The Artful Life: 5 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week
From designer Adam Charlap Hyman’s new rug collection to the Met’s latest blockbuster fashion exhibition
1. Konstantin Kakanias and Frédéric Malle Collaborate on Virtual Perfume Consultation
For perfume maestro Frédéric Malle, finding the perfect fragrance for a client is essential to his brand’s mission. And while a face-to-face session with a specialist in store is of course the ideal, Malle has always wanted his customers to be able to have a personalized experience even from their own home. Thinking outside the box, Malle has just launched a virtual consultation service accessed through the brand’s website, which aims to find the perfect scent through a clever “Find your match” quiz.
No stranger to collaborating with artists, Malle teamed up with the Greece-born, L.A.–based artist and illustrator Konstantin Kakanias to illustrate a series of pictures that best determines the customer’s style, inspirations, and lifestyle. After choosing the images that reveal their ideal setting, what they wear, their favorite accessories, what they drive (etc.), the end result leads to three perfect fragrances. “By simply observing and really listening to people, we learn so much,” explains Malle, who used to enjoy working on the floor at the store to understand his clientele better. “I always knew that a virtual experience could eventually be just as fun and accurate—a similar type of exchange, but in a way, more intimate, and quite extraordinary.” —Lucy Rees
2. Adam Charlap Hyman Debuts New Rug Collection with Patterson Flynn
Known for his exuberant interiors and playful product collaborations, designer Adam Charlap Hyman just introduced his second collection of abaca rugs with Patterson Flynn. Following the Charlap Hyman & Herrero principal’s initial array, which included serpents, gators, and astrological maps, this outing culls from many facets of the animal kingdom. First conjured alongside Charlap Hyman’s mother, artist Pilar Almon, the high-contrast turtle, tiger, whale, fish, and snail can trace their influence back to antique cabinets of curiosities and illustrations by Alexander Calder. Now rendered in tight coils of the thick natural fiber, the forms add a playful punch to any space.—Jill Sieracki
3. David Kordansky Gallery Opens In New York With Inaugural Exhibition By Lauren Halsey
Los Angeles–based David Kordansky Gallery has found a new home on the East Coast. Now neighbors with other impressive galleries in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, the Manhattan outpost is kicking off its inauguration with an impressive exhibition from artist Lauren Halsey. A native Angeleno herself, Halsey specializes in architectural installations that speak to economic and social issues affecting urban neighborhoods and marginalized communities. In honor of her New York debut with the gallery, Halsey will be showcasing a selection of new sculptures that speak to the architecture and iconography of South Central Los Angeles, her generational home. This self-titled exhibition, on view until June 11, anticipates her upcoming commission for the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where a site-specific installation will be on display come next spring. —Shelby Black
4. “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” Opens at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Kicking off the month of May with the glittering Gilded Age-themed Met Gala, the Costume Institute opens the second part of its exhibition on American fashion this Saturday. “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” showcases 200 years of fashion in vignettes staged in the museum’s period rooms. Created in collaboration with notable film directors, these mise-en-scènes tell the stories of American life in historic spaces like the Met’s 20th-century living room designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The exhibition will be on view until September 5. — Stefanie Li
5. Brodie Neill Presents a New Collection for Sotheby’s London
Known for his hypnotic terrazzo surfaces made of ennobled ocean plastic, Australian-born designer Brodie Neill (one of Galerie’s 2019 Creative Minds) has been hard at work creating new pieces for a selling exhibition at Sotheby’s London. On view from May 6–19, “Material Consciousness” features three new table designs of differing heights topped with Ocean Terrazzo as well as his latest forays into recycled wood and and metals. Neill has beautifully utilized reclaimed Panga Panga parquet to create a trio of lows tools and used salvaged Rhodesian Mahogany for a striking bench. He’s also made two pieces—the Atmos Desk and Atmos Console—out of super-smooth stainless steel and bronze. Check out the show at sothebys.com. —Geoffrey Montes