Interior designer Julie Hillman, famous for the New York, Aspen, Miami and Palm Beach homes she infuses with artistic edge, made her curatorial design debut at Galerie Gabriel’s Midtown East, New York City Sutton Tower location on Monday.
Situated in a “real home” atmosphere in an 80th-floor duplex overlooking Manhattan, “The Cultivated Eye” is a cultural dialogue between contemporary European pioneers, icons of the 20th century, intermingled with African and Aboriginal art. The exhibition explores how collecting is both a form of art and an act of cultural transmission.
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“This is for someone who really loves art for the pieces and not for who the pieces are by,” Hillman told WWD, showcasing furniture pieces by Italian designer Gio Ponti, French decorator Jean Royère, and French sculptor Philippe Hiquily, with sculptural ceramic pieces by French artist Agnès Debizet forming a coffee table.
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To fill the expansive living space, Hillman placed hand-knotted, white shaggy wool rugs from Nordic Knots in an abstract patchwork configuration to unify the space.
A painting from D’Lan Galleries by Aboriginal Australian artist Sally Gabori, who at age 81 began painting in an abstract style, presides on the staircase. To anchor the space, Hillman designed two custom pieces: a 15-foot sofa and a 9-foot square in tête-à-tête formation.
Galerie Gabriel founder Nancy Gabriel said Hillman was an obvious choice due to her deep knowledge of art, design and culture of collecting. “Her rare understanding of how to translate significant works into a deeply immersive, lived experience, feels perfectly aligned with the ethos of Galerie Gabriel,” she said.
From Fashion to Interiors
Hillman, a graduate of Parsons, worked at Liz Claiborne as a designer for about 10 years. She left fashion to tend to her growing family and realized she had a talent for interiors when she tackled her own family home.
“I had this understanding of proportion and space… which is really the key to interior design. Approaching a room with confidence comes from understanding proportion, as well as being successful with layering and learning about art and design,” she said, commenting that while furnishing a sweeping urban space was a challenge, it was also refreshing to be able to fill a home on her own accord and according to her own taste and instincts.
“It’s important with cold interiors to bring natural interiors in,” she notes, adding that she created warmth through using more organic materials, pointing to the balcony which has been outfitted with Dadaist travertine chairs by Lebanese-French artist Najla El Zein.
In the entry on the first floor is a resin table by French artist and designer Marie-Claude de Fouquières from the ’70s, inlaid with metal casts of the artist’s fingers, loaned by former W magazine creative director Dennis Friedman. Above it hangs a wrapped magazines work by Christo, in which bundled publications are encased in polyethylene and bound with twine, the printed words ghosting through the transparent surface.
A lamp by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier was hung nonchalantly in the kitchen, while a desk by Italian architect and designer Osvaldo Borsani serves as the centerpiece of the home office.
A Creative Past
This is not the first time Hillman has curated an exhibit. During Milan Design Week, she unveiled “The Rhythm of the Eye: Don Bronstein and the Jazz Scene in Chicago 1953-1968,” which chronicles the work of her late father Don Bronstein.
As the art director and photographer for the legendary Chess Records in Chicago, he shot and designed more than 500 album covers and also captured some of the most seminal moments in jazz history and the most iconic jazz and blues musicians such as Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Etta James, Louis Armstrong, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr. and Eartha Kitt.
At-home Curation
Like all of her projects, Hillman wants everyone to feel at home.
“People want to have showcase homes but New Yorkers don’t entertain in New York City, they entertain in the Hamptons. Instead, this is a home for entertaining, it’s both a showplace and a home for entertaining. You can still feel good in this room.”
Overall, the curation showcases how collectible art and design are infused into everyday living. Art and artifacts were sourced from notable galleries such as Galerie Gastou, Salon 94, Lucas Ratton and D’Lan Galleries. A further art program of works on canvas was provided by Creative Art Partners and was curated by curator and project manager Paige Israel, who is also Hillman’s daughter.
Gabriel founded Galerie Gabriel in 2013. Last year, the gallery joined forces with art collective CMS Collection and tapped New York–based, Brazilian interior designer Andre Mellone to curate the exhibit “Crossed Trajectories: Jean Royère, Roberto Platé, and the Global Journey of Designers and Artists.”
The exhibition runs through Nov. 30, with the Monday opening aligned with Frieze New York, Tefaf and NYCxDesign, which kicked off Friday.