“At The Noyes House:
Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing”
Through November 28, 2020

What the galleries say: “‘At The Noyes House,’ presented by Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing, provides a unique opportunity to experience contemporary art and design in an iconic residential setting. Taking place within [architect and industrial designer] Eliot Noyes’s (1910–1977) modernist family home in New Canaan, Connecticut, the exhibition brings together just over 80 works from 34 international artists and designers, including Lucas Arruda, Lynda Benglis, Heidi Bucher, Sonia Gomes, Green River Project LLC, Mark Grotjahn, Kazunori Hamana, Sheila Hicks, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Antonio Obá, Gaetano Pesce, and Faye Toogood, among others…

In 1958, Noyes commented that aesthetic objects can ‘best be enjoyed in a house designed to bring art and their daily lives into as close daily contact possible.’ He created just such a place, and that sense of contact is still alive and well: a modern story, with a fairytale ending.”

Why it’s worth a look: Never before open to the public, this sleekly designed house is a work of art in and of itself—never mind the lush surroundings and eclectic art and design objects inside. Eliot Noyes, who designed the home for his family in 1955, followed the same playbook he employed in his industrial design work on the IBM Selectric typewriter and World’s Fair pavilion: using truthful materials and adhering to simple forms. The exhibition—which represents a rare collaboration among two top galleries and the design fair Object & Thing—offers delightful juxtapositions between sleek Modern architecture and contemporary artworks, many of which were created specifically for this show. If you like to fantasize about real estate, this one is for you.

What it looks like:

Alma Allen, Not Yet Titled (2020); Hugo França, Rings (2007). Courtesy of Mendes Wood DM, Blum & Poe, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo.

Antonio Obá, Wade in the water II, (2020). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Antonio Obá, Wade in the water II, (2020). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing.

Patricia Leite, Entre Nuvens (2020). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Mimi Lauter, Alla Marcia (2019); Jim McDowell, Spike (2015) and Your Chains Can’t Hold Me (2020). At right: Paulo Nazareth, Sem título, da série Objetos para tampar o Sol de seus olhos (2010). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Arlene Shechet, Relative (2020), courtesy of the artis; Sergio Camargo, RELIEF nº 285-Paris (1970). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Tomoo Gokita, Looking for a Lover (2020); Daniel Valero / Mestiz, Patél chair, pair (2015/2019); Frances Palmer, group of vases (2020). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Sonia Gomes, Untitled from Pendentes series (2018). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Photo: Michael Biondo

Sonia Gomes, Untitled from Pendentes series (2018). Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing.