Pavel Zoubok Gallery invites you to explore the hybrid world of The Amusing Style, a theatrical, eclectic and decidedly collage-like approach to interior decoration championed in the pages of British Vogue during the Roaring Twenties. The gallery will be transformed into an immersive environment of modern and contemporary art and objects inspired by The Amusing style, with installations by a distinguished group of artists, designers and decorative arts experts: Louis Bofferding, Lisa Hoke, Don Joint, Liz O’brien and Matthew Patrick Smyth.

Coined by art historian and critic Christopher Reed, “the Amusing style” takes its name from the ubiquitous use of the term “amusing” to describe the arts and entertainments of the 1920s. An early declaration of the Amusing style as the new, modern look appeared in a feature article on the Sitwell brothers’ famously eccentric interiors in British Vogue in October of 1924: “For now nothing will be in a room for any reason save that it amused the owner the day he put it there. It is his character, not his possessions, the gives the room its quality. Hence if his character be sufficiently amusing his room will also be lovable.” Visual evidence offered alongside this thesis illustrated the character that unified this material and cultural diversity, with sitting rooms juxtaposing Cubist paintings, Victorian shell-work, gilt bronze furnishings, African fetish figures, and Severini paintings. Though celebrated by Vogue editor Dorothy Todd and fashion editor Madge Garland, high modernist designers, who largely focused on industrial materials and pre-fabrication techniques, eschewed this style.

Drawing upon the high-style eclecticism of the Amusing style, Pavel Zoubok Gallery has invited an equally eclectic group of artists, interior designers, and decorative arts dealers to create living environments that combine functional and decorative objects, as well as works of fine art, building upon the gallery’s longstanding commitment to the art and culture of collage. The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience collage as more than an art-making strategy, but rather as a contemporary approach to lifestyle vis-a-vis our living environments, an expression of the self through the accumulation and juxtaposition of objects.

Pavel Zoubok Gallery

531 West 26th Street
New York (NY) 10001 United States
Tel. +1 (212) 6757490
info@pavelzoubok.com
www.pavelzoubok.com

Opening hours

Monday - Friday
From 10am to 6pm

Related images
  1. Curated in collaboration with Liz O'Brien: 1. Jane Benson, Disco Globe X, 2009; 2. Liz O'Brien Editions, The Jayne Sofa, courtesy Liz O'Brien; 3. Raven Schlossberg, Her Hair as Black as Snow, 2012/2013; 4. Raven Schlossberg, Lost in Rome (She's Come Undone), 2012; 5. Max Kuehne (1880-1968), Low round table, c. 1930, courtesy Liz O'Brien; 6. Qianlong Mark Republic period enameled vase, c. 1930, courtesy Don Joint; 7. Lobmeyr enameled glass plate, N.D., courtesy Don Joint; 8. Al Souza, Large, Long Gold Bookbox, 2013; 9. Man Ray (1980-1976), The Gift, 1944-45; 10. Man Ray (1980-1976), Mr. Knife and Mrs. Fork, 1944; 11. Frances Elkins (1888-1953), Silvered wood torchiere, c. 1937, courtesy Liz O'Brien; 12. Edward Wormley (1907-1995), Lacquered and inlaid wood side table, c.
  2. Curated by Ann Agee: 1. Ann Agee, Untitled (Fabric), 2011/2012; 2. Ann Agee, Chair 1, 2012; 3. Ann Agee, Tide, 1995; 4. Ann Agee, Red Clogs, 2012; 5. Ann Agee, Vase, Toothbrush Holder, Soap Dish, Mirror, 2012; 6. Ann Agee, Thrown Man and Necklace, 2012; 7. Ann Agee, Chair 2, 2012
  3. Curated by Matthew Patrick Smyth: 1. Antique Georgian pediment, courtesy Matthew Patrick Smyth; 2. Empire style wood easel, courtesy Matthew Patrick Smyth; 3. Barton Lidice Benes (1942-2012), Egyptian, 2005; 4. Lisa Nilsson, Male Pelvis, 2012; 5. Annandale jute area rug, courtesy Matthew Patrick Smyth; 6. Paw Foot dining table with custom wood top, courtesy Matthew Patrick Smyth; 7. Classical male bust courtesy Matthew Patrick Smyth; 8. Fiberglass and polymer wrapped antelope, courtesy Sutter Antiques, Hudson, NY; 9. Man Ray (1890-1976), Cadeau, c. 1950; 10. Robert Courtright (1926-2012), Untitled Mask (Beard), N.D.; 11. Barton Lidice Benes (1942-2012), Prayer Rug 1, 2010; 12. Derek Jarmon (1942-1993), Piece on Earth, 1986; 13. George Hugnet (1906-1974), Arbre, 1954; 14. Javier Pinon, Untitled (Chairs), 2005; 15. Donna Sharrett, Ophelia, 2013; 16. Donna Sharrett, Guinevere, 2013; 17. Buster Cleveland (1943-1998), Untitled (Goddesses), N.D.
  4. Curated by Louis Bofferding: 1. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Untitled (Paten), c. 1995; 2. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Spaghetti Spun like Cotton Candy, 1984; 3. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Rat, c. 1970; 4. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Chalice, 1968; 5. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Twinky as a Gypsy Maiden (Self Portrait), 1967-69; 6. English, 20th Century lamp, courtesy Louis Bofferding; 7. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Untitled (Rose Color Glasses), c. 1980s; 8. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Foreplay (Non-Finito) Reaching for the Moon, 1986-87; 9. French, 20th Century Armchair, courtesy Louis Bofferding
  5. Curated in collaboration with Lisa Hoke: 1. Lisa Hoke, Step Right Up, 2014; 2. Ivan Chermayeff, Block Plane Head, 2000-2005; 3. Meret Oppenheim, Traccia Table, 1939, courtesy Liz O'Brien; 4. Elliot Levine, Philosopher's Stone Lamp, courtesy Liz O'Brien; 5. Sari Dienes (1898-1992), 7-Up, c. 1950
  6. 1. Gary Carsely, Oriental Musician, San Souci Palace, Potsdam 2, 2014; 2. Documentary photographs from Christopher Reed's Bloomsbury Rooms, © Yale University Press, 2004: Vanessa Bell curtain in River House, 1919 as illustrated in Vogue (London), early November 1924; Vanessa Bell painted door in the study of River House, 1919 as illustrated in Vogue (London), early November 1924; Duncan Grant, hearth decorations, Charleston studio, photographed c.1934 by Barbara Begnal; Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, Arts and Sciences decorations fro John Maynard Keynes, King's College, Cambridge, 1920-22 as illustrated in Vogue [London], early March 1925.