Sixteen generations of the Cavendish family have cared for and curated Derbyshire’s Chatsworth property—from its Grade I listed house and stables to its 105-acre garden and 1,822-acre part—with world-class art and design. Indeed, says senior curator Alex Hodby, Chatsworth “has been a place where design is a key feature for 500 years.”
This spring, the family looks back and forward at once, bringing an array of new work into the fold with “Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Cavendish.” Co-curated by Glenn Adamson and presented in partnership with Friedman Benda, Salon 94 Design, and Adrian Sassoon, the show builds relationships between the beloved space and work from 16 heavy-hitters, including Jay Sae Jung On, Formafantasma, Michael Anastassiades, and Joris Laarman.
The blued steel and glass of Surface cover star Ini Archibong’s Dark Venus 1 strikes a chord in a vestibule home to a musicians’ gallery. Fittingly, he also installed a custom sound piece. Faye Toogood tackles two rooms, situating stone-and-bronze sculptures in the chapel to invoke local stone circles, and complimenting the 6th Duke of Devonshire’s paneled Oak Room with bog oak objects. And in the Grotto, Chris Schanck’s CryoCabinet houses mineral specimens from Chatsworth’s extensive collection in forms crafted from upcycled scrap materials and resin, as elegant a blend of past and future as the Chatsworth program itself.
