A welcome addition to this year's roster of NYCxDesign events across the city is new Tribeca design gallery Colony, with a show that marks the end of its first year in business. Behind the graffitied Canal Street exterior lies an unexpectedly bright and uplifting space where visitors can discover pieces by the country's most exciting young design talents.
Founded and headed up by New York design editor and entrepreneur Jean Lin, the gallery space is set apart from New York's many other design showrooms by the co-operative format on which it operates - designers pay co-op fees rather than high commission rates. 'The aim was to establish the most designer-friendly foundation before expanding the business,' says Lin. 'The risk was a big one, but I think the reward for the designers involved could be even bigger.'
It's a new way of working that levels the playing field in a country where young designers, who unlike their European contemporaries, don't have a wealth of manufacturers eager to enlist their services. Each designer in the space is making everything themselves and often on a tight budget, leaving little leftover for investing in sales, marketing and a dedicated showroom space.
Lin currently has a posse of 17 textile, lighting and furniture makers under her wing and a string of hopefuls lining up, eager to be involved. From exquisitely crafted cabinets by Rhode Island School of Design-educated Kai-wei Hsu to stone and copper tabletop pieces by Boston-born, Rotterdam-based Rachel Griffin, each designer is carefully chosen by Lin. Syrette Lew of Brooklyn studio Moving Mountains, whose brass 'Palmyra' floor lamp is currently on show at Colony, tells us, 'As far as I know, nothing else like this exists in New York and what does exist caters to another generation.'
Although launched a year ago during the 2014 design week, this year's show marks the gallery's true arrival in a city where local design is finally receiving the attention it deserves.
Pendant lights by Farrah Sit hang above Debra Folz's grey-stained ash extending dining table. Wall mirrors and side tables by Canadian designer Zoë Mowat sit to the left, while the intricate ‘Objet Trouvé’ mirror and tiered side table to the right are the work of Seattle studio Codor Design
Set against Flat Vernacular’s ‘Indian Holly' wallpaper, Katy Skelton's credenza is flanked by two of her ladder designs with blankets by Hiroko Takeda (right) and Meg Callahan (left). The modular granite, marble and walnut centrepiece is by Earnest Studio
Chen Chen and Kai Williams' tables are joined by VIDIVIXI (far left) and Katy Skelton's media cabinet (right)
Also on show at Colony is a collection of unique stool designs made by Colony designers for the fourth exhibition of Reclaim NYC, a charitable organisation founded in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. All proceeds go to Art Start
Vonnegut/Kraft's daybed stands in front of a dark wall hanging is by Meg Callahan. The 'Palmyra' palm tree lamp and the side tables, both by Moving Mountains, were by far the most Instagrammed pieces from the show
ADDRESS
Colony
2nd Floor
324 Canal Street
New York
NY 10013
-
Bosnian brand Zanat has hand-carved its way into global designers’ heartsA decade after Orhan Niksic relaunched his family’s century-old workshop, Zanat celebrates its evolution with an exhibition of new, hand-carved works that look to the future of design and craft
-
Does Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein summon the gothic flamboyance of Mary Shelley’s novel?The visionary filmmaker was inspired by the famous 1931 adaptation of the book, but his long-gestating version is closer to its author’s astonishingly vivid tone
-
Artist Shaqúelle Whyte is a master of storytelling at Pippy Houldsworth GalleryIn his London exhibition ‘Winter Remembers April’, rising artist Whyte offers a glimpse into his interior world
-
Inside the work of photographer Seydou Keïta, who captured portraits across West Africa‘Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens’, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, celebrates the 20th-century photographer
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekFrom sumo wrestling to Singaporean fare, medieval manuscripts to magnetic exhibitions, the Wallpaper* team have traversed the length and breadth of culture in the capital this week
-
María Berrío creates fantastical worlds from Japanese-paper collages in New YorkNew York-based Colombian artist María Berrío explores a love of folklore and myth in delicate and colourful works on paper
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAs we approach Frieze, our editors have been trawling the capital's galleries. Elsewhere: a 'Wineglass' marathon, a must-see film, and a visit to a science museum
-
June Leaf’s New York survey captures a life in motionJune Leaf made art in many forms for over seven decades, with an unstoppable energy and fierce appetite leading her to rationalise life in her own terms.
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect ParkIn a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
-
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles launches the seventh iteration of its highly anticipated artist biennialOne of the gallery's flagship exhibitions, Made in LA showcases the breadth and depth of the city's contemporary art scene
-
Inside a Courtney Love-inspired art exhibition in New YorkLiza Jo Eilers looks to the glory days of Hole at an exhibition at Grimm New York
