At the Rose House Combines Fine Art, Design, and Fashion in One Room

You’re probably used to seeing works of art mounted onto the bright white walls of a gallery or museum. But when pieces are intentionally placed into an environment that echoes their aesthetic, they suddenly take on new life. This was the idea behind At the Rose House, a new exhibition staged by the art and design fair Object & Thing in collaboration with the furniture design studio Green River Project LLC. At the Rose House extends Object & Thing’s recent practice of putting on exhibitions within historic artists’ and architects’ own homes. In this instance, furniture made by Green River Project and pieces by artists including the fashion label Bode (whose designer, Emily Adams Bode, is a frequent collaborator with the Green River folks), Charles and Ray Eames, and Michele Oka Doner can be viewed inside Modernist landscape architect James Rose’s home. The residence which was self-designed and hand-built by Rose has been preserved in Ridgewood, New Jersey. “[Green River Project LLC founders] Aaron Aujla and Ben Bloomstein have long talked about Rose, and we began the process for organizing this exhibition just over a year ago,” Abby Bangser, founder and creative director of Object & Thing, tells W. “There is a shared spirit between Rose and Green River Project LLC to figuring out a design challenge and making it work. Rose often took salvaged doors and turned the doors into benches, or a railroad tie could become a chair. This open thinking to what a material can become is something I also see in Green River Project LLC’s practice.”

“I think the sense of community was important, we have felt that sense with Rose’s work,” Aujla adds of the diverse lineup of artists featured in At the Rose House. “It was also important to have work of varying disciplines and materials. I think Rose didn’t privilege any particular creative class over another, it shows in his work and in the work he collected. We wanted that spirit to be alive.”

Below, take a look at some of the highlights that can be seen At the Rose House, on view through October 2.