The Artful Life: 5 Things Galerie Editors Love This Week

1. Virginia Sin Reissues Her Iconic Porcelain Paper Plates

Virginia Sin’s breakthrough came in 2007, when she launched the Paper Plate—an uncanny porcelain replica of a disposable classic that marked both her studio’s debut and the beginning of SIN’s exploration into everyday objects. Originally made from shredded paper plates and porcelain slip to form a material Sin dubbed “paperclay,” the object quickly earned a Design Within Reach Sustainability Award for its sly, sustainable subversion of throwaway culture. Eighteen years later, following five years in rotation at Eleven Madison Park and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in the final scene of The Menu, Sin has brought the plate back into production.

This time, she refined the details. The 2025 edition comes in two subtly scaled sizes—11 and 7.75 inches in diameter—with a deeper indentation that pushes the visual illusion further. Each plate is now handcrafted entirely in her Brooklyn studio, its soft edges and rippling surface revealing the traces of handwork. The reissue also includes the Porcelain Oyster Plate, first introduced in 2014 as part of the Gluttony Collection. “The plate is my tribute to the beautiful chaos of my childhood, of family-style potlucks, lovingly cooked Cantonese dishes served in disposable trays, and eight cousins fighting for a seat at the Lazy Susan,” Sin said in a statement. “I want to honor those sacred, messy meals and transform something humble and temporary into something lasting and cherished.” —Ryan Waddoups

2. Exhibition Offers Fresh Perspective on New York City’s Hidden Beauty

Beginning October 15, New Yorkers and tourists alike are invited to explore the beauty and poetry of Manhattan through a new lens at Fort Street Studio. Presented by Armature Projects, “In and Out” is a two-person exhibition featuring paintings by Mary Breneman and Derek Buckner, with each artist finding beauty in the often-overlooked everyday nuances of city life. Breneman’s work focuses on water towers and streetscapes, interpreted through geometric abstraction, while Buckner spotlights the Gowanus waterfront and home interiors, with special attention paid to architectural details and textiles. “Together, Breneman and Buckner demonstrate how painting continues to offer fresh perspectives on urban life, from the monumental scale of the cityscape to the intimate details of home,” according to Armature Projects.—Alexandria Sillo

3. At Spazio Leone, Riccardo Dalisi’s Radical Vision Gets Its Due

Among the visionaries who shaped Italy’s radical design movement, Riccardo Dalisi remains an outlier—less widely known than contemporaries like Ettore Sottsass or Alessandro Mendini, yet no less pioneering. A new exhibition at Spazio Leone in London reintroduces his extraordinary oeuvre to an international audience, spotlighting the full sweep of his irreverent, poetic, and politically engaged practice. From experimental workshops with children in Naples to his iconic reimagining of the Neapolitan coffee pot for Alessi, the show traces a restless imagination that moved fluidly between architecture, sculpture, drawing, furniture, and urban intervention. Curated by gallery founder Gennaro Leone and longtime friend Oscar Piccolo, the exhibition brings together drawings, maquettes, furniture, films, and archival material to articulate what they call the “Dalisi method”: a way of thinking as much as making. “It’s our closest and most heartfelt project to date,” says Leone, who transformed the gallery into a dreamlike landscape animated by Dalisi’s fantastical forms. The exhibition will be on view until October 26. —R.W.

4. Foster + Partners Designs Alpine Addition to Famed Kulm Hotel St. Moritz

As soon as the final design fairs of the year wrap up, jetsetters will be looking for ski slopes and fresh powder, particularly in the glamorous alpine destination of St. Mortiz, Switzerland. There, Kulm Hotel has been welcoming winter travelers for 165 years; now, the storied resort is embarking on a multiphase rethink, kicking off with the Alpine Sports Lounge & Boutique, conceived by Foster + Partners, whose founder, Norman Foster, is a Galerie Creative Mind and a longtime resident of St. Moritz. “The Alpine Sports Lounge & Boutique combines a strong focus on sport and comfort, interwoven with the rich history and traditions of the place—all brought to life through the warmth of local materials,” he says. Wrapped in an aromatic Swiss stone pine, the room offers generously proportioned banquette seating, menu of health-conscious drinks and light bites, and curated retail outlet stocked with clothing and equipment for hikers and skiers. States general manager Heinz Hunkeler, “The new Alpine Sports Lounge & Boutique is designed to take our guests from suite to slope in seamless style, blending design, service and expertise to ensure every day in the mountains is truly unforgettable.”—Jill Sieracki

5. The Collection of Artist Roger Brown Goes on View at John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Known for his paintings which blended reality and the mystical through themes of politics, religion, and art, Chicago artist Roger Brown’s personal collection holding works from fellow luminaries is spotlighted in a new exhibition at the Wisconsin institution. Drawn from his personal residence, which held over 2,000 artworks, the show focuses on his inspiration from fellow Imagist artist Ray Yoshida, where their shared backgrounds at Chicago’s School of the Art Institute are examined alongside pieces on view speaking to similar collecting interests such as Brown’s rear stairwell shelf, a vignette he unself-consciously modeled after Yoshida’s shelves. — Shelby Black