The Artful Life: 7 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week
From a tulip-inspired Dior Maison tableware collection that radiates the lushness of spring to a design-forward Vipp guesthouse by architecture firm Johnston Marklee in upstate New York
1. Dior Maison Celebrates Spring with New Tableware
Setting the table for spring often includes vases of tulips on the table, heralding the verdant season. Dior Maison captures the energetic spirit of blossoms with its new tableware collection, Champs de Tulipes. A nod to the fashion legend’s spring-summer 1953 haute couture collection, noted for its tulip-shaped gowns, the collection is distinguished by hand-painted blooms of extraordinary detail, which lends a graphic quality. Made of Limoges porcelain and accented with 24-karat gold details, the collection is comprised of platters, dinner and dessert plates, tea and coffee sets in four shades of purple, green, yellow, and pink. Each color is as fresh and enchanting as this magical time of year. —Jacqueline Terrebonne
2. Vipp Debuts a Sculptural Upstate New York Guesthouse by Johnston Marklee
Two hours north of Manhattan, along the Upper Delaware River, Vipp has unveiled its first U.S. guesthouse, a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom pavilion overlooking a pond within 16 acres of forest. Designed by acclaimed firm Johnston Marklee, the structure draws directly from its pastoral setting, with twin elliptical volumes clad in smooth and ribbed stucco echoing the contours of the water’s edge and nodding to Adalberto Libera’s iconic Villa Malaparte in Capri. The entry centers on a curved courtyard, where high sand-colored walls frame the sky before the interior opens to sweeping views of the meadow. Inside, concrete floors and stucco surfaces establish a restrained Scandi palette; mahogany millwork introduces warmth. The main living area is anchored by Vipp’s anodized aluminum V3 kitchen perched beneath a circular skylight that casts shifting light across the room. Large glass openings, meanwhile, frame the forest and draw the pastoral surrounds into tantalizingly close reach. —Ryan Waddoups
3. Andrew Edlin Gallery Pays Tribute to 20 Artists the World Almost Never Saw
Plenty of now-iconic artists spent their lives in total anonymity, their work recognized only after death, sometimes buried under decades of neglect. “Afterlife,” curated by Paul Laster at Andrew Edlin Gallery, gathers more than 50 works across various media by 20 international self-taught “outsider” artists, primarily discovered posthumously under extraordinary circumstances.
Now recognized as one of the most significant self-taught artists of the 20th century, Henry Darger (1892-1973) spent his days as a Chicago hospital janitor and dishwasher. In secret, he produced a 15,000-page fantasy novel following seven young princesses who rebelled to end child slavery, illustrated with 300 large-scale watercolor and collage paintings—which Darger’s landlord only discovered, buried under years of accumulated trash, in his one-room apartment shortly before his death. Six watercolor and pencil works by Darger appear here, including a two-panel double-sided battle scene and portraits of his “Vivian Girls.” Another story is told through the work of the anonymous Philadelphia Wireman, who left behind 1,200 tightly wound, wire-bound sculptures found abandoned in an alley. Vivian Maier (1926–2009) documented 150,000 street photographs while working as a Chicago nanny; the negatives surfaced only after a storage locker auction. Grant Wallace (1868–1954) produced visionary portraits he claimed were based on telepathic transmissions from spirits and extraterrestrials.
These are just a few of the stories waiting inside “Afterlife”; each artist is a world unto themselves, each discovery as improbable as the work itself. “Afterlife” is on view at 392 Broadway in New York until April 25th. —Gogo Taubman
4. Prada Unveils Industrially State-of-the-Art Façade on Fifth Avenue
A building under construction exudes possibility, which is exactly what the new Prada façade on 56th Street and 5th Avenue in New York does. The commercial pipe scaffolding surrounding the store is the signature Prada muted minty tone within the green palette that Miuccia Prada has been periodically tinkering with since her landmark ‘90s collections first inspired the fashion world’s justly enduring attention. Prada Fifth Avenue’s novel exterior is designed to alter its radiance with the time of day. After sunset, the lighting grid within the pipework illuminates the temporary skin’s interior. The scrim, like fashion itself, is ever-changing, reacting to changes in weather and shifting clouds. The shimmering moiré effect of the lit framework contradicts the calm, matte finish to entice the passerby with the transformative potential within. —Rena Gross
5. McKinnon & Harris Announces Artist-in-Residence Program
Spring landscapes have inspired artists for centuries, however creative Anne Blackwell Thompson has made those shapely green leaves, willowy grasses, and wildflowers in pretty pastels not just her muse, but her medium. Now the Blackwell Botanicals founder has been announced as the artist-in-residence for McKinnon and Harris, which will display an assortment of her handcrafted works of pressed botanicals in their showroom in New York’s D&D Building starting March 24. Further cementing the bond between the outdoor furniture brand and the artist, many of the plants were sourced in and around Virginia where both are based. “Virginia is not only our home—it is our creative wellspring,” says Will Massie, co-founder and CEO of McKinnon and Harris. “Through this partnership, we are proud to celebrate Anne’s extraordinary vision and reaffirm our belief that the intersection of art and nature is where enduring beauty thrives.”—Jill Sieracki
6. Clive Christian’s London Flagship Gets the Crosby Studios Treatment
The retro-futurist interiors conjured by Harry Nuriev may seem like strange bedfellows with a storied British perfume house steeped in 150 years of history, but Clive Christian Perfume is deliberately eschewing expectations with their new flagship in the heart of Mayfair, London. The Crosby Studios founder recast its legacy through a sharply modern lens, pairing polished steel and sculptural glass with built-in wooden vitrines. Reflective surfaces line the displays, while metallic chesterfields and skirted traditional lounge chairs gleam against traditional paneling. The opening coincides with the debut of Inox, a fragrance conceived in tandem with the store’s offbeat palette. The composition opens with crisp notes that recall steel and silver, then moves into lily of the valley and smoky gurjun before settling into leather, oud, and sandalwood. Developed as an olfactory extension of the boutique, the scent translates the architecture into a sensory delight. —Ryan Waddoups
7. Bettina Pousttchi’s Monumental Sculpture Is Installed at Rockefeller Center
Beginning March 18, a monumental new sculpture by Bettina Pousttchi will welcome visitors to New York’s Rockefeller Center. Vertical Highways V03, (2025), will sit at the top of the Channel Gardens off 5th Avenue, marking the first time a work from the “Vertical Highways” series will appear in public in the United States. The series was previously presented in Paris at the Jardin des Tuileries, in front of the Berlin Central Station, and at the Istanbul Modern Museum. The sculpture, made from guardrails, references the architectural and cultural setting of its new location. “By installing my sculpture, Vertical Highways V03 in front of Rockefeller Center, I want to initiate a dialogue of art and architecture that resonates with the urban history of New York City,” says the artist. The installation, part of Rockefeller Center’s public art program, will remain on view through April 17.—Alexandria Sillo