Aaaah, the healing power of art.
I mentioned that things weren’t exactly going my way last week: the silk incident…the lamp snatching…I probably shouldn’t have been so quick to complain, since there was some progress on the space itself:
But things really turned around when I met with Zoe Myers of Heineman Myers Contemporary Art.
I am now officially REALLY EXCITED about the Design House. Say what you will about upholstered walls and faux elevators (oooh – intrigue!), but the art is going to kick some serious butt.
To help set the stage for the whole “urban elegance” theme, I chose a photograph by Joan Sarah Wexler, who’s based here in D.C. This is the one I’m planning to hang at the entrance to the Design House, on the gorgeous fabric from Stroheim and over that fantastic table from Baker:
It doesn’t look like much here – and there was quite a glare in the gallery; thus the sea-sick-y angle on my picture – but her photographs have a contemplative, anticipatory feel that I thought was appropriate. I’m using 2 more of her pieces in the foyer, over the black lacquer cabinets. Trust me, they’re going to be great.
The foyer will also include an extremely cool piece by Barbara Strasen. It’s called, “Family Pom,” and I just thought it would be perfect to have a dog greet you at the door: he’s welcoming you home. As you approach the piece from the right, this is what you see:
Don’t you just love it? It makes me happy every time I look at it. That little guy is so earnest.
Then as you continue to walk past the piece, it changes to:
Yowza! An explosion of domesticity! I challenge you to walk by this piece only once. I was hopping around the gallery like an idiot making the image change back and forth, back and forth. So much for galleries being dignified places (at least when I’m around).
Diagonally across from Pom, I’m going to hang this abstract oil painting by Argentina-based artist Martha Zuik. It’s called, “Crystals of Color.”
I’m not always an abstract art kind of chick, and I wanted the work in these rooms to be accessible to a broad range of people. But I really like this piece; it gives you a lot to think about if you look at it for a while. I think it rounds out this “client’s” collection nicely, too.
Bossy color’s entry and foyer will be the first and last spaces every visitor will see. As people pass through the foyer to leave, they’ll have a great view of this piece by Eric Finzi, called, “Sarah and Louise:”
It’s a quiet domestic scene, but the glossy resin on metal is very edgy. This was the first piece I hoped to borrow, actually, in part because I wanted some depictions of quiet interiors. Plus, when you get right down to it, I just like shiny things. (Wow. That master’s degree in art history sure was worthwhile.)
But wait – that’s not all. On a lovely open bookshelf, I’m pairing a quirky sculpture with some beautiful small photographs by John Gordy…but I’ll talk about that in another post.
Many, many thanks to Zoe Myers of the gallery – and the artists, of course – for lending me this fantastic work for the Design House. If everything comes together the way I hope it will, I think you’ll really enjoy it.