Tuft Love

R & Company and Amini bring fun to the floor with rugs that combine artistry and artisanship.

- Natalia Rachlin

When it comes to interiors and their contents, few items have the potential to be as excruciating an eyesore or as exquisite a centrepiece as a rug. It seems much more common, however, to encounter a monster than a masterpiece underfoot.

So, when one has the plush pleasure of meeting a really, really good carpet, it can be as exciting and satisfying as encountering great art. A case in point is ‘Woven Forms’, a collaboration between New York based design gallery R & Company (which specialises in designers from the 20th and 21st centuries) and luxury carpet brand Amini (a Best Reissue winner in the 2017 Wallpaper* Design Awards). Together, they have realised more than 20 limited-edition rugs by ten of today’s most notable artists and designers: Dana Barnes, Wendell Castle, Rogan Gregory, the Haas Brothers, Hun-Chung Lee, Lluís Lleó, Renate Müller, Katie Stout, David Wiseman and Thaddeus Wolfe. This wall-worthy rug collection will debut in May at the opulent Palazzo Benzon during the 57th Venice Biennale, as the creative class convenes along the Grand Canal to take in the best contemporary art from around the world.