Simon de Pury, curator, collector, and auctioneer
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
As a collector as well as a professional, you have to be opportunity driven and strike fast when the occasion presents itself. The saying that you have to “eat your cookies while they are being passed” applies to collecting as well.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
The pendulum is beginning to swing back in the other direction, with a greater focus on figurative art. The fabulous exhibition that Jonas Wood just had at the David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles stood out, and more great paintings can certainly be expected from him.
Jaime Hayon, artist and designer
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
Pieces by Charlotte Perriand, Studio Job, and Michael Anastassiades for my new home. And to have time to add personal details to my house. I still need to design my garden and sort out the furniture.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
A return of 1980s style, with more color and monochrome effects.
Mathias Bengtsson, designer
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
Some old, original Tapio Wirkkala jewelry, which I collect. A Grete Jalk chair. And a GoPro head cam for skiing.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
More emotional value and more technology in design. Yes, please!
Victoria Siddall, director of Frieze London, Frieze Masters, and Frieze New York
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
A lambswool blanket designed by artist Matt Connors for House of Voltaire. Proceeds go toward supporting the exhibition and education programs of Studio Voltaire, the nonprofit gallery and artist studio complex in south London.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
I hope to see increased cross-pollination between art past and present, and across different parts of the world. Listening to Ed Ruscha talk about works in the Frick Collection as part of a special Frieze Masters Talk in New York, cohosted by Gucci, was a highlight of this year for me. I think contemporary artists are often the best people to open our eyes to the past.
Piero Lissoni, architect and designer
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
First on the list is a Porsche 356. Preferably the Speedster, and any color will do. After that, a multiple by Donald Judd in aluminum, painted in black or dark gray. A photograph by Hiroshi Sugimoto—one of the sea or one of his architectural shots would do. And then I’d like some original, 1930s glass from Venini.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
I think we, as designers, need to be more self-critical and ask more questions, to be more selective and brave. There is nothing more difficult than saying to oneself, “It’s not good enough” or “This is not a good thing to make.” In the last three to five years, there has been this notion that anything is possible within design, but with that comes an added need to be more critical.
Daniel Birnbaum, director of Moderna Museet, Stockholm
What is on your wish list for the New Year?
My wish list comes in the form of an exhibition: Directly after Christmas there is only one necessary thing to do in the European art world, and that is a trip to Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum to see Velázquez. He is the painter of painters, said Manet.
What are your art-world predictions for 2015?
2015 is the great Italian year of art and gastronomy. It all starts with the Milan Expo on May 1, with Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. Art has cannibalized most other disciplines in recent years—fashion, cinema, music, and architecture. Food is next.
