While designing the interiors of one of New York City’s most iconic midcentury skyscrapers—a building thrust into popular culture via AMC’s hit series Mad Men—architect Gerald Luss was living at his family home in the village of Ossining along the Hudson River. The glass-and-steel dwelling, Luss’s first stand-alone design, hosted planning meetings for the Time & Life Building, and the two structures even share a few design elements: an indoor/outdoor connection, a material palette of glass and steel, and colored panels that, in the office, could be rearranged to create flexible partitions; in the home, hallway cabinetry recalls that moment of innovation.

Starting May 7, visitors can get an in-person glimpse of the architect’s unsung home, which will be the backdrop of At the Luss House, an exhibition of art and design hosted in collaboration by galleries Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing. Following an exhibition held by the galleries last fall at the Eliot Noyes house in New Canaan, Connecticut, the Luss House exhibit similarly uses an architect’s home to pair “today’s artistic ideas with those of past eras,” say the galleries.

At 94 years old, Luss remains a champion of new design. “In my own life,” he says, “I find it is essential not only to create new work, but to also live among the objects and work of other artists, expanding my vision of the world.”

To develop commissions for the exhibit, contributing artists kept in mind Luss’s repetitions between the skyscraper and his Upstate home. Furniture and interior designers Aaron Aujla and Ben Blooomstein of Green River Project LLC, who met with Luss in person to conceive their collection, created aluminum furniture with an industrial slant. Kiva Motnyk, a designer and artist, created a framed fabric piece for the main bedroom’s window, extending the room’s feeling of warmth from the wood paneled walls to meet the outdoors. Aside from providing the greater framework for the exhibition, Luss has contributed objects of his own, which include a poker table he designed for his studio in New York City.

In total, At the Luss House features works from 18 international artists, all of which can be viewed in-person each Friday and Saturday from May 7 through July 24, 2021.

To see the virtual experience, or to book a reservation, head to any of the galleries’ websites: Blum & Poe, Mendes Wood DM, and Object & Thing

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A One-Off Art Exhibition Provides a Glimpse Inside an Unsung Midcentury in New York