It's hard to find any breathing room during the frenzy of Frieze in New York, but Salon 94 and Maccarone galleries, along with the newly minted Salon 94 Design, have created a moment of reprieve with a mammoth exhibition of design and art set on the second floor of the iconic Lever House. Entitled ‘Midtown’, the show brings together sculpture, vessels, paintings, furniture and tapestries from over 40 artists, all elegantly framed by wraparound windows that boast views of both Park Avenue and the building’s inner courtyard.
Set amidst such swanky, storied environs, the exhibition’s cross-section of contemporary creativity hits an even more poignant note. A cast foam recliner by Urs Fischer is juxtaposed by a table by Isamu Noguchi, while Gaetano Pesce’s epoxy resin and dacron cloud lamp sits on the floor. In another part of the sprawling space, complex, woven sculptures by Korean artist Kwangho Lee and gestural paintings by Alex Hubbard invoke equal appreciation.
Installation view of ‘Midtown’.
Together, the exhibition collectively poses the ever-evolving question of how to define art and what contributes to a piece’s value – a debate made all the more given that the Lever House is also permanently home to numerous investment, real estate and brokerage firms, including its owner, Aby Rosen’s company RFR.
Aside from the Ghost Dog at Salon 94 Bowery last month, this exhibition marks the first official showing of Salon 94 Design – the gallery’s recently launched design-art enterprise headed up by dealer Paul Johnson, who previously operated his own space. Under Johnson’s direction, specimens by longtime collaborator Max Lamb from over the last decade also make an impressive appearance.
‘Putting contemporary designers in the same arena as contemporary artists was the basis of the merger between myself and Jeanne,’ explains Johnson. ‘Not that we want to define design as art at all – rather the opposite, as we want it to be appreciated as exceptional design works. To be able to do it in such a landmark location was just something that made it all the more special for our big first collaboration. The space defined the show.’
The show hosts works from over 40 artists across a number of disciplines, ranging from paintings to suspended tapestry
A vacant office space in Lever House hosts the current gallery, situated on the second floor of the modernist building
The exhibition celebrates the cross-section between art and design
INFORMATION
‘Midtown’ is on view until 9 June. For more details, visit the Salon 94 website
ADDRESS
Lever House
390 Park Avenue
New York NY 10022
-
Extreme Cashmere reimagines retail with its new Amsterdam store: ‘You want to take your shoes off and stay’Wallpaper* takes a tour of Extreme Cashmere’s new Amsterdam store, a space which reflects the label’s famed hospitality and unconventional approach to knitwear
-
Titanium watches are strong, light and enduring: here are some of the bestBrands including Bremont, Christopher Ward and Grand Seiko are exploring the possibilities of titanium watches
-
Warp Records announces its first event in over a decade at the Barbican‘A Warp Happening,' landing 14 June, is guaranteed to be an epic day out
-
Leonard Baby's paintings reflect on his fundamentalist upbringing, a decade after he left the churchThe American artist considers depression and the suppressed queerness of his childhood in a series of intensely personal paintings, on show at Half Gallery, New York
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella ValleyWill Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
-
This rainbow-coloured flower show was inspired by Luis Barragán's architectureModernism shows off its flowery side at the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show.
-
‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New YorkThe ultimate immersive exhibition, which combines art and theatre in its surreal shows, is opening a seventh outpost in The Seaport neighbourhood
-
Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana capture the themes in the director’s iconic films'Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,' says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central ParkThe 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any otherGia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truthsAt the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
