium chair. The first of its kind for Versace Home, the chair was first introduced at the Salon de Mobile in 2016. ‘Versace lives through colour and pattern, breaking rules and promoting a sense of confidence and glamour’, the brand says – qualities all exuded in this piece entitled Mesedia. The chair comes in a variety of colours, from midnight blues to smokey blacks. Sink back and lose yourself.

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Design Keith Haring x The Skateroom

Whether for wall or streetside, this is art to mount. The latest release by The Skateroom – a social initiative empowering youth with art – is a set of boards paying homage to legendary American pop artist Keith Haring. A leading figure in the New York graffiti subculture of the 1980s, Haring’s universally recognised visual language – here featuring his famous monster motif – is a fittingly energetic adornment for these decks. This limited-edition set is made from responsibly source wood, and harks back perfectly to Haring’s artistic vision: ‘Art should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. By taking it off the pedestal, I’m giving it back to the people.’

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Design Kartta glass sculpture

Escape to the cooling climes of Finland through the Kartta glass sculpture. Designed by artist Santtu Mustonen, this bold piece offers a mental (as well as material) gateway to another world. ‘Kartta’ is the Finnish word for map, and the work – representative of how Mustonen renders emotional, mental experiences in visual, tactile form – refers to an imaginary map of another reality located in our mind. The sculpture is made at the Iittala glass factory through a combination of digital manufacturing methods and more traditional metalworking, resulting in its distinctive aesthetic. After a week of tropical heat, it’s the bedside table companion you need.

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Jewellery Bubble, warm (2020), Mariko Kusumoto

The ethereal delicacy of Mariko Kusumoto’s designs are a triumph of skill and craftsmanship. The artist specialises in creating jewellery and objects out of polyester fibres, inspired by motifs of marine life, flowers and the everyday. The result is somewhat magical and uplifting: ‘My work reflects various, observable phenomena that stimulate my mind and senses. I “reorganize” them into a new presentation that can be described as surreal, amusing, graceful, or unexpected,’ she describes. Shown as part of Kusumoto’s fittingly titled show ‘Natural Grace’ at Micheko Galerie in Munich, ‘Bubble, warm’ encapsulates the lightness of beauty that pervades her work.

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Book Bright Stars: Great Artists Who Died Too Young, Kate Bryan

Short careers, long legacies, immortal artwork: Kate Bryan’s upcoming book Bright Stars is both an examination and a celebration of the lives of 30 great artists who died young. It’s hard to believe that such heavyweight art figures as Van Gogh in fact died at 38, or even Jean-Michel Basquiat at 27. This new book explores how such premature ends contribute to the mythologisation of the artist figure – while reappraising the importance of other artists whose early deaths excluded them from the history books, from Charlotte Salomon to Amrita Sher-Gil. Bright Stars makes their stories shine: pre-order away.

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Design Vitra Sunburst Clock, George Nelson

Time won’t forget George Nelson. As one of the founding fathers of American modernism, he was part of a generation of architects who re-envisioned the design of everyday objects as art. Perhaps most famous for his series of clocks, Nelson was the first to eliminate the use of numbers in their design, re-establishing the value of clocks as a decorative interior product in a wristwatch age. His ‘Vitra Sunburst’ design in particular captured this refreshing new idea, embodying the joie de vivre aesthetic of the 1950s. There’s a reason it’s still in production today – this sits just as well as any artwork on the wall.

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