A steady stream of galleries and design boutiques has been colonising Los Angeles' once seedy Hollywood district over the last few years, pushing out the porn shops and establishing the area as a new creative hub. New among them this week is an LA branch of Johnson Trading Gallery - a big player on the New York design-art scene - which has just opened on the ground floor of the vast JF Chen building, one of the largest antique and vintage furniture stores in the city.
The gallery's new LA outpost takes JF Chen into uncharted territory - this is its first substantial venture into contemporary design. The inaugural exhibition, titled Superba, is a joint proposition, showcasing the work of leading designers from the Johnson Trading Gallery stable, including Simon Hassan, Kwangho Lee, Max Lamb and ArandaLasch, alongside a ream of JF Chen designers and artists. Among the pieces, expect new amorphous 'Poly' pieces from Max lamb and more spiralling, woven lights and furniture from Kwangho Lee.
Johnson Trading Gallery was established by Paul Johnson in 2007, who honed his collector's eye while heading up Phurniture Inc, and it has quickly become one of the bastions of contemporary design in New York. Rubbing shoulders with antiques stores like Reform and
http://www.blackmancruz.com/home.php" target="_blank" >Blackman Cruz, it's set to do the same in LA.
From left: Leather vessels and chair by Simon Hassan and Baked Copper and Enamel tables, cubes and cabinet by Kwangho Lee
Poly Furniture by Max Lamb, 2011
Baked Copper and Enamel Furniture by Kwangho Lee, 2010
Poly Seating Area by Max Lamb, 2011
Woven chandeliers by Kwangho Lee
Poly chair by Max Lamb and two-part hanging light fixture by Kwangho Lee
Address
Johnson Trading Gallery at JF Chen
941 North Highland Avenue
Los Angeles
-
Joel Quayson’s winning work for Dior Beauty at Arles considers the theme ‘Face-to-Face’ – watch it hereQuayson, who has won the 2025 Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents at Arles, imbues his winning work with a raw intimacy
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
Boathouse Zaka is the radical renovation of an ageing structure into a light-filled workspaceOFIS Architects turns a traditional boathouse into a lakeside laboratory on one of Slovenia’s best-loved bodies of water
