The Artful Life: 8 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week

1. Meyer Davis Designs the First W Hotels Property on Sardinia

Nestled along the sun-soaked coast of Sardinia, in the beautiful Mediterranean village of Poltu Quatu, W Hotels is soft opening its newest destination, complete with 154 guest rooms and suites; a decadent seafood restaurant, Tanit; a dedicated dessert bar, Dolce Room; lounge spaces; and the brand’s signature fitness center with a spa coming in time for the summer season. “Here, authenticity meets cosmopolitan flair and vibrant energy that will ignite the curiosity of both local and international visitors,” says Helen Leighton, Vice President, Luxury Brands, EMEA, Marriott International. Esteemed hospitality designers Meyer Davis conceived the interiors, which draw influence from the coastal setting, studying the changing light and earthy landscape for a tranquil setting of neutral colors punctuated with watery hues, and tactile materials like plaster, straw, rope, and terracotta.

Artworks—from a towering sculpture in the lobby by Sardinian artist Nicola Filia to a ceramic wall work by Luca Scassellati at the reception desk to photography by Giuseppe Chironi in the suites—give the property its distinct flavor. “What excited us most was the opportunity to collaborate with local artisans and let their work sit alongside the architecture,” says studio cofounder Gray Davis. “The project became a dialogue between craft, space, light, and texture. When those elements begin to speak to one another, hospitality becomes more than design, it becomes a living experience.”—Jill Sieracki

2. Victoria Yakusha Opens a Serene Studio-Gallery in Miami

Victoria Yakusha is one of Ukrainian design’s most visible ambassadors, and some of her grandest gestures have taken shape in Miami. Take the visionary architect’s award-winning collections at Design Miami, including a series of unique furnishings and sculptural creatures rendered in Ztista, her proprietary blend of clay, flax, wood chips, and recycled paper. The material yields a tactile surface with the softness of worked earth—a quality that has become central to her practice centered around a philosophy of live, luminous minimalism. 

That long dialogue with the city now finds a permanent address. Victoria Yakusha Space occupies a former industrial shell in the city’s Little Haiti neighborhood, where she has established a hybrid studio and gallery alongside a research hub. Clay imported from Ukraine coats the walls, lending depth and gravity to an interior that deliberately counters Miami’s high-gloss excess. Stainless-steel cabinetry runs along one wall, while microcement flooring provides a subdued ground for Yakusha’s furniture and lighting. At the center of the room, a planted island composed of living greenery introduces a sense of vitality. Works from her Land of Light series appear throughout, including myth-inspired sculptures crafted from Ztista that reference Ukrainian folklore and ancestral craft. —Ryan Waddoups

3. Birley Bakery Sweetens Valentine’s Day with Heart-Shaped Treats

Since Birley Bakery opened on New York’s Upper East Side in September, it’s quickly gained legions of devotees, all swooning over its incredible chocolates and perfect pastries—from Cinnamon Croissants to Tarte Tropeziennes. The London export is now offering special Valentine’s Day sweets such as Birley chocolate hearts, a white chocolate heart infused with raspberry and strawberry notes, and a Heart Chocolate Sable, a duo of heart-shaped shortbread. Any trip to the Birley Bakery is a feast for the eyes as well, with the two-story space decked out in a custom mural, plenty of brass hardware, and a Murano chandelier.—Jacqueline Terrebonne

3. Isamu Noguchi’s Deep Connection to New York Is Explored in New Exhibition

Moving to New York City at the age of just 17, the city served as a home base of sorts for designer and artist Isamu Noguchi throughout his lifetime. Now, his deep ties to the sprawling destination are fully explored in a sweeping one-of-a-kind showcase at his eponymous institution, The Noguchi Museum. Taking over the museum and garden spaces, “Noguchi’s New York” features an array of 50 sculptures, project models, photographs, and archival materials, all either inspired by the city or some of which can still be found among the bustling streets today. Highlights include unrealized proposals for playgrounds, gardens, and public plazas, which speak to his unfailing dedication to bringing an artistic lens to the public. As a way to bring these proposals to life, animation films crafted by Jack Cunningham and Nicolas Ménard of Eastend Western will be shown across gallery spaces, which also include new additions such as Play Mountain (1933), United Nations Playground (1952), and more. Similarly, guests will learn more about actual realized projects including the sculpture plaque adorning the Associated Press Building, the iconic Red Cube on Broadway, and the Sunken Garden at Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza—making this exhibition a city-wide treasure hunt even outside the museum.—Shelby Black

4. Harry’s Bar of London Arrives at The Alpina Gstaad

On February 10, Mayfair’s iconic Harry’s Bar opened its doors at The Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland for an exclusive residency. For the next 10 days, guests are invited to enjoy its opulent atmosphere while dining on exquisite family-style lunches and candlelit dinners such as Linguine all’Aragosta Piccante, and Rigatoni al Ragù Genovese e Pecorino, which have made the members-only restaurant and bar one of London’s most prestigious dining destinations. “We are so happy to be coming back to The Alpina Gstaad this February,” says Luciano Procu, General Manager of Harry’s Bar. “Harry’s Bar belongs wherever people love good food, good energy, and a little theatre. We are bringing our food, our style, our flair… and a little bit of Venice in the mountains.”—Alexandria Sillo

5. These Stone Totems Respond to an Iconic Penhaligon’s Perfume

With its intoxicating tangle of grapefruit, oud, Levantine spice, and rose, Halfeti has long stood among Penhaligon’s most enigmatic fragrances. The British perfume house is now extending that legacy through Whispers of Halfeti, a collaboration with Mexico City stone designer Sten Studio that translates the fragrance’s sensuality and powerful contrasts into stone through a tightly edited body of collectible sculptures. The collection comprises four evocative totems and an intimate scent diffuser, each conceived as a mineral response to Halfeti’s notes. 

Sten Studio drew directly from the architectural proportions of Penhaligon’s iconic bottle, stacking carved elements into vertical compositions imbued with ceremonial presence. Materials include dragon onyx, lava stone, travertine, and Orizaba marble, all sourced and paired for their tonal range and geological character. Across the collection, eye-catching color shifts and surface variations mirror the layered construction of the fragrance itself, whose signature notes center on oud, bergamot, and rose. An accompanying sculptural diffuser distills the same language at a smaller scale. The works recently debuted at Zona Maco in Mexico City and are now on display at Penhaligon’s Regent Street flagship in London. —R.W.

7. La Prairie Introduces Exclusive Facial Suites at St. Regis Bal Harbour

Beginning this month, La Prairie has launched an exclusive pop-up spa at The St. Regis Bal Harbour offering unparalleled facial services to guests and visitors. The pop-up, which saw the Swiss skincare experts transform two treatment rooms into the ultimate retreat, marks La Prairie’s first seasonal activation in Miami, and follows the success of a similar initiative in Aspen. At Bal Harbour, guests can book a La Prairie Signature Personalized Facial, curated from the brand’s prestigious skincare products, or a White Caviar Phenomenal Glass Skin Facial, which includes an option for ultrasonic cleansing and LED light therapy. Bookings are available here.—A.S.

8. At 56 Henry, Yifan Jiang Paints a Tender Fantasy of Death

In the aftermath of losing two family members, project-based painter and animator Yifan Jiang found herself circling an experience that resists language; the eerie sense that someone is still in the room even after machines stop beeping, and the sudden, destabilizing recognition that the body is no longer the person you loved. In her first New York solo show,  “I wish dying could be more like this. 但愿死像这样.”, Jiang transformed her grief into a kind of visual séance, painting what she refers to as a “hermetically sealed, private event.” The resulting oils on canvas pull from an improbable constellation of myths, memories, and philosophies, seeking an image of death that might be gentle enough to behold. One painting, After School, draws on a Chinese myth where the dead must cross a river and depart on a crane westward. She reimagines this passage with the bird as her grandfather, who once waited at the elementary school gates to bike her home—arriving now for one last ride. At the show’s conceptual center, Exit echoes Ludwig Wittgenstein’s The Tractatus. As she read the foundational 1921 manifesto, which argued that meaning exists only in what can be logically verified, Jiang fixated on a diagram that illustrated how the eye cannot see itself. In response, she painted a single, hyper-real eye that ejects a prismatic chamber where childhood recollections flicker into Cecily Brown-esque figurations, a life refracted at the brink of its vanishing point. As 56 Henry’s founder Ellie Rines noted, it’s within this tangle of the quotidian and the cosmic where “Yifan builds imaginary worlds that are simultaneously perplexing and sublime.” “I wish dying could be more like this.但愿死像这样.” is on view at 56 Henry’s 105 Henry Street outpost through March 15. —Gogo Taubman.