The Artful Life: 6 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week

1. Onna House and the 1818 Collective Launch Artist Collaboration

One of the most exciting additions to the East Hampton art scene last year was Onna House, the innovative gallery founded by fashion designer and collector Lisa Perry as a way to champion and increase visibility for women artists from around the world. Not far away in Sag Harbor, Analisse Taft-Gersten and Kristin Fine opened the 1818 Collective, a light-filled showroom that doubles as a design incubator for pioneering artisans. Now they’ve joined forces—with Perry introducing a slate of artists she has showed at Onna House to go on view at the 1818 Collective. Among the talents whose work is now on view is East End artist Amy Wickersham, whose mixed-media abstractions explore color and texture, as well as Finland-born painter Virva Hinnemo, who has a collection of vibrant canvases on view that evoke a lush forest landscape. Rounding out the group are Bastienne Schmidt and Lisbeth McCoy. —Geoffrey Montes

2. Alaïa Opens New Art-Filled Boutique in Manhattan

In the 1980s, Azzedine Alaïa opened his first American store in Soho, New York, which could be considered the springboard for Alaïa’s global success. This January, the iconic brand returned to the famed shopping district with a stunning new two-story boutique at 149 Mercer Street. Elegantly designed by British architect Sophie Hicks, the store is positioned as place for new encounters and discovery. Inside, clients will find a selection curated by the brand’s trailblazing creative director Pieter Mulier, who chose pieces that celebrate American art and design. “I’ve compiled some of my favorite artists, the ones that never stop inspiring me,” he said in a statement. Among the highlights are chairs by American minimalist Donald Judd, whose foundation is a few blocks away, as well as “Surface Series (from Currents)” by Robert Rauschenberg, a collection of 18 prints that are also found in MoMA’s holdings; a diptych by Mike Kelley; and a monumental work by Jonathan Horowitz. “New York has always been one of the creative hearts intimately linked to the history of the house,” says Myriam Serrano, CEO of Alaïa. “It’s the city of resilience,” adds Mulier. “And resilience is the feeding ground for creativity. That’s why it is so important for Alaïa to be present, once again, in the heart of New York.” –Lucy Rees

3. Jorge Pardo Creates a Limited-Edition Series of Lamps for Taschen

Cuban-American artist and sculptor Jorge Pardo creates dazzling large-scale artworks and installations featured in some of the world’s most prominent galleries and institutions, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Tate London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. And his fanciful light pieces utterly transform major hotel destinations, including the L’Arlatan Hotel in Arles, France. Now, the artist has introduced a limited-edition series of smaller scale lamps in collaboration with Taschen’s Brussels location. The five styles, each offered in an edition of 100, are inspired by colorful Mexican baskets and made using 3D laser-cut plastic discs that are then hand-painted to luminous effect. This recent introduction is just the latest in a longstanding friendship between Taschen founder Benedikt Taschen and Pardo, who designed the company’s Brussels store and 21 earlier lamps. “The relationship between them all is what’s interesting to me,” says Pardo of the many mediums in his oeuvre. “A lamp influences a painting, a painting influences a building, a drawing becomes a lamp—what’s really interesting to me is how you think through these things and then they start to inform each other.” —Jill Sieracki

4. Special Events in New York City Celebrate Theaster Gates

As the first American survey of artist Theaster Gates (one of Galerie’s 2019 Creative Minds) comes to a close at the New Museum, performances and talks are being held throughout New York City to celebrate the renowned triple-threat. On February 1, Prada’s Broadway location will host its third conversation series, titled “Nature Work,” a thoughtful discussion between Gates and Thelma Golden, the Studio Museum in Harlem’s director and chief curator. Throughout this coming weekend, the New Museum will host impromptu musical performances twice a day featuring Gates alongside performers The Black Monks—a group pivotal to Gates’s work and artistic practice. Taking place on the Bowery institution’s fourth floor, the performances will incorporate Gates’s 2022 work A Heavenly Chord for an immersive and ethereal experience. Tickets and RSVP are required. —Shelby Black

Now open at the International Center of Photography (ICP) until May, “Face to Face” features more than 50 photographs and two films by groundbreaking imagemakers Brigitte Lacombe, Catherine Opie, and Tacita Dean. Filled with intimate portraits of creative luminaries, the exhibition generates a discourse among the photographers and renowned artists such as Louise Bourgeois, David Hockney, Glenn Ligon, and Kara Walker. “I see all three artists involved in making pictures that are not only in dialogue with their given subjects, but also with the history of the genre of portraiture and the medium of photography,” explains curator Helen Molesworth. The first exhibition dedicated exclusively to portraiture at ICP’s downtown Manhattan location, the show will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue published by ICP and MACK. —Stefanie Li

6. Kasmin Gallery’s New Show Explores Metamorphosis and Transformation

Through February 22, Kasmin Gallery in New York is hosting “Shades of Daphne,” a group show of work by 11 international and intergenerational contemporary artists, many of whom have not previously exhibited in the United States. Capturing the spirit of rebellion and revolt, the exhibition takes the Ancient Greek figure of Daphne as a metaphor to explore work that “engages with hybrid figures, metamorphoses, and suspended states of becoming.” Curated by Stephanie Cristello, there are intriguing works by such talents as Diana Al-Hadid, Theodora Allen, Ali Banisadr, Brendan Fernandes, Barbara Kasten, Lap-See Lam, Zoë Paul, Ana Pellicer, Naama Tsabar, and Sif Itona Westerberg. —L.R.