Often the thing that I find most striking and interesting to see in showhouses is the art. The designers seem to find the most unusual and amazing pieces, and it really is a pleasure to see the impact that the art adds to their spaces and to their designs. This year the top floor of the 2014 Holiday House NYC was dedicated exclusively to art, which is to say nothing of all of the amazing pieces that were also present throughout the rest of the house! Read on to see some of my favorites.
This year the Holiday House turned the spotlight on art even more, by creating a gallery of sorts on the mansion’s top floor. Designer Justin Shaulis transformed the spacious fourth floor ballroom (which used to be an open roof terrace!) into “Gallery Hopping in Miami” – an homage of sorts to Art Basel. Since Art Basel (which takes place every year during the first week of December) and the Holiday House happen to coincide every year, and since art and design are so closely intertwined, the Holiday House had long hoped to find a way of tying the two events in together. This is the first year that the idea finally came to fruition, with an amazing collection of art curated by Elizabeth Sadoff Art Advisory in collaboration with the designer. After perusing so many amazing rooms with millions of gorgeous details, it felt cleansing and calming to step into the vast top floor gallery and take in the carefully curated selection of pieces in a serene, white-furniture filled space. To see wide angle shots, please check out Justin’s site!
This is a light fixture/piece of art called Chandelier No. 2, by Luke Jerram. As you can see, it consists of clear globes, each of which contains these little black pieces inside (called radiometers). What you can’t tell from this picture is that each of those little radiometers are fluttering at different speeds, creating the most amazing, eye-catching display of light and movement – an effect that reminded me of butterflies beating their wings at a thousand beats a minute. Each radiometer is moving at a different rate in response to light. Isn’t that the coolest thing? I thought they were responding to movements of air, like on a fan or something, but they’re actually absorbing and responding to light. Please take a second to watch a video of a similar piece in action from the artist’s website right here so you can see what I’m talking about…it really is the most beautiful thing, and an amazing blend of art and science.
This year the Holiday House is also hosting a series of lectures on different topics related to art, taking place each Thursday in the fourth floor ballroom. You can read more about the topics that will be covered and how to buy tickets here.
In case you missed them: Part I of the Holiday House and Part II.
photos by me
I love that neon sign! Haha, how perfectly cheeky 🙂