What’s Happening: The New Yorker by way of Brisbane has made a name for herself by staging solo shows in which the production design becomes an extension of her artwork. She now creates a vast indoor playground that brings her hyperrealistic drawings to life.

The Download: Cj Henry doesn’t do the white cube. After abandoning her studies in architecture and finance, her big break came from a series of lifelike black-and-white drawings of Chanel bags from her time working at one of the label’s boutiques. The drawings were a hit on Instagram, helping launch her debut exhibition of them in 2014 and ultimately kicking off her now-established tradition of creating experiential art shows that captivate the imagination.

A few years later, Hendry presented drawings of Rorschach-like paint smears in the psychological tests’ splotchy style. To see the show, viewers traversed a white-padded-wall bouncy castle that served as an eerie expression of the inspiration Hendry took from childhood “squish paintings” and the darker implications of Hermann Rorschach’s studies of the unconscious mind. Then, in 2021, she created a floor-to-ceiling pink beauty parlor, complete with Ultrafragola mirrors and a chocolate bar that explored the transformative power of wigs.

For Hendry, who has no gallery representation and does not show at museums, art doesn’t end with each individual drawing. “I would love for each original artwork to only be able to be viewed as the entire experience,” she says. “It brings such a greater depth to the genre of hyperrealism.”

“Plaid” pushes the envelope by going bigger and more conceptual than Hendry’s previous shows. Here, she takes inspiration from the linguistic similarities between the show title and the word “play,” encouraging visitors to tap into their inner child. To navigate the setup, they meander through a two-story, warehouse-sized playground equipped with swings, a foam pit, slides, and a merry-go-round—elements that mirror Hendry’s drawings.

In working outside of the art world’s prescribed conventions, Hendry seems to have charted a path to commercial success on her own terms. This gives her license to do things like design paintbrush spoons for the JELL-O cocktails served to guests on opening night, which she says probably took more time than designing the show.

In Their Own Words: “I enjoy creating conceptual exhibitions that take elements of the series and blow them up on a massive scale,” Hendry says. “I’m bored by traditional galleries hanging artworks on white walls.”

Surface Says: We wish the JELL-O cocktails were a permanent fixture. What’s more experiential than watching grown-ass adults crawl through ball pits while torqued up on sugar and vodka?

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Designing Delicious is produced in partnership with Dorsia, a members-only platform with access to reservations at the most in-demand restaurants in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Even in a city teeming with omakase, Hiden ups the ante. Tucked away in the back of a no-frills taqueria in Wynwood is a portal to a clandestine world of Michelin-starred sushi. The restaurant’s name is a clever nod to its elusive entrance, which requires a time-sensitive passcode. Inside, chef Seijun Okano meticulously crafts an eight-to-ten-course menu composed of seasonal fish flown in from Japan four times per week. Even he doesn’t know what he’s going to serve you until the last minute. “Two hours before service begins, we decide based on the available fish,” Okano says.

Guests lucky enough to nab one of the eight seats can expect a miscellany of tastes such as the signature black cod marinated in saikyo miso for two days, Japanese Spanish mackerel nigiri molded perfectly over a mound of vinegar-spiked rice, or a prized cut of buttery chutoro tuna presented triumphantly on a ceramic vessel. The matcha tea is ceremonial grade and comes from the revered Uji region in Kyoto prefecture; the sake lineup is one of the city’s best. When it comes to the experience, no luxury is spared—as long as you have the secret code.

From India Mahdavi’s mouse-eared Thonet chair to Faye Toogood’s elegant reinterpretations of sprightly Matisse sketches, keep these hotly anticipated Milan Design Week product debuts on your radar.

When blue-chip homeware brand L’Objet launched an apothecary and home fragrance collection in 2018, they quickly became an industry favorite. Now creative director Elad Yifrach is building on that success with the launch of four eau de parfums—the brand’s first entry into personal scent.

“Fragrance has been part of our DNA for a long time. Now, we feel ready to take the next step,” Yifrach says, noting how fragrance is the “ultimate expression” of one’s style. He devised the four scents—Bois Sauvage, Côté Maquis, Rose Noire, and Oh Mon Dieu!—in collaboration with master perfumer Yann Vasnier, who helped formulate each with natural, biodegradable, and fair trade ingredients to forge the olfactory experience of plunging into the heart of nature.

Caroline Chao believes in the ability of carefully designed objects to foster self-reflection within space, whether immediately or subconsciously over an extended period of time. Her inaugural furniture collection, on view during Milan Design Week at SaloneSatellite, speaks to this notion, channeling familiar geometric shapes evoking children’s wooden play blocks into abstract, lucite-adorned furniture pieces designed to evoke nostalgia and create new possibilities for perceiving space.

Last week, Hästens rang in its 45th anniversary at its Soho Sleep Spa in New York. The high-end mattress maker—often dubbed the art world’s favorite bed—brought together wellness experts and creatives over a Scandinavian dinner party by Swedish chef Emma Bengtsson of Manhattan’s Aquavit restaurant. The brand partnered with wellness club Remedy Place to offer ear seeding treatments and an immersive sound bath. For a serene end to the evening, each guest took home a monogrammed Hästens robe and eye mask.

When was it? April 12.

Where was it? Hästens Sleep Spa, New York.

Who was there? Laura Kim, Kim Shui, Casey Fremont, JiaJia Fei, Linus Adolfsson, and more.

Nanimarquina is celebrating its 35th anniversary with new collaborations, new achievements in its longtime commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, and an elegant new showroom in the heart of New York’s Flatiron neighborhood in which to reflect on its past and its future. And there’s a lot to celebrate—the company’s founder Elena Marquina, who goes by Nani Marquina, has been recognized as one of Spain’s top female entrepreneurs and was honored with a National Culture Award from the government of Catalonia. Last year, the company earned Climate Neutral certification and expects to again this year and into the future.

Far + Dang is a multidisciplinary design office engaged in the complexities and multiplicities of contemporary life. The firm’s research, strategy, and work focuses on transforming intangible ideas into spatial realities and physical form. They’re interested in taking a project from its initial conception to its final built form, and aim to heighten the immaterial such as ideas, hopes, and space, by way of the material such as site and structure.

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