In Brief with Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas is the Co-Founder of May, a new gallery-led art fair featuring fifteen galleries from across Aotearoa, Australia and the United Kingdom. He is also the Co-Director of Michael Lett Gallery, where he represents a diverse range of artists and curates innovative contemporary exhibitions.

May Art Fair launches this Friday in Tāmaki Makaurau, bringing Andrew's extensive experience in both local and international art fairs to Auckland.

Simon James is proud to support the inaugural May Art Fair, and we enjoyed catching up with Andrew to discuss his five favourite things for our In Brief series.

Scroll through below for Andrew's full edit.

"This chair is bold and sculptural yet has a lightness to it like a simply folded piece of origami. Right now I’m working on a school tech project with my son that will consist of a simple flat material folded to create a more complex 3D shape, so the idea of design and folded forms are front of mind."

"So understated and simple, these lights bring together heritage, craftsmanship, a considered Japanese aesthetic, and a sophisticated contemporary form. It’s the perfect combination. I spend a lot of time on the water and I do kind of like the maritime influence of these lights as well."

"We work with Martino at the gallery - he’s a genius. His work has a playfulness that can often be missing in functional design objects. Martino has developed a unique language that he is able to apply across objects and furniture ranging from high end commissions to functional everyday objects. These salt and pepper mills are among the Martino Gamper designs that get used on a daily basis around my house."

"My current dining table has coped with the thrills and spills of a young child for the last 13 years. I’m getting to the point where a more grown up dining table might actually be possible. For a long time my grandparents had a mid century oval shaped dining table, and matching upholstered chairs - except for one which was this sort of ornate Georgian style chair with tapestry upholstery. It’s a distinct memory and an oval shaped dining table carries a certain nostalgia for me."

"Maybe as close as a piece of furniture can get to a simple line drawing in space. Something as refined as this isn’t easy to engineer into an everyday object and there is a beauty in how two straight lines can deliver so much functionality. I love the nuance that you can achieve with lamps, they’re definitely my preferred way of lighting a space."

Andrew's Edit

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