The celebrated fashion designer has staged a contemporary art exhibit in her own home.
Designer Nanette Lepore and her husband and business partner, painter Robert Savage, may have already conquered the fashion world, but there’s no reason they can’t take on the art world too. Their new Lepore Savage Gallery may do just that.
Lepore told T Magazine that she and Savage were inspired to open the art space as a way to invoke the halcyon days when they had first moved to New York and fallen for the city’s thriving art scene. In a modern twist on the classic salon, they decided to open their home to the art world.
Their first show is now open in the couple’s townhouse in New York’s West Village. Called "Rose is a Rose" after a line from art salon enthusiast Gertrude Stein’s 1913 poem, “Sacred Emily,” the exhibition features the works of eight New York–based contemporary artists: surrealist painter Lori Field, John Gordon Gauld, Sarah Kurz, Jane Lafarge Hamill, Sebastian Blanck, portraitist Lena Viddo, Caitlin Karolczak, and Andre Ribuoli, who uses a painting machine to craft beautifully fuzzy still lifes.
Curated by Kara Brooks, with the help of Molly Krause, the artists in the show represent very diverse styles of work, but they are united by they way they transform classical iconography into modern work, much the way the Lepore Savage Gallery reimagines the 20th-century artists’ salon for the 21st century.
The pieces included in the show will be featured alongside the couple’s own impressive art collection, which includes a vibrant mix of million-dollar masterpieces by Paul Cézanne and one-dollar flea market finds.
Since the gallery is located in the couple's living room, it’s understandable that the exhibition is open by appointment only. Interested parties can set up appointments to view the show on Saturdays and Sundays until November 1. Contact [email protected] for more information.
