Meet the Designer Who Wants You to Play Around
After a decade of somber, utterly sensible design, a rising star reminds us that sometimes the objects we surround ourselves with just need a healthy dose of wonder.
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Dallas, “Chris Wolston: Profile in Ecstasy” (Until Feb. 1)
The 29-year-old Brooklyn based designer Chris Wolston is inspired by delicious excess, handmade objects, mother nature, and absolutely not being boring. He’s made, for example, tiled chandeliers, an aluminum sofa, and human-shaped wicker chairs—all on show here. Much of his technique is influenced by his relationship with Colombia’s traditional practices, where he did a Fulbright fellowship and keeps a second studio in Medellín. This presentation of over 40 objects revels in joyful design. dallascontemporary.org
Athens, “Juergen Teller: You are Invited” (Until Dec. 30)
In the last few years, some of Juergen Teller’s candid photographs have become quieter. The German photographer became a father, for one, and began making portraits with his wife, and documenting heavier subjects like Auschwitz. This mid-career survey, in a refurbished factory in Athens, feels especially intimate, even for a quite honest artist. “Everyone else seems so serious, so contrived. I want to bring everything together, from the funny to the tragic, because that’s life,” Teller explains. Here, family, love, politics, faith, and fashion come together in a lively show. onassis.org
New York, “Eamon Ore-Giron: Conversations with Snakes, Birds, and Stars” (Until Dec. 20)
In his paintings and glass mosaics, Eamon Ore-Giron refracts the symbols of early Latin American civilizations into flat geometric compositions. These pleasantly colored works are deceptively simple. On a closer look, one can see international influences like Brazilian Neo-Concretism and Italian Futurism crossing with ancient motifs. The pieces on view here are the latest in the series Talking Shit, a candid name for the cross-cultural dialogue Ore-Giron is hoping to create. jamescohan.com
New York, “Guanyu Xu: Resident Aliens” (Until Dec. 20)
In the photo series Resident Aliens on view here, Guanyu Xu examines the political realities of immigrants living in the U.S. and China. He plasters meaningful photos from their albums in their homes before photographing them. The layered final image distorts its participant’s private lives, reflecting the sometimes intrusive nature of the state by making their most intimate moments public. They also reveal all the intricacies of life which don’t always neatly meet bureaucracy. yanceyrichardson.com
New York, “Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” (Until April 11, 2026)
In 1942, after 18 years in Europe absorbing modernist theory, Wifredo Lam returned home to Cuba where he painted La Jungla. The large oil work—featuring masked, long-legged figures dissolving into a Caribbean landscape of sugarcane and tropical fruit—reflected Picasso’s influence and Afro-Caribbean culture. “My painting is an act of decolonization not in a physical sense, but in a mental one,” Lam had said. MoMA acquired the painting in 1944. Eighty years later, it resurfaces in the first U.S. retrospective covering Lam’s remarkable career. moma.org
