Postcard from Lower Manhattan’s burgeoning gallery district

New York has long been subject to the ebb and flow of gentrification. Most sections of this historically layered metropolis have changed identity and status multiple times. Brooklyn used to be much more affordable than Manhattan but that dichotomy has since been turned on its head, with demand and the cost of real estate surging in formerly ‘derelict’ neighbourhoods like Williamsburg and Dumbo. With so many people flocking to the borough in the past two to three decades, there’s been a wind of change in the air. In response, the city’s epicentre of culture and commerce has shifted southward.

Significantly closer to highly sought-after Brooklyn pockets such as Fort Greene and Cobble Hill than Midtown or even Chelsea, Tribeca – a once industrial, then creative, and eventually affluent neighbourhood – has recently emerged as a major hub for galleries and high-end showrooms. Owing to the combined factors of great connectivity – most New York subway lines run through here – an ample stock of large, post-industrial retail space and, of course, a captive audience of well-heeled connoisseur residents, major players in fine art, collectible design, and high-end furnishing have taken up shop in the tightly packed district over the past three years. This development is reaching fever pitch this September, as a series of important shows opens, and the Collectible design fair – originating in Brussels, where we reviewed Collectible 2024 in March – makes its New York debut.

Tribeca, a newly minted downtown art and design district

Joining sprawling lofts favoured by celebrities, marquee luxury buildings like 56 Leonard (the Jenga Tower), a few boutiques and a small selection of choice restaurants, are both established and newcomer art galleries including Bortolami, Andrew Kreps, and James Cohan. Converging along a small stretch of Canal Street are contemporary design brands like Stellar Works, Calico Wallpaper, Roman & Williams Guild, its collectible ceramics platform Guild Gallery, Roll & Hill, Orior, and others.

Situated along this thoroughfare for a long time as well, Colony gallery moved further south this spring to a central Tribeca storefront not far from prominent French interior designer Laura Gonzalez’s showroom, also recently opened. British designer Lee Broom and furniture studio Egg Collective have flagships nearby. The most impressive of all, however, is young lighting brand In Common With’s massive 8,000 sq ft residential/retail experience Quarters, the incorporated wine bar of which is set to open in October 2024.

Other than a few blue-chip purveyors that are located in West Chelsea, like Friedman Benda, Midtown (the New York outpost of Carpenters Workshop Gallery), and the West Village – The Future Perfect – most New York-based collectible design galleries have put down roots in Tribeca over the past few years. They include Salon Design, Cristina Grajales, Todd Merrill Studio, VERSO, TIWA Select, and Twenty First Gallery.

R & Company has been here the longest and like these other platforms, is heralding in a busy and hopefully auspicious fall season with a blockbuster exhibition, ‘Objects: USA 2024’, its second comprehensive survey of contemporary American practice, on view from 6 September through January 2025.

A relative newcomer but with a grand 7,000 sq ft presence, Studiotwentyseven will host its first solo show. Monumental works by Francesco Balzano are set to be presented in an immersive staging nodding to both the landmarked locale’s Gilded Age origins and the wrapped public installations of Christo and Jeanne Claude. Balzano’s ‘Inizio’ retrospective will be on view from 4 September to 4 October.

Across the street, architect Lee Mindel’s Galerie 56 has teamed up with powerhouse London gallerist Sarah Myerscough for ‘The Shades of Light’ exhibition, on view from 6 September to 6 November. The group show will highlight her long-established support of craft-led material and formal experimentation.

Kunsthalle-style design/art gallery HB318 will showcase the architecturally and cartographically responsive sculptures of Danish talent Karen Bennicke, while Superhouse will showcase new works by up-and-coming fibre artist Maris Van Vlack. Both the ‘Manhattan Portraits’ and ‘Time Warp’ exhibitions run from 6 September to 19 October. Rounding things off is British furniture brand Pinch’s 20th-anniversary retrospective at Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, running from 18 September to 8 October.

Maverick design fair Collectible makes its New York debut

Collectible design fair makes its entry into the New York market from 5 to 8 September at converted office tower WSA. Unlike other fairs, which also feature antiques and vintage furnishings, Collectible prides itself on being purely contemporary; all of the furniture, furnishing, functional art, and site-specific installations on view were produced in the 21st century and, in most cases, the last few years. Welcoming not just gallery exhibitors – as is the hard rule at most events –Collectible New York will incorporate eight distinct sections highlighting a diverse array of autonomous and collective practices hailing from New York, the rest of the US, Europe, and further afield.

'This inaugural edition marks a unique opportunity for design professionals from all horizons to connect, discover, and inspire each other,' says Emily Marant, Collectible’s New York director. 'The exceptional line-up of exhibitors represents a pivotal moment, encouraging established and emerging talents alike to push boundaries and address global contemporary challenges.'

Of the eight groupings, New Garde is a showcase dedicated to entities founded in the last three years. Berlin-based Analog is a boutique brand that pushes the properties of age-old glass production in new directions, applying the material to one-off, sometimes modular, luminaires and scaled furnishings such as the ‘Omam’ occasional table, produced using a process in which the glassblower is asked to dance with the material. With an analogous impetus, Brooklyn-based Yuxuan Huang’s and Jesse Groom’s respective ‘Lost Stories’ and ‘Cicatrix’ collections imprint the intimate relationship between maker and material.

Also featured in this section is New York interior and furniture design practice Studio S II, which will preview its soon-to-launch gallery platform House of S II. At Collectible New York, founders Erica Sellers and Jeremy Silberberg will display new works by experimental talents J McDonald, Ajac Studio, Mark Malecki, and glass artist Deborah Czeresko.

The Architecture ⇔ Designer showcase will highlight studios and individual practitioners, including Umberto Bellardi Ricci, who have a similar multidisciplinary impulse. Recent San Francisco-to-Brooklyn transplants NJ Roseti and Caleb Ferris will present a bifold installation applying their own signature craft techniques and aesthetics to a ubiquitous architectural element, the column.

Impressively pulled together in just over three months, Collectible has brought in an impressive roster of consultants: New York movers and shakers that serve on curatorial and advisory committees as well as help to programme a robust talks series. Like in Brussels, Collectible teamed up with a number of local organisations, including the Female Design Council and annual ideas symposium The World Around.

Advisor Sonya Tamaddon will mount the Curated section, a sizable presentation focusing solely on independent talents. A notable exhibitor here is Dubai-based newcomer Kameh, a studio that has produced an iterative collection of hand-sculpted ash wood chairs inspired by noted 19th-century mountaineer John Muir.

The Main and Bespoke groupings form the majority of the fair and will feature a long list of galleries like vanguard Antwerp-based platform St Vincents, which asked San Francisco-based designer Michael Hilal to handpick works by ten designers that transcend geographic definition. Also present is Eindhoven-based conceptual studio, foundation, and academy Dutch Invertuals, known for its thematically interrogative shows. In addition, noted talent Fernando Mastrangelo will debut the ‘Ice Melts’ sculptural lighting series, hinting at the increasingly urgent climate crisis.

Owing to the fact that Collectible New York will take place at the same time as New York Fashion Week, the Fashion section will highlight how collectible design increasingly intersects with this sister industry. Shedding fresh light on a sector of design with growing reach and stratification, this event solidifies Lower Manhattan, and more specifically, Tribeca as a thriving design district.

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