Contemporary Art in an Iconic NYC Space

Musing with performance artist Lynx and Hono Manu.

Decided it might be fun to attend the opening night of Joseph "Joe" Nahmad's new permanent gallery space. Nahmad Contemporary Gallery has evolved from its "pop-up" gallery roots into a generous space at 980 Madison Avenue across from one of my favorite pianos bars - Cafe Carlyle at the Carlyle Hotel. No wonder Joe chose this space and Aby chose Joe. The owner of the building, Aby Rosen is a big time contemporary art collector and Joe's brother has his gallery across the street.

The opening featured Swiss artist 
John Armleder - a key figure in contemporary art since the early 70's.
The exhibit shows an amazingly wide range of work from paintings, sculpture and floor/wall installations.

I received a warm hello and a wink from Leonardo DeCaprio and saw my friend "Lynx" Alexander a performance artists - who is currently the first ever visual "AIR"- artist in residence for Steinway & Sons; and the creative force behind the 
Steinway Lynx Special Collection of pianos. A unique "canvas" for art if there ever 
was one. Several on display at Steinway on West 57th street.

The Nahmad gallery is an evolution of sorts for the famed Nahmad family into contemporary art. The family business is currently still run by world famous art collector David Nahmad (estimated net worth $ 1.75 billion+) and includes Joseph's older brother Helly a talked about Manhattan gallery owner. The family has amassed over the past 60 years what is likely the largest private collection impressionist and modern art in the world.  It consists of over 4,500 works stored in a secured warehouse in Geneva, Switzerland including such artists as Picasso, Monet, Matisse Chagall, Kandinsky and so on.

Armleder's Ciliata 1994

The current exhibition is anchored by two installations: Ciliata 1994 - a flower garden using large tractor tires as a planter box and Untitled Light Pile 1995, from the artists seminal series Furniture Sculptures.

The iconic 980 Madison predominantly gallery building (including Gagosian) once housed the Parke-Bernet Galleries. It was designed by famed architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster + Partners and built in the early 1950s. 

Foster's 1949 Classic Design.

After reports that fanciful plans for a tower development were abandoned the property was reported on the market to fetch as much as $ 100 million - the art work in the building might be worth more.

You never can overestimate the wealth that people can amass from works of art and real estate - both good and not so good---spoken like a true veteran Muse :) 

Bringing Real Estate, Art, and Charity Together

(L to R) Dana Martin, Karen Shaw, artist Sophie Matisse and Cindy.

There is a wonderful story behind this story - I pitched the unconventional idea of a fine art gallery opening gala benefit to AREW Program co-chair Karen Shaw and to President of the Association of Real Estate Women Lina Telese. 

The proceeds from the event went to the AREW Charitable Fund which has two primary areas of focus: Supporting Women in Need (WIN) a not-for-profit group that provides NYC homeless women and their families with safe, clean housing and skills to become self-reliant; and fund scholarships for students in real estate programs in NYC colleges and universities.

The event was held at the Francis M. Naumann Fine Art Gallery celebrating the 100th anniversary of the premier of Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase at the 69th Regimental Armory in NYC. Guests included artists Sophie Matisse and Robert Forman who spoke about their art and the exhibit.

Duchamp was a French-American painter and sculptor who has been a great inspiration for many artists, including those who were featured in the show.

He is widely regarded, along with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, as one of the three artists who helped define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts at the start of the twentieth century, a period of significant advancement in contemporary and conceptual painting and sculpture.

The evening gave me a chance to share my love of art with my professional peers and friends, foster a lively discussion about the role real estate professionals can and do play in supporting artists and art galleries in New York City and raise money for a worthwhile charity in the process.