an experience where a curious designer can discover who is creating the most outstanding furniture in this world today Honestly, it's close to going to a museum exhibit of the latest and greatest in contemporary design!
Jane and I share a lot of similar tastes when it comes to contemporary furnishings, art and jewelry. We actually serve together on the Acquisitions Committee of MAD and have participated in the annual jewelry event at the museum called Loot for more years than we can remember.
Today we are looking for the following design specifics: dining room table and chairs, living room credenza and a chaise. But, of course, anything else that grabs our attention is food for the dezign fodder and we are wide eyed & excited about what is spread out on the two floors of the Pucci showroom.
After nearly exhausting the attentive and informative sales person, Wade, we have the good fortune to run into a marvelous designer, Jim Zivic, who has been on my dezign radar for the last 6 months. I had read about his unusual polished anthracite coal tables in Interiors… yes, I did say anthracite coal…and had been searching for sitings of him at all of the posh furniture showrooms and galleries in the city ever since. Well, now I finally know where to see his wonderfully creative industrial designs.
I couldn't believe that there he was at Ralph Pucci, setting up for an opening exhibition celebrating his furnishings! Jim Zivic is super talented in utilizing his signature materials: steel, leather, felt and coal. He creates sofas, tables, beds, console units, book shelves, hammocks, ottomans, chairs, lights…basically all of the important pieces in any room…out of these materials but in so doing changes these "hard surfaces and rough materials" into creations that make you wonder how he has managed to put all of this together so successfully.
I adored everything on display for Zivic's new showcase opening at Pucci that evening…as, I must mention, did my buddy, Jane. One piece was more exciting than the next. Totally crazy for the hammock! Now I need to find a place to hang it! AND the extra deep sofa is so sophisticated, yet subtle, in it's execution that I couldn't wait to sit in it.
The console tables of continuous rolls of woven leather or metal are simply too outrageous. To me they are really art installations as much as they are functional tables and would be the star attraction in any sleek contemporary home.
I could go on and on about all of this, but I must also comment on his anthracite coal tables. Polished to a shine in which you could see your face and occasionally filled in open spaces with molten steel that has solidified, they are each and every one a marvel to behold. Zivic told us the story behind getting these huge pieces from the mines and then polishing them for untold hours and shaping them into beautiful tables…a long an arduous process… and it was really quite fascinating.
Oh, great note: Zivic told me one of his earliest fans and clients was the famous singer Lou Reed and that he had created many pieces for him. Reed died recently so Zivic was dedicating this exhibition to him and had installed a steel plate into the floor with a quote from Reed etched into it. Kinda cool, no?
If you are interested in seeing some of Zivic's pieces up front and personal best hightail it over to Pucci's showroom. I guarantee you that you will find your self oohing & aahing at the perfection and the beauty of his work.
I'm all for putting a little industrial spark in your interiors, if only to stir up that dezign mix and push that envelope just a little bit further. And, if you are as ready as I am, then definitely don't forget the name, Jim Zivic.
DEEP IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES!