When Loewe’s flagship opened in the Miami Design District, two years ago, the fashion house opted to mark the occasion with an exhibition that celebrated not fashion, but craft. Curated by Loewe’s creative director, Jonathan Anderson, the show, titled “Chance Encounters,” examined both the history of craft and its legacy in a contemporary context, while underscoring the relevance of the discipline for the fashion brand. Anderson mounted a second iteration of the show in the Miami store last year, and continues the tradition next week, when “Chance Encounters III” opens on Dec. 5, highlighting work by the late painter Richard Smith, Ceylon photographer Lionel Wendt, and ceramist Sara Flynn. Like the exhibitions before it, this edition juxtaposes master artists from varying disciplines and time periods, situating the works in and around the boutique’s distinguishing feature: a 18th-century granary from Portugal.
Loewe gave Surface an exclusive sneak peek of three short films it created about each artist. The first features Anderson and curator Shanay Jhaveri discussing Wendt’s photography; the second captures a conversation between curator Paul Laster and Richard Smith’s son, Harry; the third travels to Flynn’s Northern Ireland ceramics studio for a chat between the potter Clive Fiddis and the artist. Together, the films capture the exhibition’s primary objective: to get people talking about craft.
