Henrybuilt Hosts Exhibition of Works by Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg

Paul Solberg, Copacabana, 2010. Photo: Courtesy of Henrybuilt

Behind the glass door of 12 Crosby Street in Lower Manhattan is an artful space that doesn’t immediately reveal its purpose. A perfectly executed minimalist kitchen anchors the center of the room. To the right is a quiet vignette featuring a rich wooden bureau; to the left is a contemporary seating area surmounted by a tight edit of photography—a large-scale crop of a turquoise pool, an exciting still from a bullfight in Arles, and a row of black-and-white portraits.

This is the New York showroom of Henrybuilt, the noted kitchen and cabinetry maker launched by Scott Hudson in 2001. But today, it’s doing double duty as a gallery space, featuring an exhibition of more than 40 works by photographers Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, as well as art they create together under the nom de plume the Hilton Brothers.

Christopher Makos and Paul Solberg, also known as the Hilton Brothers. Photo: Jeffrey Cloutier

“When it comes to the work here, it is this free association; we wanted to bring our studio into the space,” Solberg tells Galerie. “It is the closest exhibition to the nature of the work on our own walls. In this kind of upside-down art world that’s changing quickly, we’re always looking for interesting, nontraditional venues.”

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The collaboration came about when Makos and Solberg were building a house in Milford, Pennsylvania. After gutting the historic French Colonial home, built in the 1870s, the photographers decided to make it a pure “art house,” only allowing in pieces made by true artists and artisans. They reached out to Henrybuilt for a series of custom tables, and a friendship was born.

Henrybuilt’s New York showroom. Photo: Courtesy of Henrybuilt

“Studio Visit” marks the first full-fledged art exhibition in Henrybuilt’s design studio, which has hosted previous small-scale pop-ups with such talents as Joan Waltemath, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio founders Dylan Davis and Jean Lee, and Julia Sherman, who created the art-cuisine publishing hybrid Salad for President.

Currently on display are portraits by each of the artists—including a photo of Ai Weiwei taken by Solberg, and Makos’s famous picture of Andy Warhol at the Centre Pompidou. “I pretty much speak through my photographs,” says Makos. “My language is photography.”

Christopher Makos, Andy Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1986. Photo: Courtesy of Henrybuilt

Displaying art in what is a retail setting illustrates the company’s design ethos, which blurs the line between function and craft. On par with the exhibition’s title, Makos and Solberg hosted an opening reception on December 5, during which they showed works rarely seen outside their own Manhattan studio, giving guests the story behind how they were created. The exhibition will be on display through March 31, 2020.

Next up for Henrybuilt is its first furniture collection, Primary Objects, which will include the tables crafted for Makos and Solberg. “There are works here that fit together in the way that these drawers fit together,” says Makos of the exhibition. “We have this symbiosis.”

Henrybuilt’s New York showroom. Photo: Courtesy of Henrybuilt

“Studio Visit” is on view through March 31, 2020, at Henrybuilt, 12 Crosby Street, New York.