One storefront on the Rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris stands out with the silvery objects in the windows: crumpled vessels, a chandelier dangling felt markers in lieu of crystals or a CD outfitted with clock hands.
Previously Galerie Flak, it now belongs to architect and furniture designer Harry Nuriev — known for “silvering” interiors and objects, or patterning them with transparency grids — and is billed as a “creative laboratory” for his Crosby Studios interiors and design practice.
Nuriev’s studio and atelier are located on the same art-centric street, and he leapt at the chance to rent the gallery downstairs from his flat when it became available.
“So we can work, create, produce and show things,” he explained.
Sunburst mirrors and a giant pouf dressed in gray T-shirts at Crosby Studios in Paris.
Courtesy of Crosby Studios
Nuriev lives his esthetic to the fullest, his Left Bank apartment decked out in silvery, reflective surfaces intentionally vandalized with stickers, spray paint and black markers. Gray T-shirts are sewn together for window valances and curtains, while a row of mismatched men’s socks are stitched together as a kitchen mat, a quirky foil for the chevron hardwood floors.
“My medium is not just an object, it’s also space,” said Nuriev, best known in fashion circles for for his retail interventions, having done projects for such varied brands as Jimmy Choo, Nike, Valentino, Baccarat, Augustinus Bader and Dover Street Market. “So now I have a space where people can come and see my universe.”
The gallery is located on Rue des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Courtesy of Crosby Studios
The Crosby Studios storefront opened just in time for Paris Tribal, a weeklong event in which Saint-Germain-des-Prés galleries showcase ancient art from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas.
Nuriev’s materials, by contrast, are very much from modern times: defunct computer keyboards, T-shirts with advertising slogans, aluminum barbecue trays and luxury shopping bags whorled into offbeat home and decorative objects. (He wryly calls the latter a “pillar of consumption.”)
He repurposed spoons and forks into offbeat sunburst mirrors, and immortalized his broken Balenciaga sunglasses, plus a plastic spider, into an offbeat transparent candle.
Larger propositions include stools topped with Dell monitors, the screens replaced with gleaming metal plaques or a vast pouf for lounging.
Nuriev said the space will evolve and mutate in time for special events, including Fête de la Musique in June, and Art Basel Paris in October.
Harry Nuriev
Courtesy of Crosby Studios