NoHo, a neighborhood in New York, once home to Andy Warhol stays true to its heritage still today with galleries and live performances, and it is about to get one gallery riches thanks to the art world’s favorite architect, Annabelle Selldorf.
Selldorf has turned an old jewelry store into a bespoke exhibition space to become the home for a roving galley, Palo founded by art deal Paul Henkel. This site will also double as a kind of showroom for Selldorf’s new furniture line, Vica—marking the first time that her products will be publicly available.
Henkel launched Palo back in 2018. Back, then the gallery had no physical base, and its projects were produced at varying locations. For this upstart dealer having this opportunity to use blank space and reinvent it every few months is an interesting avenue to explore.
The idea, he added, was to “have a home base we could build an identity around.”
The space was built in 1900, the 3,400-square-foot storefront location has been divided into two exhibition spaces: one a fairly standard white cube, the other a European-style salon. Throughout both rooms, Vica furniture will be used for display and decoration.
“I think it’s important to see the furniture in the context of the art Palo will be showing, and vice versa,” Selldorf said. “It’s about the integration of art and design, not one or the other. I think our furniture collection will have wide appeal, and yet it’s not mass market.”
Henkel and Selldorf go way back, it turns out, and it was the latter’s idea to join forces. Both were born in Cologne and growing up, Selldorf’s best friends were Henkel’s mother and aunt. “Annabelle called me up because she heard I was looking for a permanent location,” Henkel said. He recalled the conversation as if still in disbelief that it happened, which makes sense: for a young gallerist, that’s the kind of break you dream about.
As far as architects go, Selldorf is one of the art world’s most coveted commodities. Among her firm’s best-known projects is the Luma Arles arts center in France, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in California, and the Rubell Museum in Florida. She’s also designed galleries for David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Thaddaeus Ropac, among others.
“Earlier this year when we began looking for a space for Vica that could be open to the public, we weren’t looking for a gallery per se,” the architect recalled. “We considered lots of options including a dedicated showroom in a design center, or our own small retail space. But when I realized that Paul was also looking for his own more permanent space things just fell into place naturally.”
Considering her ties to Henkel’s mother and aunt, the new gallery, she said, is about “keeping it in the family.”
This approach is all about having a personal connection to what you are building. Both Selldorf and Henkel bring different aspects of creativity, one through art and the other through architecture. A place of this interesting history mixes perfectly with the vibrant energy of the duo.
Palo Gallery is set to open on September 9 with an exhibition of new works by British artist Henry Hudson.