Kelly Wearstler Opens Her Home to a New Wave of Experimental Designers
The interior designer’s Beverly Hills pool house becomes a stage for Side Hustle, a curatorial platform for artists to push materials in unexpected directions
No medium has ever daunted Kelly Wearstler, who confidently conceives energetic homes and hotels, embraces novel technologies to design covetable objects and furniture, and shares how she does it all on MasterClass. Her latest venture is extending that trajectory even further into a previously uncharted arena but aligned with the spirit of her photogenic interiors and eye for innovation. She recently unveiled a gallery and curatorial platform called Side Hustle that carves out space for cross-disciplinary artists to experiment in unexpected directions. Its inaugural show, “Again, Differently,” brings together vanguard artists from the United States, Europe, and South America whose work reimagines familiar materials through repetition and risk all under one roof.
Side Hustle builds on a collaborative instinct that has shaped Wearstler’s design approach for decades. One defining example is the breathtaking ceramic wall she commissioned from Los Angeles artist Ben Medansky for the Downtown L.A. Proper hotel, a project that pushed his work into exciting new spatial contexts. “I’ve worked with many different artists,” Wearstler reflects. “I like to push them to do things a little differently, something unique for me.”
The eight artists participating in “Again, Differently” each find compelling ways to approach transformation through process and material. Nynke Koster recasts forgotten architectural details into pliant rubber forms that breathe new life into fragments of history. Sonia Gomes wraps driftwood in fabric and casts it in bronze to create commanding candelabras and side tables. Sam Klemick engineers Douglas Fir so timber folds like daintily draped fabric. Joana Schneider wields fishing-industry fibers to weave organic, marine-like installations. Mariko Makino bends neon into luminous curves entwined with carved wood. Leonor Antunes channels structured geometries into suspended works that play with shadow and light. Dozie Kanu repurposes chains, rims, and salvaged metal into powerful assemblages that examine cultural identity.
“The show really explores how repetition and ritual manifest through each artist’s practice and what it means to them,” Wearstler explains. “It also emphasizes taking risks and moving across to another medium.” Each selection, she notes, builds toward a collective whole: “Medium and scale were important. I wanted every artist to shine and bring a certain voice to the project.” Woven into the presentation are Collected Works—historical pieces that Wearstler sourced and placed among the new commissions. They include handmade German caviar bowls, a silver Florentine lamb that opens to reveal a suite of serving pieces, and a pair of Eckhart chairs still marked with paint from their former studio use.
Wearstler chose not to debut Side Hustle in a traditional white-cube setting. Instead, the exhibition unfolds in the pool house of her storied Beverly Hills estate, which was once a private theater where legendary producer Albert Broccoli screened James Bond films for Hollywood’s elite. “Traditionally, galleries can be a little austere,” she muses. “I want people to feel comfortable.” The decision to host Side Hustle’s debut at her own pool house, in turn, reshapes how the works are encountered. “It’s for curious people who want to see interesting things and learn about how the artists work.”
The show also extends beyond physical display into scent, sound, and video. A fragrance developed with local house Perfumehead wafts through the interior. Acclaimed producer Kenny Beats scored the show with an original soundtrack that accompanies a digital experience, where Wearstler curated a continuous feed of images, poetry, and studio footage that offers a window into her references and curiosity. Gallerist and cultural impresario Jeffrey Deitch even penned an essay for the digital companion.
Side Hustle is a natural evolution of Wearstler’s established practice. In the 30 years since founding her studio, she has expanded her reach from interiors and architecture to industrial design, brand partnerships, and media, most recently with Wearstlerworld, her publication on Substack. She has also embraced emerging technologies, including AI, to explore new avenues of creative expression. The gallery channels that instinct into taking her longtime support for other artists’ work to the next level—and reveling in the unexpected. “It’s about expanding access,” she says, noting that the platform supports both emerging and established artists who want to try something different. Looking ahead, she frames her goal succinctly: “I want to build a new model for creative entrepreneurship that’s rooted in creativity and collaboration.”
“Again, Differently” will be on view at Side Hustle by appointment only through November 16.