This fall’s design exhibitions have seen designers and sculptors use experimental forms and production techniques that challenge industry standards. These explorations, though not always practical, bring a fresh creative energy. Collectible fairs and group shows have featured standout one-off design studies.
Oxalino Waterfall Coat Rack by Nicholas Holmes
A statement piece in Hamilton-based designer Nicholas Holmes’s ongoing collection, the Oxalino Waterfall coat rack gets its name from combining “oxidation” and “line.” Holmes uses a hand-painted oxidizing solution on white oak to accentuate the material’s natural grain. A fluted base and branch-like hooks give the piece a sculptural, otherworldly quality. It debuted during the DesignPhiladelphia festival as part of the group exhibition Barpha, organized by Dudd Haus gallery.
A Jumbled Chair by Tony Romano
To inaugurate its new location at 945 College Street — and celebrate its tenth anniversary — Toronto art gallery Franz Kaka staged the exhibition Soft Hardware, which brought together works by half of its artistic roster. The show featured half of the gallery’s artistic roster. In the front window sits Tony Romano’s 2021 pandemic-era piece, an almost-chair that evokes balusters and newel posts.
Romano’s background in his father’s railing company heavily influences his work. He told art writer Rosie Prata that his woodworking “always mimicking these shapes that I used to see as a kid, actually, these abstractions of the body.” A recent collaboration with his partner, Nadia Belerique, for the Lassonde Art Trail presents stacked tables with cast steel versions of imagined lost and found objects.
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Montreal-based sculptor Karim Charlebois also made an impression. Following his expressive woodwork at DesignTO’s Pot au Feu exhibition, Charlebois held a solo show at Toronto’s 8×7 gallery. He describes his practice as a response to digital overstimulation. Each sculpture is carved entirely by hand, without power tools, as a “return to gesture, to wood, to simplicity.” The exhibition highlighted the slow, deliberate labour of his craft. Starting from a raw block of wood on opening night, Charlebois spent the next five days chiseling and gouging his way to a new work, placing the slow, thoughtful labour behind these pieces front and centre.
Vestiges by Double Entendre and Chimie
Scent plays a prominent role in the design industry because it triggers powerful memories. During September’s Format fair in Montreal, design collective Double Entendre staged an exhibition. It showcased archival designs from past editions with a new olfactory dimension.
Vortex Chair and Table by Partisans
Toronto studio Partisans leveraged technology for its new furniture series, Alumination. The line debuts with the Vortex chair and table. They are produced using robo-forming, a process where robotic arms shape metal millimetre by millimetre.
Flat sheets of Canadian aluminum are warped into angular, sinuous sculptures. The Vortex chair has crater-like indents at its base and back. The matching table features topographic protrusions. The collection was recently awarded Best Furniture Design at the 2026 European Product Design Awards. It will be on view at the Partisans Halloween party this weekend. Building upon its long history of leveraging technology to realize ambitious designs, the studio developed this series to showcase the potential of industrial robotic arms working without the need for a custom mould.
