Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Gorging on Gorgeousness At Harlem’s Studio Museum
With so many good-looking people and beautiful works of art on view, the Studio Museum in Harlem’s opening party for its summer exhibits quickly become a matter of information overload. The good-looking people were too numerous to name, but the art is a bit easier to catalog.
The event marked the openings of four exhibits: the first major American show of London architect David Adjaye’s public commissions; a group show by the museum’s artists-in-residence, Titus Kaphar, Wardell Milan II, and Demetrius Oliver, named “Midnight’s Daydream”; a display of student photographs, “Shift in Focus,” and the latest installment in the “Harlem Postcards” series, featuring photographs by Brooke Williams, Valeska Soares, Cheng-Jui Chiang, and João Onofre.
Mr. Adjaye could be found standing in the middle of the exhibit of his models with the director of the museum, Thelma Golden. She looked, as always, happy; he looked happily overwhelmed.
“All of these buildings are done. They will all be made by October,” Mr. Adjaye said.
They include the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, and the Idea Store in the Whitechapel area of London.
Any work in New York?
“A private residence, but not a public building,” Mr. Adjaye, a Londoner, said. “I’d love it.”
Upstairs, near his portrait paintings in which figures from the canvas are dramatically ripped out, Mr. Kaphar talked about the amazing working relationship he and the other artists in residence have developed with the help of associate curator Christine Kim.
“The best part of it is the honesty,” Mr. Kaphar said. “That’s what we agreed on at the beginning. It’s important, because at an opening, everyone tells you how much they like the work.”
On cue, art dealer Jack Tilton walked up and congratulated Mr. Kaphar. “We’ll talk,” he said.
The term the artists chose to communicate when they don’t like something is “glitter,” as in “Titus, that’s glitter right there,”Mr. Kaphar said. The usage developed after Mr. Milan made a drawing with glitter, which all three agreed did not work.
“You should avoid glitter at all times, unless it’s a school project,” Mr. Kaphar said.
Mr. Milan likes seeing the signs that his fellow artists are in the groove. “When Titus is dancing and screaming, I know he’s doing something really well,” Mr. Milan said.
The artists usually listen to the same music, using Mr. Kaphar’s sound system; he has the largest. “It’s Peaches, Coldplay, Jay-Z,” Mr. Milan said.
When they leave the museum in September, they’ll move into a studio they’ve rented in Chelsea while they look for one to buy. They’ll also have a group show in Berlin.
Spotted in the outdoor courtyard, where guests danced and mingled, were architect Galia Solomonoff, who designed Dia: Beacon and artist Glenn Ligon’s TriBeCa loft; a curator of design and architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, Paola Antonelli; photographer James Casebere; the New Museum of Contemporary’s director and curator of education and public programs, Eungie Joo; L’Oreal philanthropy executive Michael Trese; and artist Chris Ofili (of “Sensation” notoriety), who had collaborated on a project with Mr. Adjaye at the museum in 2005, as well as artists Lorna Simpson and Lyle Ashton Harris.
