Celebrating its highly anticipated return, Exhibition Penthouse reopens its doors for COMING HOME, a celebration of diverse mediums and design methodologies under one roof with works by Christina Z. Antonio, William Storms, Nick Missel, Chen Chen & Kai Williams, and our very own F Collection.
“COMING HOME is an exploration of the relationship between craft and comfort in the home,” says Elena. “This show is an exciting composition and showcases our distinct perspective on how color, material, scale and utility can collaborate in unexpected ways to design for how we actually live, move, and seek both livability and inspiration in our surroundings.”
Christina Z. Antonio
On view for the first time, multidisciplinary artist and designer Christina Z Antonio’s set of HELIOS chairs bear a neon arc over stacked-leather legs and alpaca or hand-stitched leather cushions.
Working with scientific glassblowers to develop the precision blown glass that houses the neon gas, Antonio conceived the two chair designs with the futurist idea of human “charging stations” in mind, functioning as conduits for cognitive, physical and emotional respite. Inviting rest and revitalization, the seating offers the technically unique aspect of illumination, while proprietary interior mechanics remind that, as she says herself, “light is one of the most powerful modalities in healing.”
William Storms
In direct conversation with Antonio’s HELIOS chairs is Brooklyn-based artist and weaver William Storms’ mixed-media wall hangings and undulating, site-specific textile installation titled Refract.
Drawing inspiration from the chairs’ neon arcs, Storms’ work introduces unexpectedly vibrant, modern interventions to home textile design through creating refined compositions using traditional passementerie techniques, weaving bright, synthetic materials into a contrasting palette of raw, natural materials including linen, jute rope, cotton rope, and flax. The series includes six wall hangings in modest proportions, as well as a striking 21′ site-specific weaving that drapes from floor to ceiling in response to Penthouse’s architecture.
Nick Missel
New works on view by Philadelphia-based designer Nick Missel (a former Salon Series guest!) reveal the evolution of his signature silicone-casting process in a series of small benches and an adventurous, statement-making chandelier.
Utilizing everyday materials to create the otherworldly forms, Missel then expertly mixes and layers silicone to various effects. The small benches on view range from bright, candy-colored cubes to grayscale “negatives” that echo their original remnants, all while offering flexible, sculptural seating and surfaces within the space. Atmos, his new lighting design, incorporates contrasting smooth and organic textures to produce a form at once familiar and entirely foreign, suggesting a relic that straddles past and future worlds.
F Collection
Complementing these conceptual, experimental design expressions, Frampton Co introduces a newly expanded F Collection with a trio of new furnishings designed in-house and handmade in Brooklyn, New York.
The redesigned Tux sofa and brand-new Tux chair are shown in the exhibit with upholstery from our dear friends at Milton Textiles and Maharam, respectively, and are each specifiable with COM. The pair embody the elegance of a formal “Tuxedo” sofa with the casual energy of the seaside. Taking inspiration from Bridgehampton’s equestrian farms, leather piping and fringe details from Samuel & Sons impart a tailored, refined style. Generous, deep proportions and a loose back cushion lend maximal, carefree comfort, while the tight seat maintains a clean streamlined look. Tux is meant to work as a pair or to mix-and-match, with versatile options for custom upholstery and pattern mixing within the individual designs.
Joining Tux is the F Collection Arc desk, now available in expanded color ways and presented for the first time in Forest, an elegant dark green. Composed of Italian poplar and high-gloss lacquer with a highly durable automotive finish, Arc is a harkening to Elena’s fascination with classic cars, while its supple, graphic form adds shape and subtly sculptural presence to interiors, pairing with understated or adventurous forms.
Arc desk is shown alongside Chen Chen & Kai Williams’ Thonet 1000 chair. The vintage, archetypal design is covered in road paint — which incorporates glass beads to reflect car headlights — creating a ghostly, futuristic pairing of familiar elements.
See the Exhibit
The show is on view through January 14. Schedule your visit to Penthouse and viewing of COMING HOME to experience a vast world of material and medium experimentation, an apt navigation between bold inspiration and pillars of familiar comfort and utility. We look forward to seeing you!
