Marc Camille Chaimowicz: Your Place or Mine

Whenever I take a business trip, I always try to leave an afternoon open for creative exploration.  Whether it’s visiting a new shop, eating at a new restaurant, or visiting an exhibition – I like to set aside time for beauty.  The Jewish Museum in New York has been putting on some great shows lately, like Veiled Meanings which was on Kneeland Co. Voyages a few months ago.  One of their more recent shows I was lucky to see, which is up until August 5th, features the work of artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz.  The title of the show, Your Place or Mine, references domesticated home life through furniture, wallpaper, artwork and decorative objects – but with a sort of cheekiness shown in dream-like pastel colored scenes.  It’s a little bit ‘80s, in the best way possible, especially my favorite part of the exhibit: Le Salon. A large rug with an allover pattern of leaves, hearts, and painterly spots serves as a resting place for pillows and an old telephone, “appearing to be a remnant of an event that has just ended, perhaps a long phone call at day’s end to a lover, conducted while luxuriously supine in the soft light.” It’s not often you see a curated interiors exhibition with such a sensual narrative, without being so overt.  For mood, color, print and packaging, I think it’s a must-see.