PROJECT INFO

Scope: Gallery Design, Tenant Improvement

Location: City of Beverly Hills

Size: 1,500 sf

Status: Finished Construction

IIDA, Calibre Design Award

IIDA, Will Ching Award

PROJECT description: 

Gallery 19C presents a curated cross-section of art history at a pivotal moment for painting as a medium. Emerging alongside the rise of new media such as film and television, impressionism and expressionism marked a radical departure from realist techniques, returning instead to social realism as their subject. This shift represented a profound paradigm change in the history of art. Aligning with this spirit of departure, the gallery’s design concept centers on creating a backdrop that amplifies the presence and impact of historic artworks—an approach echoed in contemporary works by artists like Hendrik Kerstens and Jeff Koons’s Gazing Ball series.

The project pursues a stark, minimal aesthetic, cultivating a materially incorporeal environment through diffused fabric lighting and concealed technologies. This “Future Garment” envelops the space much like a cloth, offering a subtle yet powerful frame for the art, recalling the mastery of Impressionists such as Paul Cézanne in their use of backdrop to highlight subject.

Gallery 19C’s wall paneling reinterprets classical wainscoting with a modern vogue sensibility, providing flexible display surfaces for artworks treated as precious artifacts. The modular panels allow for varied configurations, including the historic “Salon Style” stacking prevalent until the late 19th century.

Housing a rare collection of turn-of-the-19th-century impressionist works, the gallery’s design also nods to futurism and cinematic heritage—borrowing from the bedroom scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey to evoke a sense of spatial infinity. A previously overlooked 25-foot-high cavity at the perimeter, concealed by uniform ceiling tiles, was transformed with a black gradient to restore vertical expansiveness to the space.

Though a commercial venue, Gallery 19C functions as a contemplative oasis within a typically transactional art market. In addition, the project surpasses energy conservation standards, affirming a commitment to environmental responsibility alongside cultural preservation.

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