Your Essential Art and Design Guide to the Hamptons, 2018

As temperatures rise, New Yorkers and travelers alike head East to escape the urban jungle in exchange for a salty ocean breeze and rose-fueled summer nights. And not only are there a number of chic design boutiques popping up throughout the East end, but a slew of cutting-edge art exhibitions at museums and galleries. Here, we round up the best in art and design for those after a dose of culture.

WATERMILL

Parrish Art Museum Photo: Courtesy of the Parrish Museum

In its striking concrete and glass Herzog & de Meuron-designed setting, the Parrish Art Museum focuses on artists from the East End of Long Island such as Chuck Close and Jackson Pollock, as well hosting dynamic temporary exhibitions. This summer is no different, as an extensive survey of some 30 works by the American light artist Keith Sonnier takes over the space, revealing his diverse output from 1967 to the present. The elegant, fluid quality of his neon allows the artist to seemingly draw with light and color. (Opening August 5. Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo’s will also have an exhibition following his Water Mill residency, marking his first solo show at an American museum.) 79 Montauk Hwy, Water Mill

SOUTHAMPTON

One Kings Lane Southampton Photo: Courtesy of One Kings Lane

Taking cue from the Parrish Museum’s show, Tripoli Gallery is exhibiting a selection of the Keith Sonnier’s recent work in a show titled “Tragedy and Comedy,” which runs through July 29, 2018. 30 Jobs Ln, Southampton, NY. 

For vintage and antique treasures, don’t miss One Kings Lane’s Southampton pop-up shop. Occupying the former town library, the store has been designed with the spirit of a classic Hamptons home, and everything from the furniture, and lights, to the artwork are available for purchase. 1 Jobs Ln, Southampton 

Collective Art + Design Photo: Antoine Bootz

Located in a sprawling 3,000-square-foot former power station in Southhampton, interior designer Jeff Lincoln’s latest space Collective Art + Design shakes up the Hamptons design scene with its artful curation of the best French design pieces—think Charlotte Perriand or Jean Prouvé— to cutting-edge Korean ceramics and contemporary art.

EAST HAMPTON 

The new Aerin boutique in East Hampton

Lifestyle entrepreneur and cosmetics scion Aerin Lauder has opened her third boutique for her lifestyle brand Aerin, in East Hampton. (The first was in Southampton, before Palm Beach.) Lauder worked with the New York-based interior designer Daniel Romualdez to craft the bright white interiors and elegant custom lighting. You’ll find Lauder’s own coveted line of clothes, accessories, and homewares, as well as her expert edit of the chicest summer essentials. 7 Newtown Lane, East Hampton. 

For modern art lovers, a must-visit is the Pollock-Krasner House in East Hampton, the barn that served as Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner’s studio from 1946. (It was purchased with financial help from Pollock’s patron Peggy Guggenheim.) This summer, the house museum showcases a spellbinding selection of artworks acquired by the museum since it opened in 1988, including stellar pieces by Pollock and Krasner. 830 Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton. 

Recommended: Five Artists Homes You Can Visit 

Art insiders know to head to Eric Firestone Gallery, which can be counted on for hosting ambitious solo and group exhibitions as well as showcasing emerging talent. This summer don’t miss the late Michael Boyd’s serene landscapes depicting soothing gradient fields of pastel. 4 Newtown Ln, East Hampton . Rental Gallery, meanwhile, is showcasing a group show focused on L.A. artists through July 25. 87 Newtown Lane East Hampton, NY.

Sumptuous works by the late Ellsworth Kelly are going on view at Guild Hall from August 11 through October 8.  The exhibition focuses on the Abstract artist’s sabbaticals in the Hamptons during 1960 and 1961 and a few years later, during 1968 and 1969, both considered pivotal years in his career.

BRIDGEHAMPTON 

An installation view of Keith Sonnier’s seminal work Dis-Play II at the Dan Flavin Institute Photo: Courtesy of the Dan Flavin Institute

Running concurrently to the Parrish Museum’s show, the Dia Art Foundation’s Dan Flavin Art Institute in Bridgehampton has restaged Sonnier’s iconic environmental work Dis-Play II, 1970. Combining nontraditional materials such as foam rubber, fluorescent powder, and strobe, the radical installation was first exhibited in the artist’s first solo show at the Leo Castelli Warehouse and is not to be missed. 23 Corwith Ave, Bridgehampton, NY.

MONTAUK

Boo-Hooray’s pop-up space in Montauk Photo: Wiki Commons

An eclectic Soho-based gallery and archive Boo-Hooray founded by Johan Kugelberg and Dr. Lila Wolfe has set up a new pop-up shop in an old building in Montauk for the first time, offering a collection of rare books, art, and vintage posters as well as temporary exhibitions. 49 Montauk Highway Montauk, NY. 

SAG HARBOR

The exterior of the Goop pop-up. Photo: Courtesy of Goop

For some retail therapy, head to Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop Sag Harbor pop-up, a former cottage turned boutique that sells home décor, clothes, and accessories—including a Hamptons specific Prada collection—and organic beauty products by the likes of May Lindstrom and Vitner’s Daughter. Designers Kate McCollough and Max Zinser of KMZ New York filled the space with locally sourced antiques and furniture. 4 Bay Street, Sag Harbor