The curatorial connective thread of my program is that many of my artists are revisiting traditional subject matter, but doing it in a way that feels very modern, very now,” says William Li, leading Galerie through a virtual tour of Armature Projects, his new art consultancy aiming to be a resource for architects and designers looking for curated art programs for their clients. Read all about it here....
Every few weeks I get to interview someone interesting for Orior. I keep forgetting to post those interviews, so I'm going backwards a little bit. This one is Nina Clemente, and yes she's the daughter of and her answers to our fun questions are here....
Cj Hendry has turned an unassuming warehouse building in Greenpoint, Brooklyn into a joyful indoor playground. The installation, called Plaid, was partly inspired by the artist’s frustration with the design of public park and playground offerings that she frequented with her children. The in-demand artist (collected by Beyonce and Pharrell, with a current waitlist of over 12,000) originally hoped to create a public playground that was also public art sculpture but was thwarted by the red tape and multi-layered opinions of governing bodies. Determined to create a work without outside influence, Hendry decided to do it herself. Read the full...
The coastal Uruguayan town of José Ignacio has fewer than 300 full-time residents, yet it boasts a James Turrell “Skyspace,” a restaurant helmed by celebrated Argentinean chef Francis Mallmann, and a hotel designed by world-renowned architect Carlos Ott, who also conceived the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Atchugarry in nearby Manantiales. The area, often referred to as the “Hamptons of South America,” has long attracted writers and artists, followed, as frequently happens, by the international jet set, who flock here for the inspired mix of relaxed yet luxurious hotels, untouched beaches, a solid culinary scene, and increasingly impressive cultural pursuits. Read the...
A Point-of-View piece on the meaning of this over-used term as it applies to contemporary design. With opinions from curators, academics and gallery owners. Read it all here....
An investment banker with a young family wanted to turn a basement-level floor of his four-bedroom, five-bathroom San Francisco home into a media room with home cinema, a venue for his collection of rock ’n’ roll photography and art, and a space that could accommodate his mother and mother-in-law when they visited. Enter Kendall Wilkinson, a San Francisco-based interior designer who had worked with this client for almost two decades on both this 7,500-square-foot Pacific Heights home and another in Honolulu, Hawaii. “This was originally a chopped-up space with a bedroom, kitchen and closet,” Ms. Wilkinson says. “We opened up the...
A marble dining table that seats 12 and doubles as a ping pong table; a copper basketball hoop with a backboard made of painstakingly hand-cut andlaid marble and onyx—these are just two designs in the wonderfully over-the-top Altis Ornamentum furniture and accessories collection. The creators, Ronald Alvarez and Monica Santayana, are co-founders of MONIOMI Design, a Miami-based design firm. The business and life partners have always been interested in sports and “collected a few basketball-style art pieces, including a hoop made by a local Miami artist with a net made of hair,” Alvarez explains. This inspired them to explore creating fully...
Lebanon is one of the few places in the world where you can ski in the morning and be on the beach that same afternoon, and a new boutique guesthouse is perfectly positioned to offer visitors prime access to both. Indira (which means “splendid” in Sanskrit) is a nine-suite property in an over 200-year-old home in the mountain town of Kfour, less than an hour from the Mzaar ski resort and only 40 minutes from both the beach resort town of Byblos and Beirut proper. This one-time private residence was the childhood home of Carla Baz, a 37-year-old lighting and...
hen Tiffany & Co.’s Magnolia vase made its formal debut, at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, it was hailed as “the greatest exhibit in point of artistic beauty and intrinsic value that any individual firm has ever shown.” It was no small feat, considering this substantial piece— designed by John T. Curran and handcrafted from silver, gold, enamel, and opals—is over 30 inches tall and weighs more than 50 pounds. It’s currently ensconced at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. While other motifs may be more top of mind when it comes to the legendary 185-year-old brand,...
Even those not into Christmas as a holiday can get behind the latest round of high-profile collaborations, where (mostly) hotels tap multi-hyphenate creatives to have a go at festive decor. Imaginations run wild, both indoors and out, resulting in wondrous installations that surprise and delight. Some err to the elegant and traditional, others introduce over-the-top concepts that end up as permanent fixtures, drawing curious onlookers year-round. Here, a few inspirational activations that will undoubtedly be all over your feed, to enchant and enliven the holiday season. ...