Dancing lights: Lindsey Adelman’s studio reveals music video and new collection at New York’s Wright gallery

On the opening night of lighting designer Lindsey Adelman's new installation, a group of 16 dancers pulsed their way through a music video that looped in a dark room at Wright, a gallery on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
The cast of the video – from the dancers to the song's composer, Leo Madriz – wasn't the progeny of Lady Gaga (though they clearly know her repertoire), but rather Adelman and others from her studio; Laura Young, Adelman's former director of operations, is the lead vocalist. The choreography is no joke, but they're clearly having some fun. The video for 'Show Me' – the title of both the song and the exhibition – features pieces from the New York-based designer's latest collection. With punk-inflected jewellery (fringed, gold ear cuffs and leather bracelets with gold quills) to gilded mirrors adorned with waves of mushroom gills and luminaries reminiscent of some of Adelman's 'Cherry Bomb' fixtures, the clip has a neat gothic sensibility, mixed with a smattering of a A Midsummer Night's Dream. The jewellery and mirrors – as well as a five-foot-long gold candelabrum, flickering away even as the crowd squeezed close to it – helped to set an alluringly dark-romantic mood.
Adelman opened the studio in 2006 with her first product, the 'Branching Bubble' chandelier; since then, the business has expanded with many more fixtures and a range of home objects. She sees her evolution into other mediums as a natural progression of the studio's work, as well as an excuse to do something fun. 'I'm folding in the personal interests of the company,' Adelman says in the catalogue accompanying the show. 'People often ask that first question, "How did you come up with this idea of doing a music video?", when it doesn't feel like that at all. It just feels like it was in me, and I got an opportunity to let it out and bring my daily work life into it.'
The cast of the video includes Adelman and other members of her studio; Laura Young, Adelman's former director of operations, is the lead vocalist
The video features pieces from the New York-based designer's latest collection
Since the studio's launch in 2006, it has expanded with many more fixtures and a range of homeware objects. Adelman sees her evolution into other mediums as a natural progression of the studio's work, as well as an excuse to do something fun
Adelman's new collection includes gilded mirrors adorned with waves of mushroom gills...
... as well as punk-inflected jewellery – from fringed, gold ear cuffs to leather bracelets with gold quills
The show's jewellery and mirrors, alongside this five-foot-long gold candelabrum, set a darkly romantic mood
Adelman says: 'People often ask that first question, "How did you come up with this idea of doing a music video?", when it doesn't feel like that at all. It just feels like it was in me, and I got an opportunity to let it out and bring my daily work life into it'
'Show Me' will be on view at Wright gallery until 1 August
ADDRESS
Wright gallery NY
Parke-Bernet Building
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
A contemporary Swiss chalet combines tradition and modernity, all with a breathtaking view
A modern take on the classic chalet in Switzerland, designed by Montalba Architects, mixes local craft with classic midcentury pieces in a refined design inside and out
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Cartier dials up the glamour at Watches and Wonders 2025
Cartier revamps much-loved watch collections, from Privé and Panthère to Tank and Tressage, upping the sparkle at the watch fair in Geneva
By Thor Svaboe Published
-
Patek Philippe brings 15 new timepieces to Watches and Wonders 2025
The Swiss manufacturer showcases its intricate complications and elegant designs at the annual trade show with a suite of new models
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella Valley
Will Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
By Will Jennings Last updated
-
This rainbow-coloured flower show was inspired by Luis Barragán's architecture
Modernism shows off its flowery side at the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show.
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Psychedelic art palace’ Meow Wolf is coming to New York
The ultimate immersive exhibition, which combines art and theatre in its surreal shows, is opening a seventh outpost in The Seaport neighbourhood
By Anna Solomon Published
-
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
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central Park
The 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
By Tianna Williams Published
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any other
Gia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
By Billie Walker Published
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truths
At the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
By Daisy Woodward Published
-
Miami’s new Museum of Sex is a beacon of open discourse
The Miami outpost of the cult New York destination opened last year, and continues its legacy of presenting and celebrating human sexuality
By Anna Solomon Published