Installation view of Todd Merrill Studio Southampton courtesy of Todd Merrill Studio.
Installation view of Todd Merrill Studio Southampton courtesy of Todd Merrill Studio.
Molly Hatch
Worcester Imari, 2014
Todd Merrill Studio
$24,700
Gareth Neal
Oak Vessels, 2013
Todd Merrill Studio
Niamh Barry
Falling, 2013
Todd Merrill Studio
Niamh Barry
Counterpoise, 2014
Todd Merrill Studio
By Hannah Gregory | August 13, 2015
Todd Merrill Studio Opens New Southampton Showroom with Treasure Trove of 20th- and 21st-Century Design
That famous โHamptons Lightโ has been known to attract artists, designers, and collectors alike to Southampton and the surrounding area for decades. Todd Merrill Studio, a Manhattan mainstay for 20th- and 21st-century design, joins the fold with a new space offering contemporary and vintage design to the beachside townโs regulars.
According to Merrill, the galleryโs eponymous founder, the new showroomโa generous white-box spaceโwill house โan edited selection of studio worksโ by both contemporary and 20th-century practitioners, gathering in concept-driven exhibitions. Gallery director Anya Firestone noted that this is the first gallery of its kind in the area.
Aware that collectors residing in the Hamptons value both โthe art of living and living with art,โ Merrill and his team felt it was time to extend the studioโs roster, cultivated over the last fifteen years, beyond New York City. The Southampton space will continue a curatorial emphasis on inventive material-driven works, where the mark of the artistโs hand is visible. The overarching aim? According to their press release, to โreveal an evolving and increasingly relevant โgrey spaceโ between art and design.โ
The term โgrey space,โ however, does little to capture the bright gallery on South Main Street and its inaugural set of works. Pieces by Beth Katleman, Molly Hatch, Shari Mendelson, Gareth Neal, and Olek are placed in focus, chosen for their deconstruction and reconfiguration of historic decorative arts traditions, whether rendered in ceramic, glass, wood or textile.
Contemporary works are placed in dialogue with 20th-century designs, with historical highlights including a pair of Jack Rogers Hopkinsโs idiosyncratic hand-carved chairs from the 1970s and Paul Evansโs 1960sโ70s geometric welded steel works. Niamh Barryโs LED and welded-metal light sculptures illuminate the showroom, throwing strong, fluid shadows around the spaceโa reminder that the clear light of the Hamptons is not only prized by painters and photographers, but sets the ideal tone for artful living.
