WILLI SMITH: STREET COUTURE @COOPER HEWITT

Entry to Willi Smith: Street Couture at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Venture through the chain-link fence and step into a legacy that was lost two decades ago. Though a seemingly unusual aesthetic for the Cooper Hewitt, Willi Smith: Street Couture brings forward a retrospective of the most commercially successful Black American designer and cultural catalyst of the 20th century. With a modern twist, the exhibit "surveys Smith's pathbreaking imagination of an inclusive, collaborative and playful new society" [Cooper Hewitt]. Curator Alexandra Cunningham Cameron--Curator of Contemporary Design and Hintz Secretarial Scholar--successfully shines the spotlight on an under-appreciated designer whose success was largely eclipsed by the popular European designers of his time. Keep reading for a look inside...

DRAG QUEENS BY MARTIN SCHOELLER @ PROJEKT 105 GALLERY

Close up of William // Drag Queens photographed by Martin Schoeller @Projekt 105 Gallery

An often misunderstood--though uniquely transitory--celebration of self-expression, drag culture has emerged from the shadows and become a revolutionized public performance art. Rounding out the last stretch of Pride Month, Martin Schoeller's Drag Queens at Projekt 105 Gallery in Tribeca showcases a palette of piquant portraiture featuring better and lesser known personalities. Having opened June 23rd, the exhibit is a work-in-progress and will run until September. Keep reading for a look inside...

PIERRE BERGIAN: PORTRAITS OF ROOMS @ EERDMANS GALLERY

Grand Salon of Karl Lagerfeld, 51 Rue de l'Université, Paris (2020) by Pierre Bergian // Portraits of Rooms @Eerdmans NYC

Prosecco and Perrier paired with paintings in the parlor make for a unique Saturday afternoon. In an intimate and purposefully private tour of Pierre Bergian's 20+ Portraits of Rooms at Eerdmans' newly expanded gallery, Emily Evans Eerdmans herself details the icons and inspiration behind the portraiture. Through combining artistic interpretation with actual visits and photographs, Bergian affords his viewers access to the personal dwellings of familiar fashion and design icons. Contrary to tradition, this latest collection of interiors by Bergian is filled with furniture! Keep reading for a look inside... 

VOGUE, THE ARAB ISSUE @FOTOGRAFISKA

Entry of the 3rd floor exhibit of Hassan Hajjaj's VOGUE, The Arab Issue @Fotografiska NYC

Drawing inspiration from Vogue (think "September Issue"), Hassan Hajjaj assembles "Vogue: The Arab Issue" playing on both the definition of "issue" given the political environment of the Middle East and the seasonal masterpieces published by the world's premier fashion magazine. With no shortage of polka dots, candy-colored coverings and standout pattern-on-pattern, Hajjaj's retrospective at Fotografiska complements his concurrent show at Yossi Milo Gallery. Keep reading for a look inside...

MY ROCKSTARS by HASSAN HAJJAJ @ YOSSI MILO GALLERY

Sarah Perles Gazin' (2015) by Hassan Hajjaj as part of My Rockstars @Yossi Milo Gallery

With Spring in the air and the availability of COVID vaccines, the "next normal" approaches as New York City and parts of the world emerge from a year overshadowed by the global pandemic. Feeling increasingly distant from all things fashion, I'm excited to stumble on a gallery gem between a birthday brunch and baby duty. Hassan Hajjaj delights with a solo exhibit featuring fashion portraiture entrenched in culturally conspicuous colors, piercing patterns and spot-on styling. My Rockstars at Yossi Milo Gallery reinvigorates the inner fashionsta and exudes positive energy. Keep reading for a look inside...

KAWS: WHAT PARTY @ Brooklyn Museum

WHAT PARTY; painted bronze statue at the entry of KAWS WHAT PARTY exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum #KAWSBKM

On March 11, 2020, I indulged my inner diva at the press preview of Studio 54 Night Magic at the Brooklyn Museum--a day before NYC shut down. As a first "re-emergence," I figured it would be fitting to re-energize the blog--exactly one year later--with a look at KAWS: WHAT PARTY (new exhibit in the same space). As a new mom, these last 12 months has been a whirlwind of emotion; walking through the KAWS press preview on February 24th, I saw the personification of many of those emotions via KAWs' signature Chum, BFF and Companion. Keep reading for a look inside... 

NEW DAILY PAPER FLAGSHIP ON DELANCEY ST

First Daily Paper Flagship in the Lower East Side of NYC on the corner of Christie and Delancey Streets

Survival of the fittest transforms the NYC retail landscape as a pandemic, civil unrest and a hotly contested election trigger store shutterings, job loss and an overall sales slowdown. Amid the chaos, a ray of hope has sprouted on the corner of Delancey and Christie Streets. Daily Paper, a brand founded by Dutch friends Hussein Suleiman (whose family is from Somalia), Abderrahmane Trabsini (whose family is from Morocco) and Jefferson Osei (whose family is from Ghana), opened its New York Flagship in the Lower East Side on October 24th. This is the first store outside Amsterdam for the Black-owned fashion brand. Keep reading for a look inside the captivating space...

THE SHAPE OF THINGS BY KELLY REEMTSEN @ALBERTZ BENDA GALLERY

Pieces of Her  (20 x 20 in canvases painted over 10 years) by Kelly Reemtsen: The Shape of Things at Albertz Benda Gallery

Putting a new spin on the 'stylish and strong' woman, Kelly Reemtsen creates a series of 3 new works featuring saws, stilettos and a sentiment of female empowerment. On view at Albertz Benda Gallery until November 7th, Oval Paintings, Pieces of Her and Chainsaw Sculptures smartly substantiate the idea that a woman can be both good looking and hard working. In the first gallery, thirty 20 x 20 portraits display anonymous--yet impeccably dressed women--standing at ease and wielding hand or power tools. A second gallery houses ten Reemtsen branded chainsaws. Large oval paintings with women (from the bust down) wielding tools hang in the inner gallery. Though initially unsettling, Reemtsen's paintings tug at the imagination; think what you will of a well-dressed woman clutching tools with confidence! Keep reading to have a closer look.....

IN PURSUIT OF FASHION: THE SANDY SCHREIER COLLECTION @THE MET FIFTH AVENUE

#InPursuitOfFashion @MetMuseum

As a teenager visiting New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art with her future husband (Sherwin) in tow, Sandy Schreier declared that her collection would one day grace the halls of the museum. The vision of one of America's foremost collectors of fashion is realized in the Costume Institute's current exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection at the MET Fifth Avenue. Curated by Costume Institute Head Curator Andrew Bolton, Associate Curator Jessica Regan and Assistant Curator Mellissa Huber, the exhibit includes 80 of a total 165 pieces Schreier has promised to gift to the MET in honor of its 150th anniversary. Keep reading for a look inside...

STUDIO 54 @ Brooklyn Museum

Studio 54 Night Magic at the Brooklyn Museum / #Studio54bkm

Before COVID-19 effectively shut down NYC (and the world!), I walked though a rare snapshot-in-time at the press preview of the Brooklyn Museum's Studio 54: Night Magic (March 11th). While the exhibit has yet to open to the public, its 650+ objects--from logo sketches, to costumes worn, to photographs capturing once-in-a-ifetime moments, to paper invitations and tickets, to the actual liquor license for Studio 54--account for an era of revolution and cultural transformation. My post is long overdue, but better late than never! Keep reading for a peek inside the exhibit that captures the essence of the iconic night club that helped rebrand New York City.