Color Monday

Green and blue have ALWAYS been my two favorite colors. I tend to like blue better - which is why I decided to force myself into a green world. The catalyst for the color choice was the lime green fabric I covered a set of French fauteuil chairs in. I decided to match the floor to the fabric and had all the floors done in poured lime green resin. I removed most of the moldings and had the main rooms painted in a matt green. I love the combination of a shiny floor to dull walls. The art was the star and in the living room and dining room there is no pattern -  the backdrops (walls and floors) are green and the furniture is all upholstered in grey – which allows the art to really be seen in a less obscured way. Architectural Digest France have kindly described this project as my most important work for 2011.

Over the past year or so the apartment has graced the cover of HOME Journal from Hong Kong and has been featured in Architectural Digest Germany, Architectural Digest Russia, Architectural Digest China, IDENTITY Magazine (Dubai), Residence (Netherlands) and most recently in MODERN Magazine in the US. As usual I always get itchy to create something totally new – so Gene and I have been very busy creating an entirely new environment. Stay tuned.

The living room features a vintage Florence Knoll sofa. The Metal tables are Pierre Cardin.

Photo: Mark Roskams

Another view of the living room - the round photograph is by Japanese artist Izima Kaoru.

Photo: Mark Roskams

A gold wood sculpture by Louise Nevelson dated 1959 sits on top of a Paul McCobb table. 

The head is one of my pieces from a new group I have been working on of collage sculptures. 

Photo: Mark Roskams

The dining room table is Pierre Cardin from the 1970s. 

The glass and brass sculpture on the table is by Rory McEwen dated 1966. 

The drawing on the far wall is by Joseph Stashkevetch.

Photo: Mark Roskams

The dining room is dominated by two works from artist Joseph Stashkevetch - 

although they look like photographs they are actually drawings - the matt quality of

 the works is so beautiful.

Photo: Mark Roskams Architectural Digest China

Another view of the dining room - Architectural Digest Germany.

Left: me in the dining room. 

Right: a view into the living room looking down the collage covered hallway.

Photos: Mark Roskams

Floor plan of the 700 square foot apartment.

Two views of the kitchen which houses my collection of fashion illustrations from 

the 1950s thru the 80s. Works by Kenneth Paul Block, Rene Bouche, 

Oscar de la Renta, Dior, Gene Meyer (of course) and others. 

Photos: Mark Roskams

Left: the living room seen looking thru the collage hallway.

Right: the bedroom also seen from the collage hallway.

Photos: Mark Roskams

The bedroom upper walls are covered in a turquoise Indian silk and the bottom 

half are upholstered panels covered in grey flannel that surround the room. 

The bergere chair is upholstered in a silk velvet. 

The wonderful portrait of a man in the center is by 

my brother Gene - the work on the far left is Eugene Berman.

The blue velvet shoes are Paul Smith 

(I have actually never worn them - I just like to look at them). 

Photo: Mark Roskams 

 

The cover of HOME Journal, July 2011

The bedroom with it's all flannel panels and bedspread.

The pillow I had made from a pattern Gene designed for his Spring 1996 mens wear collection (below).

Gene Meyer Spring 1996 Menswear collection.

Two more views of the bedroom - 

showing the Andy Warhol Marilyn that I have had for 20+ years and has moved with me from place to place.

Photos: Mark Roskams

Left: My living room in Miami 2002 with the Marilyn over the fireplace. 

Photo: Troy Campbell

Right: My florida room in another house in Miami with Marilyn. 

Metropolitan Home, 2010

My dressing room walls are covered in vintage fabric designed 

by Shirley Craven for Hull Traders.

The tray houses part of my extensive collection of Gene Meyer ties. 

The printed leather wallet designed by Gene is available

 at our on-line shop (shameless plug). 

The portrait is another of Gene's color pencil drawings of men.

Photo: Mark Roskams Architectural Digest China

Gene Meyer printed leather wallet

Another view of Doug Meyer's dressing room. The three pencil portraits are by Gene Meyer.

The small table is from a collection we designed in 2005 called Positano Drink Stands.

Photo: Mark Roskams Architectural Digest Russia

Positano Drink Stand - powder coat metal with concrete top designed by Doug and Gene Meyer, 2005

Photo: Moris Moreno

Doug Meyer in the entry hall. 

Walls covered in Joseph Frank linen fabric called La Planta.

The oil on linen painting is by Valerie Jaudon.

Another one of my collage sculptures stands next to me - this one is titled Sheclops.

Photo: Mark Roskams Modern Magazine

X doug

Three Women and Plexi Glass

Don’t ask me why but I ADORE plexi-glass – I always have. I seriously incorporate it into every interior I create. I love how shinny it is. I love how it can be opaque and transparent. I love that it’s reflective. It makes the most amazing backdrop and room divider in a space. I love how something so slick can be juxtaposed with say an object from the 18th century and it all seems so fresh, modern and unexpected.

Here are three amazing sculptors – all worked in plexi-glass – all were women – and all were on the forefront of new movements in art. Each artist has influenced my work and shaped my understanding of objects and surroundings. Louise Nevelson’s plexi pieces were void of color and were completely clear – they were intricate and geometric, architectural and orderly – but never symmetrical. Aaronel deRoy Gruber worked in color plexi and created sculptures that moved – kinetic works have always intrigued me – her work was based on logic, light, movement and symmetry. Nicola L. has always had a fascination as I have with body parts – her quirky oddities of lighting, seating and other objects are fascinatingly strange – with a wonderful sense of humor. 

Aaronel deRoy Gruber Life of it's Own, 1972

Plexiglass and chrome kinetic sculpture, with motorized base. 34 x 27 x 26"

image Francis Frost Gallery

Nicola L. Blue Eye, wall sculpture

image Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

Louise Nevelson Ice Palace

Plexiglass 

image Christie's

Aaronel deRoy Gruber

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1918, she was an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor in steel and plexi-glass later in her career she went into photography. Gruber graduated in 1940 from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Mellon) with a major in science, however she also studied extensively in the college of fine arts. Her work in the 1960s and 70s with plexi-glass and kinetic sculpture garnered her an international reputation.

Aaronel deRoy Gruber Untitled, 1976

Plexiglass and chrome kinetic sculpture, with motorized base. 45.5 x 10 x 10" 

image Francis Frost Gallery

         Aaronel deRoy Gruber Moment in Time, 1973

       Plexiglass sculpture with illuminated base. 18.5 x 14.5 x 14.5" 

      image Francis Frost Gallery

     Aaronel deRoy Gruber Untitled, 1970s

         Plexiglass kinetic sculpture with motorized base. 16 x 12 x 12" 

          image Francis Frost Gallery

Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson’s career spanned over sixty years. She was considered the most influential female artist of her time. Her work is marked by periods of abstract sculpture – mainly focused on geometric forms. Her pieces were primilary constructed of wood and painted black - with brief moments early on when she used gold or white. In the late 1960s she began experimenting with plexi-glass (clear) and created two series Canada and Ice Palaces (both made with plexi).

     Louise Nevelson Canada Series, 1968

     Plexiglass and chrome kinetic sculpture, with motorized base. 16.5 x 13 x 8" 

    image Pace Gallery

For the last 20+ years I have owned this early 1960s Louise Nevelson gold sculpture - I have proudly displayed it in all my crazy houses and have incorporated it into my sometimes impromptu re-decorating of them all. Shown here in 2009 - my Miami Beach dressing room. Note - the walls are all created using teal blue mirrored plexi-glass panels. The rug and console are both Doug & Gene Meyer designs.

image Mark Roskams

My Miami house in 2003 - the Nevelson holds court in the living room.
HOME & DESIGN, 2003 image Troy Campbell

In 2010 she made her way back up to New York.

 image Mark Roskams

         Louise Nevelson Untitled, 1965

        Lucite bracelet and ring

         Louise Nevelson Transparent Sculpture IV, 1968

   Plastic, 8 x 12 x 11"

   Collection Albright-Knox Gallery 

Nicola L.

French born Nicola L. is a conceptual artist who creates performances, films and functional art. She had her first show at Daniel Templon Gallery, Paris in 1969 and the Wadell Gallery, New York in 1973. She moved to New York in 1979. From 1986 to today she has exhibited at numerous galleries: Moss, Vrej Baghoomian, Peder Bonier, Wooster Projects, Ingrao Gallery and Twentieth Gallery.

Nicola L. Red Foot, 1967-68, edition of 50. Vinyl, 69" long. 

Nicola L. Blue Eye, table lamp, 1969 

image Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

Nicola L. Lips, floor lamp 

image Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

My Miami Beach Apartment with Nicola L’s hanging Eye Ball and a collection of faux bois pottery by Grandjean Jourdan, France. 

image Mark Roskams AD France

My Miami Beach dining room with Nicola L’s hanging Eye Ball above an Eero Saarinen table. Note the walls are plexi-glass with silk screens of sea shells - inspired by Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti. 

image Mark Roskams AD France

Nicola L. Green Eye, floor lamp

image Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

Aaronel deRoy Gruber work is available at Francis Frost Gallery

Nicola L work is available at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

WRAP IT UP by Gene Meyer

Silk scarves have always been an indispensable fashion accessory for stylish girls. The first Gene Meyer scarf collection was designed in conjunction with my women's made-to-order collection and sold exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. The scarf designs had a spare modernist and colorful 1960s Palm Beach feeling with big doses of Henri Matisse and YSL. 


The artwork was created by cutting hundreds of pieces of brilliantly colored paper and arranging them to create highly abstract patterns a la Matisse (my idol). My men's tie and sock collections are also designed using cut paper collage.

Printed on heavy silk twill in 36" and 44" squares with self fringed edges (a la 1950s Balenciaga scarves) or hand rolled edges, the scarves fit the early 90s return to 1960s lady-like fashion. I have always loved the many photographs of Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn wearing silk head scarves.

The scarf collections are still some of my career favorites and I own one of every style we produced. The scarves were worn and promoted by the top fashion editors of the time - I still catch some of them wearing my scarves!

One devotee, Geoffrey Beene muse, Vanity Fair writer and keeper of The Best Dressed List - Amy Fine Collins upholstered her dining room chairs in a chartreuse, pea green, and teal geometric scarf print.

For my own apartment I made slipcovers and curtains out of the printed wool and cotton scarves - this apartment was written up and photographed by Wendy Goodman, for HG magazine. Wendy still has her collection of Gene Meyer scarves and is threatening to have them framed. In 1993 I designed fabric and special scarves for Isaac Mizrahi's super chic women's collection and runway show.

We also used the silk twill scarves to create a leather hand bag collection. My favorite press was a shoot Elizabeth Saltzman did for Mademoiselle Magazine featuring Nirvana wearing the scarves as skirts. The sweaters are by Todd Oldham. Kurt Cobain is wearing the LOVE scarf, Dave Grohl is wearing the HORSE scarf and Krist Novoselic is wearing the SOLEIL scarf.

The 42" silk scarves made great full skirts. Pictured above are two special projects for Wendy Goodman and Robert Rufino. I've mostly done purely abstract patterns but some of my favorite scarves have floral, paisley and figurative designs.

I received a call last September from Stacey Bendet, designer and founder of Alice + Olivia, asking if I would be interested in doing a collaboration to design fabric and scarves for her Spring 2012 collection. We had great fun realizing that we're both mad for color and color mixing and great friends of Amy Fine Collins (who turned Stacey on to my scarf and rug designs) We ended up tweaking six of my favorite early 90's designs and of course Stacey used her beautiful Spring 2012 palette to color them. 

For her Spring presentation, Stacey also used a few of the scarves to make flirty and charming dresses. My favorite thing about these new scarves is the label - it reads Alice+Olivia by Stacey Bendet love Gene Meyer in a pretty Shade of Stacey pink!

Impact 50 Years of the CFDA by Abrams - feature on Gene Meyer written by Amy Fine Collins

Photography by: Mark Roskams, Mario Testino, Jack Deutsch, Ruven Afanador and Oberto Gilli