The Art Issue GALLERIES YOU MUST VISIT
ART BASEL
4 ARTISTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
277.9 MPH
THE NEED FOR SPEED
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
MONEY
75 KENMARE
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INVESTING IN CLASSIC CARS AND BUYING SMART AT AUCTION
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277.9 MPH Hop into the front seat of the fastest production car on the planet. PAGE 22 On the cover: Koenigsegg Aegera RS and Jesko models in front of 119 Newlight Lane in Bridgehampton listed by James Peyton of Corcoran. Photography by Daniel Wagner
FE ATURES
62–73
THE ART ISSUE p62
GALLERIES TO WATCH
Our look at some of the most interesting galleries at Art Basel Miami 2019. p66
ARTISTS TO WATCH
EQ introduces you to exciting artists bursting onto the global contemporary art scene. p72
BONHAMS Q&A
EQ sits down with Muys Snijders, Bonhams’ head of Americas Post War and Contemporary Art.
Joseph Klibansky, Reflections of Truth II (2018) Image courtesy of Joseph Klibansky
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48 DEPARTMENTS
DEVELOPMENT
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Publisher’s Note
Welcome to the Art Issue
WATCHES
13
SPECTACULAR GEM P52 2 West Water is changing the face of Sag Harbor.
WATCHES IN TENNIS P13 Where form, function and style meet celebrity.
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56
NIGEL O’REILLY P16 Ireland’s leading goldsmith and jeweler is about to take the world by storm.
THE AMAZON EFFECT P60 Retail disruption leads to environmental problems for New York.
20 76
WHEELS
80
ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES P30 Machines that will get your pulse racing while helping the planet. PORSCHE TAYCAN P32 Move over, Tesla, there’s a Porsche Taycan in your rear view mirror!
YACHTING VQ YACHTS P36 The art of bespoke boat building. BOATSHOWS P38 Best in show at Fort Lauderdale and Monaco 2019.
HOSPITALITY TOWN & COUNTRY P56 Luxury packages that combine the best of the urban and rural.
URBAN PLANNING
FASHION COLLECTORS PIECES P20 Must have men’s luxury fashion for every wardrobe.
ANDRE KIKOSKI Q&A P46 The creative force behind 75 Kenmare. 1000 MUSEUM P48 Zaha Hadid’s 1000 Museum in Miami, her final and most complex US residential tower.
DIAL ARTISTRY P12 The handcrafted side of luxury watchmaking.
JEWELRY
75 KENMARE P40 Tour 75 Kenmare, a stunning new development in NYC’s Nolita.
30 86
MONEY CLASSIC CARS P76 The next generation of investing in classic cars. ADRENALINE RUSH P80 If you’ve ever thought about buying or selling jewelry at auction, read this! SHAH GILANI P84 Shah Gilani’s take on cryptocurrency and where it’s going, or isn’t.
32 EVENTS 38
THE 2019 GURNEYS SUPERCAR RALLY P86 Supercars, sun & sushi.
elcome to Art Basel I feel the need, the need for speed — and artistry For the Art Basel issue of EQ Magazine I was able to fuel my desire for speed — and artistry — when I got to hang out with the Koenigsegg, the fastest production car on the planet. In a nod to Top Gun the classic movie where a young Tom Cruise expressed his own need for speed, I’m wearing the iconic Cockpit USA vintage jacket that starred alongside the actor. With a top speed of 277.9 MPH, the Koenigsegg is an automotive masterpiece and the perfect cover choice for our Art Basel issue. We captured the speed demon in repose at a luxe Bridgehampton home by Perello Design and Build. The 8,500 sq. ft. property is currently listed for $8.95 million by James Peyton of Corcoran. For this issue we’ve curated stories celebrating artistry in several different manifestations — like the work of award-winning Andre Kikoski Architecture, the fi rm behind 75 Kenmare. A contemporary masterpiece in Nolita, the condo’s highly articulated cast concrete façade blends artfully with the surrounding urban fabric. The exterior artistry is complemented by the interior design of music icon Lenny Kravitz’s own Kravitz Design. Then we head down to Miami’s new focal point One Thousand Museum which was designed by the late Zaha Hadid. The exoskeleton appearance and iconic presence are dramatically changing the Miami skyline. If you have an appetite for auctions, don’t miss our conversations with two of Bonhams’ most respected experts. Muys Snijders, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art in America and Brett O’Connor, Senior International Jewelery Director and Senior Vice President, U.S., who give us insights into how to buy smart at auction, how to invest in jewelry, classic cars and contemporary art and also some important advice for young collectors. We’re also excited to share the work of four artists we think are worth watching. Among them is one of my personal favorites Joseph Klibansky, a highly sought-after contemporary artist. He’s young, dynamic and uses mixed media to create both utopian and dystopian cityscapes. Inspired by pop art, his bronze cast sculpture series “Reflections of Truth” are thought-provoking and an interesting commentary on the ethical questions around wealth accumulation. Follow us on Instagram @eqmagazine_ and visit www.equicapmag.com for additional content and to subscribe to EQ Review, our free monthly newsletter to receive the latest trends in real estate, fashion, luxury, lifestyle, arts and culture delivered directly to your inbox. Let us know how you like this issue of EQ Magazine. As always I welcome your feedback! Daniel Hilpert, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
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PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Daniel Hilpert dhilpert@equicapmag.com 917.586.8364 MANAGING EDITOR Peter Falco PROOFREADERS Erika Gluckstal Sally Wang CREATIVE DIRECTOR Gregory Cullen EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Diana Mosher CONTRIBUTORS A.J. Sidransky Alexander Fitzgerald Gardy St. Fleur Jack Williams Jeffrey Steele John Pheasant Justin Mastine-Frost Katie Hector Kristopher Fraser Lee Sibley Maggie-Leigh O’Neill Michael Santora Róisín Ní Mhórdha Shah Gilani ADVERTISING INQUIRIES sales@equicapmag.com 917.586.8364 EDITORIAL/GENERAL INQUIRIES info@equicapmag.com
EQ. is published by EQ Media LLC ©2019. Any reproduction or other use of the articles, contents or photography without express written consent by EQ Media LLC is strictly prohibited. EQ Media LLC, 10 Grand Central, Suite 1601, New York NY 10017 ©2019 All Rights Reserved.
COLLECT WITH
CONFIDENCE. At Gallagher, we know it’s more than a collection to you. That’s why we provide comprehensive insurance solutions, so you can build your collection with confidence. Get in touch with our team to find out more: ajg.com/finearts © 2019 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. | GGB36922
WATCHES
Dial Artistry THE HANDCR AFTED SIDE OF LU X U RY WATC H M A K I N G W R I T T EN BY
J US TIN M A S TINE-FROS T 2.
1.
3.
MICROPAINTING/ Executing any kind of photorealistic painting is a challenge on a good day, but imagine scaling your canvas down to a 40mm disk? Incredible skill and patience immediately becomes part of the equation, and the most stable of hands. At this scale, magnifying equipment as well as brushes measured by the number of horsehairs they contain enter the picture. The Metiers D’Art staff of Jaquet Droz are masters in this category, as their collections include a number of models completed in this technique. While some are simpler, with designs painted onto grand feu enamel dials, the brand uses this technique and others on their elaborate Automata pieces. ENGRAVING/ Every little gift shop has a basic machine engraver these days, but when it comes to luxury watches, the painstaking detail that can go into a hand-engraved dial is astounding. Vacheron Constantin and Breguet seem to use the technique with the greatest frequency, working either in relief engraving—cutting away at a metal plate to create finely detailed patternwork—or carving multiple three-dimensional forms that when layered create a single cohesive design. Often these engraved pieces are completed using softer metals, including gold and platinum. Only rarely will you ever see engravers working with harder metals such as titanium. MARQUETRY/ Put simply, marquetry is the puzzle craft of dial making. Most often executed using stone or wood, small pieces of material in various hues are cut out to create a cohesive dial design. This past year, Hermes became the first brand to execute a dial using leather marquetry, which worked quite well for their chosen designs. This technique can vary in level of complexity to a seemingly infinite degree. Sometimes things as simple as Piaget’s Malachite stone marquetry dial can be incredibly dramatic, while only using 10 separate pieces of stone to create.
5. PHOTO CREDIT: 1–3: JAQUET DROZ, 4: PIAGET, 5: VACHERON CONSTANTIN
4.
CLOCK WISE: 1–3) Jaquet Droz engraving and micropainting; 4) Piaget, marquetr y; 5) Vacheron Constantin, engraving
M
uch has been written about the mechanical side of complicated watchmaking. The complexities of executing new and innovative complications is the kind of thing that excites and inspires watch journalists and enthusiasts around the globe. Meanwhile, as simple as you would think a watch dial can be, there are brands out there whose dramatic handcrafted dials require more skill and hours of labor than the complex caliber it hides from view.
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ENAMELING/ Making even just a standard color enamel dial is a frustrating process all on its own. This is precisely why 90 percent or so of the enamel watch dials on the market are handled by special firms rather than by in-house staff (and also why you don’t see a ton of enamel dials on the market). These dials are created by baking thin layer after thin layer of special glass powder on a dial baseplate, typically fired between 800 and 1,200 degrees Celsius. Because of the firing process, these dials are susceptible to failure, and even companies that specialize in the technique expect an approximate failure rate of 50 percent during the enameling process. CLOISSONÉ ENAMELING/ The closest parallel to cloissoné enameling that exists in other crafts must be stained glass, though in dial making this process is much more delicate. Tiny gold wires make up the barriers between each colored section on a dial, and should there be more enamel on one side of the wire, the expansion will cause it to shift, scrapping the dial entirely. It’s not a commonly used technique for this reason, though the enamelists at Patek Philippe have issued some fantastic examples in recent years. Those mastering these five techniques are few and far between. Unlike many practices in watchmaking, these skills can’t simply be industrialized, so the artistic side of luxury watchmaking results in rare handcrafts enjoyed for generations.
WATCHES
GAME, SET, WATCH? W R I T T EN BY
Richard Mille RM 27- 02 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal watch
JACK WILLIA MS
D
PHOTO CREDIT: (RAFAEL NADAL) GETTY IMAGES; (WATCH) WATCHUSEEK.COM
uring the four-hour and 50-minute epic that was this year’s U.S. Open men’s final, the many ritualistic tendencies of Rafael Nadal were on display for all to see — from the number of times he bounces a ball before his serve, to the twitching adjustments to his clothing and hair. Many have accused Nadal of delay tactics through such antics. And during the final he was penalized for not serving before the serve clock reached zero. But along with such supposed timewasting, there’s also an item of timekeeping that has become part of the full Nadal package: a $725,000 Richard Mille watch, which remained on his wrist throughout the match and has become somewhat of a lucky charm for the Spaniard. The bold RM2703 model watch was quite difficult for the cameras to miss. Across the court, Nadal’s opponent, Daniil Medvedev, has also recently announced a partnership with watchmaker Bovet 1822. Of course, watches and their association with tennis is nothing new. In 2017, for example, it was reported that more than $2.5 million’s worth of timepieces were seen being worn by players throughout Wimbledon. At this year’s U.S. Open, Serena Williams wore an Audemars Piguets timepiece during play; Naomi Osaka, the 2018 champion, wore a Citizen Eco-Drive Bluetooth watch; and the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki are all brand ambassadors for tournament sponsor Rolex. Once they’re off the court, bam, on goes the watch. But why? How come, in a sport that doesn’t rely on timekeeping — unlike, say, soccer or basketball — watch sponsorship makes so much sense?
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Serena wears the Code 11. 59 Selfwinding Chronograph
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PHOTO CREDIT: ?
PHOTO CREDIT: (SERENA WILLIAMS) ; (WATCH) HOROBOX.COM
EQ Magazine first asked Erich Breitenmoser, a consultant who has specialized in watch sponsorship in tennis for the past 25 years, working with companies like Rado, Omega and Longines. Breitenmoser pointed to a number of factors — starting, mainly, with the sport itself. “It’s a very clean sport,” he said, referring to professional tennis’ lack of controversy and likening the target audience to that of golf, rather than sports which may have been tarnished by negative characters in recent years. Secondly, as most watch companies target a unisex audience, tennis, with both men and women competing at its most prominent events, makes perfect sense. Per Breitenmoser, if you take a look around at any WTA or ATP tournament, the demographic is mostly 50 percent men and 50 percent women. A nd lastly, watch sponsorships are rather simple partnerships to maintain — especially when it comes to the players. “Nothing [in terms of sponsorship criteria] relates to the games themselves,” Matthias Breschan, the CEO Rado Watch Co. Ltd., told EQ Magazine. “As professional athletes, we respect the choice they make about whether or not they wear a watch to play or train.” As a result, some of the sport’s biggest stars may have financial incentives tied to their agreements, but others lower down the rankings might simply become ambassadors, receiving a title and a watch to wear at tournaments (should they wish), but nothing more. Rado, for example, which is the official timekeeper of 12 international tournaments and previously sponsored majors in the 1990s, has a YoungStar programme, which started in 2015 and provides the next generation of players with timepieces. Asked what this program involves, Breschan said, “It’s a way for us to learn from each other, so we will often call upon our YoungStars like Ash [Barty] to give us feedback about their experiences of wearing our watches. In particular, we like to hear about improvements we can make and how they feel wearing watches made using high-tech ceramic.” This year, Barty, 23, won the Miami Open, Birmingham Classic and, at the French Open, her first major tournament. During play she opts not to wear a watch, but, during all of her trophy presentation photos, there’s always a little something glimmering on her left wrist. EQ.
Ash Barty, a member of the Rado YoungStar family since 2017, sporting a white ceramic True Thin-Line.
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JEWELRY
Talisman pendant in rose gold with morganite and diamonds
THE ART OF SEDUCTION W R I T T EN BY
ALE X ANDER FIT ZG ER ALD
P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U R T E S Y O F
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NIG E L O’ R E ILLY
JEWELRY
NIGEL O’REILLY PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES OF HEIRLOOM JEWELRY DESIGN
N
igel O’Reilly doesn’t create jewelry that screams at you. Instead, the Irish goldsmith and diamond setter’s creations seduce you. His is a winning combination of artistry and technology, a fusion of exquisite form and function. It’s a design approach that is simultaneously cutting edge and inherently timeless, resulting in pieces that are destined to become much-loved heirlooms, rather than merely one-season wonders. And that’s just how he likes it. “I only make covetable luxury pieces — heirloom jewelry to embellish your life; the kind of jewelry that catches people’s eye, wherever you go,” says O’Reilly, “Jewelr y isn’t a seasonal thing,” he adds. “Never buy something that you couldn’t imagine yourself wearing in fi ve years or passing down.” Since setting up his state-of-the-art studio in 2012 in Castlebar, County Mayo, on Ireland’s rugged west coast — where he lives with his wife and their two young children
— the 37-year-old has received critical acclaim and taken orders aplenty for his designs that have the ability to make jaws drop and eyes widen. O’Reilly’s boundary-pushing methods of setting diamonds have seen him work with some of London’s most exclusive Bond Street jewelry houses. His designs — which include pieces for both men and women — have graced international catwalks, adorned the wrists, necks and fi ngers of a clutch of celebrities and staked a claim on the hearts of some of the world’s most discerning jewelry collectors. While his star is very much in the ascendant, O’Reilly’s place at the jewelry-making high table is, however, far from a foregone conclusion. The son of a farmer, Nigel’s journey is, instead, testament to his passion, dedication and unwavering commitment. Jewelry was “always a passion,” O’Reilly enthuses, but his career route was far from conventional. A four-year apprenticeship studying precision engineering and toolmaking, although lacking the creativity that his twenty-something self craved, taught him hand skills, precision work and, crucially, discipline.
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JEWELRY
It was working alongside the renowned craftsman Rudolf Heltzel and, subsequently, with the late master goldsmith and gemstone cutter Erwin Springbrunn (whose clients included Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) that really enabled O’Reilly to refine his craft. He developed his own style and honed his vision, ultimately building the confidence to strike out on his own with his eponymous jewelry business. O’Reilly cites the beauty of the landscape in his native west Ireland as one of his most fertile sources of design inspiration; but, one senses that it’s the stones that really spark his creativity and vision. “Stones are collectible pieces of art in themselves,” he says. “When you are gifted something as rare as a gemstone, it is my duty to realize its beauty.” A quick tour of O’Reilly’s atelier, which adjoins his workshop, would leave even the most critical connoisseur in little doubt that this is a craftsman at the very top of his game. The designs on display—which range from men’s rings and cufflinks to ladies’ rings to pendants, necklaces and earrings — are delightfully diverse aesthetically. But, in keeping with their creator’s signature style, each is crafted to technical perfection. His creations are for those coveting a unique, ornate piece of finery that is likely to increase in value over the years while providing endless pleasure. O’Reilly’s pearl ring, Seed takes Flight, is almost ethereal in its beauty. Boasting 931 diamonds, sapphires, rubies and tsavorite garnets in 18kt rose gold, the design was inspired by plants and, specifically per O’Reilly, “how they open, expose their hidden beauty and true potential, and then their seeds fly away.” Another signature ring, Labyrinth, reveals a distinctive architectural shape that incorporates a large green tourmaline with diamonds concealed discreetly under the stone. It’s classic O’Reilly: beautiful, brilliant, beguiling. “What I wanted to do is create a hidden depth underneath the stone,” he explains. “It’s something that I like to incorporate with all of my pieces, so that every time you look, you’ll see something different in the design.” The Nigel O’Reilly atelier is not the place for those counting pennies. Signature rings and wedding bands start from $10,000, while commissions can command significantly higher prices, depending on the design. But for those with the desire for and an appreciation of the highest level of craf tsmanship, an introduction to his designs is likely to lead to a long-term relationship. EQ.
A QUICK TOUR Left (Top & Bottom): Seed Takes Flight Top Right: Labyrinth Bottom Right: Dante’s Zircon
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made in new york
www.r ivaynyc.com
FASHION
FASHION AND LUXURY COLLECTORS W H AT D O YO U N E E D N E X T ? W R I T T EN BY
KR IS TOPHE R FR A S E R
Curating your wardrobe and collection of luxury items is no easy feat. For those truly devoted to fashion and their collection of luxury items, whether it ranges from designer sneakers to collector’s item luxury pens, it’s an art as delicate as museum creation. With every season, brands also create something new for you to aspire to and obtain. So what’s on the must-have list for fashion and luxury artisans? 5. 5. MAUI JIM TREBLE POLARIZED CLASSIC SUNGLASSES
1. BAR ACUTA G10 AUTHENTIC FIT TECH SHETLAND COAT
The Baracuta G10 is considered one of the best examples of British design tradition and is a very soft wear. ($899, baracuta.com/en).
Maui Jim’s limitededition Treble frame commemorates Manchester United’s Treble win in 1999, featuring the Manchester United crest emblazoned on the right temple. ($399.99,
1.
mauijim.com).
6.
2. TRIPLE RRR VELVET ROBE
6. MIANSAI SCREW CUFF, 14K GOLD
Like all Miansai solid gold items, this one is made to order, and is available for monogram personalization.
Robert Cavalli, scion of the Cavalli fashion family, has started his own collection. His dressing robes have proven popular among celebrities from Jordan Barrett to Naomi Campbell.
($6500, miansai.com).
7.
7. GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI URCHIN HI-TOP SNEAKERS
($1679, luisaviaroma.com).
3. COCKPIT “MOVIE HEROES” TOP GUN NAV Y G-1 JACKET
Originally designed in 1985 for the Blockbuster hit Top Gun, this vintage flight jacket is now a major fashion statement. ($900,
Giuseppe Zanotti’s Urchin collection has a neofuturistic feel for those who don’t want to be conformist and predictable. ($1095,
3. 2.
giuseppezanotti.com)
8.
cockpitusa.com).
4. BALLY CHAMPION CALF LEATHER SNEAKER IN YELLOW FLUORO
8. MONTBLANC WRITERS EDITION HOMAGE TO RUDYARD KIPLING LIMITED EDITION FOUNTAIN PEN
The Writers Edition pen from Montblanc is inspired by Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”, with the cap even engraved with Kipling’s handwritten initials. ($1040,
This sneaker in soft black nubuck leather and neon yellow is a replica of the original tennis sneaker named for Swiss tennis star Jakob Hlasek. ($495, bally.com).
Montblanc boutiques and montblanc.com).
4.
9. 3.1 PHILLIP LIM 31 HOUR BAG 9.
The Phillip Lim 31 Hour Bag is the brand’s most popular style and is deceptively simple for a man who likes to keep it classic. ($995, 31philliplim.com).
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FASHION
16. Y-3 TANGUTSU FOOTBALL 10. PAUL SMITH THE KENSINGTON MEN’S SLIM-FIT BLUE WOOL SUIT
No sneaker collection is complete without a Y-3 sneaker, especially one with Yohji Yamamoto’s signature on the sole. ($300, y-3.com and
16.
10.
Y-3 boutiques)
This bright blue suit is part of Paul Smith’s “A Suit to Travel In” collection and is perfect for the businessman who is always on the go.
17. GUCCI GRIP TIMEPIECES
Gucci’s new watch line in inspired by skaters of the late 1970s but is fit for the men of the C-Suite. ($1550 to
17.
($1560, Paul Smith boutiques and paulsmith.com)
$2050, Gucci stores and gucci.com)
11. VANS X ALY X
Alyx is a New York-based high-low street brand that has collaborated with Vans featuring silhouettes that haven’t been used in two decades. (Price upon request,
18. PHILIPP PLEIN SCARFACE LEATHER BOMBER
11.
An homage to the Oscar winning film Scarface, Philipp Plein has put the cinematic gangster on a runway collection bomber.
available at select Vault Dealers)
12. BALENCIAGA EIFFEL TOWER PYJAMA JACKET This
($3150, plein.com)
12.
19. PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND ARGYLE SOCKS IN MULTIOR ANGE
jacket pays homage to Balenciaga’s Parisian roots with a pattern of the city’s most iconic landmark. ($2600,
Pringle of Scotland has borrowed this color combination from their eighties archives for a classic take on an everyday item.
Nordstrom.com)
13. TODD SNYDER SNYDER’S SCARF
These scarves were originally designed just for Todd Snyder’s runway show, but a few of these vintage pieces have been produced. ($138,
($24.00, pringlescotland.com)
18.
19.
toddsnyder.com)
14. BOSS CASHMERE SWEATER WITH BLOCK-STRIPE INTARSIA
A luxurious sweater from Hugo Boss that’s part of the brand’s incredibly luxurious runway collection. ($1795,
20.
20. VERSACE RESIN MEDUSA LEATHER CHAIN BR ACELET
Versace’s accessories have become a luxury staple as people continue loving the medusa head trademark. ($695, Versace boutiques and Versace.com)
21. SAINT LAURENT STRIPED MINK VARSITY JACKET
13. 14.
Relive your varsity sports team days, except do it better in a mink jacket from Saint Laurent. ($21,000,
hugoboss.com)
15. ZEGNA MY CLAUDIO SNEAKER
Saint Laurent boutiques, ysl.com/us)
As part of an exclusive launch at the Ermenegildo Zegna XXX spring/summer 20 fashion show, Zegna unveiled “My Claudio”, its fully personalized sneaker.
21.
($795–$995, zegna.com)
22. DAVID YURMAN FORGED CARBON STUD SET IN 18K GOLD
David Yurman’s Forged Carbon Collection is stateof-the-art and made from an innovative material used in sports cars, golf clubs, and speedboats. ($1495,
15.
davidyurman.com)
22.
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277.9 COVER STORY
W H AT H A S D R I V E N KO E N I G S EG G ’ S
N E E D FO R S P E E D
W R I T T EN BY
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P H OTO G R A P H Y BY
DAN WAG NER
MPH COVER STORY
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COVER STORY
ince he was five years old, Christian von Koenigsegg had wanted to create the world’s fastest car. His vision was inspired by a Norwegian movie about a bicycle repairman who, with the help of his friends, built an incredible racing machine that was able to topple even the most established brands. Now, aged 47, and with a number of world records behind him—including that most desired of titles, the world’s fastest production car—the questions Koenigsegg asks himself on a daily basis are no longer based on such a solid end point, but are instead about what has now become somewhat of an endless pursuit.
“THIS IS MY BABY. I LOVE TO STAY HANDS ON” — C H R I S T I A N VO N KO E N I G S E G G
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“With a mission to create the ultimate performance car, it’s less of an end goal and more of a moving target carved from our common vision for perfection,” he told EQ Magazine. “That said, we will continue to test the limits on speed, acceleration and performance.” Those limits have been severely tested since August 1994, when a 22-year-old Koenigsegg set up Koenigsegg Automotive, a small operation run out of a workshop in the town of Olofström, a coastal town of around 7,000 people in the southeast corner of Sweden. With the goal of creating a luxury sports car, but also facing the realities of living in a country that was coming out of a recession, Koenigsegg studied technical manuscripts and old car magazines to plot how he could build his first budget prototype, the CC. That open-top sportscar allowed Koenigsegg to display his vision and the results of his grassroots operation to the automobile world, allowing racing drivers to test the CC, as well as gathering aesthetic approval by bringing the CC to the likes of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. By 2000, Koenigsegg had its fi rst production prototype, the CC8S, which was displayed at the Paris Motorshow. The company sold six of
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COVER STORY
119 Newlight Lane, Bridgehampton listed by James Peyton of Corcoran.
the high-performance vehicles over the next three years, picking up record after record after record, helping to increase the lowproduction-high-demand vehicles’ profile worldwide. In 2002, it won the World’s Most Powerful Production Engine, for topping out at 488kW (665hp). Two years later, in 2004, the Koenigsegg CCR won the World’s Most Powerful Production Car, which had a total output of 806hp. And then, in 2005, the CCR claimed the title of World’s Fastest Car of Any Kind, when it hit 387.86km/h (241mph). But in hit ting such milestones, speed wasn’t solely the objective. “At Koenigsegg, our focus is on holistic road and track experience,” Koenigsegg explained. There is definitely an objective behind why we do what we do in terms of record breaking. Sure, the power needed to reach a high top speed is important, but it’s total performance and handling that matters the most for us.”
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The Agera RS engine comes with a standard output of 865 kW, there is a 1 MW option available. See comparative stats of the Agera RS and Jesko on page 30.
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COVER STORY
EQ COVER SHOOT
A Hamptons Stunner
“SURE, THE POWER NEEDED TO REACH A HIGH TOP SPEED IS IMPORTANT, BUT IT’S TOTAL PERFORMANCE AND HANDLING THAT MATTERS THE MOST FOR US” — C H R I S T I A N VO N KO E N I G S E G G
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This issue’s cover shoot took place in front of the seven-bedroom, nineand-a-half-bathroom 119 Newlight Lane in Bridgehampton. Currently wrapping up construction, the 8,500 SF home is listed for $8.95 million and features a resort style pool and spa, a pool house and a sunken tennis court. It is the latest project from the team at Perello Design and Build, who in their designs have placed an emphasis on clean lines that run throughout this two-story timber-framed property. James Peyton, the property’s listing agent with the Corcoran Group, said the home is perfect for “the discerning Hamptons buyer who appreciates modern design and sophisticated finishes, yet lives a casual lifestyle centered around entertaining friends and family.” It is the indoor-outdoor lifestyle that Peyton feels the home caters to most, with the outdoor summer kitchen and a dining patio for hosting. A broker for the past five year, Peyton credits his success and valuation skills to 20 years working as an options and ETF market maker. And while stunning properties like 119 Newlight continue to fascinate this broker, the occasional supercar on the driveway can still draw away the gaze of even the most seasoned of listing agents. Peyton adds, “Though there were only two supercars at the shoot, the garage boasts room for one more.” AUTUMN 2019
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STEERING
Rear wheel
AGER A RS
TOP SPEED
277.9 MpH ENGINE
Koenigsegg twin turbo aluminum 5.0L V8, POWER OUTPUT GASOLINE
865 kW (1160 hp) at 7800 rpm, redline at 8250 rpm, 1MW engine option available E85
1195 kW (1600 hp) TORQUE
1000 Nm from 2700 to 6170 rpm
STEERING
Rear wheel TOP SPEED
JESKO
300 MpH ENGINE
Koenigsegg twin turbo aluminum 5.0L V8, POWER OUTPUT GASOLINE
955 kW (1280 hp) at 7800 rpm, redline at 8500 rpm, 1MW engine option available E85
1195 kW (1600 hp) TORQUE
1000 Nm from 2700 to 6170 rpm
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This approach to the all-around driving experience has taken us to what Koenigsegg has today: the two vehicles featured on the cover of this magazine, the Agera RS and the Jesko. The Agera RS, with its top speed of 278mph, is the current record holder for the fastest production car in the world. The Jesko, named after Christian’s father, whom he credits with helping support the company financially and with his business acumen, will be the company’s largest run of production cars, released in 2020. Koenigsegg has claimed the Jesko could break the 300 mph barrier. And, despite being priced at a whopping $2.8 million, every vehicle has already been sold. “The Koenigsegg owner is a sophisticated enthusiast who already maintains an impressive collection of exotic cars,” said Paul Dumont, general manager of Manhattan Motorcars, which has dealt with 10 Koenigseggs in the U.S. over the past five years. “We see a common thread of self-made entrepreneurs, which speaks to the appeal of the technologically innovative hypercar they have purchased.” Koenigsegg, now worth an estimated $100 million, has never abandoned that entrepreneurial spirit, and he still demands his staff focus on even the most minute of details–just like he did building the CC 25 years ago. This approach sees craftsmen at the company’s Ängelholm factory spend upwards of three weeks polishing just a suspension component. For the environmentally conscious buyer, the company also has plans to build a CO2-neutral supercar and is also producing the Regera, Koenigsegg’s take on a new breed of hybrid, capable of running on E85 bioethanol. “The company is growing alongside our scale of production and it is exciting to see what the future holds for us,” Koenigsegg said. Asked whether so many developments on both the business and engineering side of things make it difficult to still channel the tinkering spirit of that 22-year-old who was determined to build his dream car on a tight budget, he said: “This is my baby. I love to stay hands-on.” EQ.
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PURE WHEELS
T H E G R OW I N G F I E L D O F E L E C T R I C M OTO R C YC L E S
W R I T T EN BY
J US TIN M A S TINE-FROS T
HARLEY
Price: $29,799 Power: 105 Hp Torque: 86 ft-lbs 0–60: 3.0s Weight: 549 lbs
ENERGICA
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Surprisingly, Harley Davidson is set to be one of the earliest arrivals in electric motorcycles from the industry’s legacy brands. The LiveWire is set to be an absolute monster. It has a 145-mile city/95-mile highway range, as well as a host of active traction and safety systems and seven selectable ride modes. With Harley’s sales numbers slipping, the brand needs to pivot, and many are hoping the LiveWire will gain the brand attention from a new riding audience. This will certainly be a challenge as Harleys have long been associated with that vision of long-distance rides exploring the countryside. Given its range limitations the LiveWire falls very flat in that respect. That said, those looking for an electric motorcyle for a more urban use without turning to a niche brand will no doubt be satisfied.
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EGO
ENERGICA
HARLEY DAVIDSON
Price: $22,565 Power: 145 Hp Torque: 148 Ft-lbs O–60: 3.0s Weight: Unlisted (over 500 lbs)
The Energic a Ego arrived as the world’s first Italian street legal electric motorcycle, and in its design you can certainly see the design influence from other Italian exotics. With this bike, performance is key, and though it’s rather heavy, the high spec bike delivers performance similar to rangetopping bikes like the Kawasaki ZX14R; its top speed is north of 150 mph. You’re trading range for performance here—the Ego will do about 100 miles when ridden “normally,” but getting aggressive will trim that number drastically.
E
WHEELS
lectrification is far from new in the world of transportation, but the world of motorcycles has been slow on the uptake. Achieving reasonable range with such limited space for battery storage is the key challenge, and the tech is finally up to speed. There have been some low volume startup manufacturers dabbling in the space for a good number of years, but just recently some much bigger players entered the ring. Unlike the little obnoxious “e-bikes” out there, these are proper motorcycles with electric propulsion, delivering gobs of power that rival some of the bigger 1,000cc models. For the sake of this article we are going to be looking at three bikes that are currently in production, or that are officially heading towards production. BMW (t he sex iest of
the pack), Ducati, Honda, Triumph and others all have concepts on display and/or projects in the works, but in the meantime, check these out.
ZERO MOTORCYCLES
IMAGERY COURTESY OF HARLEY DAVIDSON, ENERGICA, BMW AND ZERIO MOTORCYCLE
POWER SR/F
BMW ’s Vision DC Roadster concept
ZERO
Price: $18,995 Power: 110 Hp Torque: 140 ft-lbs 0–60: 1.6s (per independent industry testing) Weight: 485lbs
The ones to beat in the category, Zero Motorcycles has been around for over decade, and they aren’t pulling any punches. Year after year, we see increases to range and performance, as well as sharp drops in necessary charging time. The line includes three core designs—the street/naked S, the dual sport/adventure D and the dirt/supermoto F models—with a handful of performance levels within each model line. The SR/F is the brand’s new benchmark, and it’s a damned quick one. Its top speed is rated at 124mph, and it boasts an impressive range of 200 miles with the upgraded Power Tank option, and 161 miles for city riding.
Two additional items make the SR/F (and Zero Motorcycles) stand out. First, the number of settings and features that can be app controlled is shocking. Rather than simply alternating through ride modes, Zero allows the creation of your own presets. Torque output, regenerative braking, top speed and other features can be tailored on a fluid scale to give you the exact ride you’re after. Second, Zero is backing its bikes with a two-year warranty and its power packs with a five-year unlimited mileage warranty. It’s impressive to see new tech being offered with this kind of support.
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ELECTRIC CAR WARS
T HE N E W POR S CHE TAYCA N
S E T S T H E B EN C H M A R K F O R T H E S P O R T S S EC TO R W R I T T EN BY
LE E S IB LE Y P ORSCHE
I M AG ERY CO U R T E S Y O F
M
ove over, Tesla. The battle for electric car supremacy just got serious. Porsche, the luxury sports car company with 191 dealerships all over the U.S., has unveiled its own electric sports car—and first impressions are sensational. It’s been four long years since Porsche promised us it was going to build a fully electric sports car with the four doors on its ‘Mission E’ prototype clearly taking aim at Elon Musk’s Tesla enterprise. A six-billion Euro investment in e-mobility soon followed, creating a bespoke production line at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and a global charging infrastructure, all while ramping up testing and development of ‘Mission E.’ That working title soon gave way to a production name of Taycan, which roughly translates to “soul of a spirited young horse” in Turkic. Appealing to the language spoken by Far Eastern markets was an entirely deliberate move, the area having overtaken the U.S. in recent years as Porsche’s most important market commercially. It looks to have worked. Porsche says it already has more than 30,000 orders in place for the Taycan. That translates to an 18-month waiting list if you want one, considering Porsche can only build 20,000 per year. Porsche has unveiled two models under the Taycan moniker thus far: the Turbo and Turbo S. These are somewhat ironic names given the fact not a single turbocharger or even engine is to be found anywhere on the car. Instead, the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S are powered by two electric drive Continued on Page 36
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The Taycan features an additional screen in place of a traditional gear shifter in the center console.
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CATEGORY WHEELS
PRICE $150,900+
motors—one on each axle—with power fed to all four wheels via an innovative two-speed transmission. First gear provides more acceleration from a standing start, with the much longer second gear intended for efficiency at higher speeds. The result is a range of 279 miles for the Turbo, while the Turbo S can last up to 257 miles between charges. In terms of performance, the Taycan produces 500 kW (680 PS) in standard Turbo trim, and 560 kW (761 PS) in Turbo S guise. 0-62mph sprint times are 3.2-seconds for the Turbo, and 2.8-seconds for the Turbo S, while both cars have an outright top speed of 161mph. Naturally, these will be compared somewhat unfavorably with the stats of Tesla’s top-of-therange Model S; though before you pass judgement, it’s worth noting this electric Porsche has far greater consistency to its performance. For example, the Taycan Turbo S will happily execute its 2.8-second Launch Control time to 62mph relentlessly, time after time. Keep doing it and Porsche promises you will tire before the car does. The battery in Tesla’s Model S, on the other hand, has to be conditioned to allow for even one perfect launch control in its own Ludicrous Mode. Then there’s charging. The Taycan is the first production vehicle with a system voltage of 800 volts instead of the usual 400 volts for electric cars. This holds a distinct practical advantage: in just over five minutes, the battery can be recharged using Porsche’s high-power DC charging network for a range of up to 62 miles. The charging time from five to 80 percent battery charge is just 22.5 minutes. It’s typical Porsche in that the company might not be the first to an
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SPEED 161 mph
ACCELERATION 0–60 in 3s
HORSEPOWER 670
emerging market but, as proven with its Cayenne SUV, Panamera luxury sedan and now the Taycan electric sports car, you can guarantee when it does arrive it’ll set the benchmark for the sector. So what of the Taycan’s driving impressions? Naturally, we’re entering a whole new world of the automobile here, evident from the moment you step foot inside its cabin. Its makeup is broadly similar to the latest generation of 911, albeit with an additional screen in place of a traditional gear shifter in the center console. Above it sits a larger, 10.9-inch infotainment screen, with another screen stationed directly ahead of the passenger as an optional extra. Switches and buttons have been all but wiped out in favor of screens or high-quality touch pads, and the cluster of driver dials stationed behind the wheel are now fully digitized. You can go completely leather-free, too, should sustainability be high on your agenda. On the road, the Taycan Turbo S is quick to shun its grand tourer title as it flexes it sports car credentials, most evident in the execution of fast directional changes and instant acceleration. Traction, too, is excellent. Its on-board torque vectoring and electronic limited slip differential (LSD) systems can react around 20 times faster than even the company’s flagship 911. L au nch Cont r ol is r apid , out r a geous a nd impressively consistent, and though the car could continue, we give up after 15 attempts. Porsche was right. Our heads in a spin, the Taycan is clearly a game changer—not just for Porsche, but for the entire spectrum of the electric sports car as we know it. EQ.
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VERSATILITY QUOTIENT AT VQ YACHTS CUSTOMIZATION IS KING
W R I T T EN BY
Designed in partnership with Guido de Groot, no two VQ58s are likely to be the same.
J OHN PHE A SANT
R
esponding to consumer demand for a larger powerboat, the first designs for an all-aluminium model were unveiled only a year ago by VQ Yachts, and they instantly struck a chord with the kind of demanding individuals who lust for the brand’s unique looks and tailored flexibility. The first models of VQ Yachts’ VQ58 were delivered this summer to delighted owners in the U.S. and the Baltic region, with more on their way for soon-to-be clients looking to join the ranks of the VQ58 Revolution.
The diversity of the locations in the U.S., Baltic and Mediterranean for which the first four VQ58s have been ordered reflect the attractions of a power machine available in four equally diverse versions: an open version, wheelhouse, T-top and fully enclosed hard-top. Designed in partnership with Guido de Groot, the VQ58 offers a remarkable number of variations in terms of layout, superstrucHard-tops are available in dark blue or light blue with a Hermes Brown orange ture, propulsion and more, meaning that no upholster y or an almost white color scheme. two VQ58s are likely to be the same. According to de Groot, “Clients have always been in the driver’s seat,” and when VQ initially tried to design a model with a stated intention, the clients would “change that purpose and we’d end up designing a different boat altogether.” The first two deliveries were fully enclosed hard-tops that presented very different color schemes: Gulf Racing light blue with Hermes Brown orange upholstery and Dark Blue with an almost white upholstery.
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IMAGES COURTESY OF VQ YACHTS
YACHTING
YACHTING
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Leveraging its proven experience with power-packed hulls, VQ Yachts created a 58-foot masterpiece in aluminum that offers its customers a chance to design the interior layout to their needs based on how they plan to utilize the craft. VQ Yachts is quick to emphasize that customization is king. Owners wishing to take their boat on longer trips can opt for a full-beam master suite, a two-person VIP/guest cabin, two well-equipped bathrooms and a day lounge. Alternatively, they can choose an arrangement that includes three cabins enabling the owner to take more people away on a weekender. A third alternative for the day boater is to transform the interior into a paradise with maximum space to party and lounge around indoors. Whether you’re enjoying the cooler climes of the Baltic, cruising the varied isles and coasts of the Mediterranean with friends or dropping the hammer to jet between parties in Miami and the Bahamas, there is a configuration that’s right for you. Continuing the customization theme, when designing their newest toy, clients can choose to have it come with one or two garages, one located on the stern, the other as a side bay. Having two garages allows for carrying the new VQ11 water scooter ten-
Decks are designed with a range of dining options and lounging space for up to 23 people.
CLIENTS CAN DESIGN THEIR NEWEST TOY FOR A WEEKENDER OR LONGER TRIPS.
der, sea bobs, paddle boards, diving equipment and/or a fleet of other recreational craft. Commenting on how VQ’s clients always keep him on his toes, he says, “It always remains a puzzle to create space for all the items on board and you also have to ensure everything is accessible and easy to get to in and outside the water.”
UNDER THE HOOD
The yacht comes standard with Cummins engines, with the Volvo IPS950 as an option, both come complete with joystick controls. This provides a top speed of around 38 knots. For potential owners looking for extra wind in their face, the Veloce version installs twin MAN V8 1200 hp engines backed up with the latest surface drive propulsion that achieves a speed of 48 to 50 knots.
ALL ON DECK
The VQ58’s designer clearly had entertaining in mind and provided ample open deck spaces with a range of dining options, comfortable seating and lounging space for up to 23, protected by several Bimini systems to provide any desired level of shade. The aft deck has a large alfresco breakfast/ dinner space with a table for eight, a rare offering on a 58foot motor yacht. Further ensuring comfort, the VQ58 joins the other members of the VQ fleet in being among the driest boats on the market thanks to her double spray rail. T he Ne t herl a nd s-ba s e d bu i lder h a s c r e ate d a powerboat with a high degree of sailing comfort, awesome maneuverability, powerful top speeds and distinctive design, placing the VQ58 in a league of her own if set against others of her size. EQ.
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YACHTING
WISH YOU WERE HERE EQ’S SELECTION OF THE HOTTEST VESSELS NOT IN HUDSON YARDS
Liara Le n g t h
34.14m S h i py a r d
Baltic Yachts E x te r i o r/ I n te r i o r D e s i g n
Malcolm McKeon; Adam Lay Studio A genuine multi-role superyacht for global cruising and racing outfitted with the comforts of home.
PHOTO CREDIT: JOSH CZACHUR
M/Y Metis Le n g t h
63m
S h i py a r d
Benetti
E x te r i o r D e s i g n
Giorgio Cassetta I n te r i o r D e s i g n
MONACO YACHT SHOW 38
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PHOTO CREDIT: JEFF BROWN
Bannenberg & Rowell Design with Birgit Otte Interior Custom yacht with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, laid out over 5 decks, with an abundance of artfully designed finishes.
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YACHTING
Tis Le n g t h
111m
S h i py a r d
Lürssen Yachts E x te r i o r/ I n te r i o r D e s i g n
Winch Design Precisely proportioned yacht with sweeping curves, giving a grand and graceful presentation augmented by large interior volumes, designed to be both spacious and intimate. PHOTOS: KLAUS JORDAN
PHOTO CREDIT: JEFF BROWN
MONACO YACHT SHOW FORT LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW
Madsummer Le n g t h
95m
S h i py a r d
Lürssen Yachts E x te r i o r D e s i g n
Harrison Eidsgaard I n te r i o r D e s i g n
PHOTO CREDIT: GIORGIO BARONI
Studio Laura Sessa A steel-hulled yacht with exquisite exterior lines and ‘contemporary modern’ interiors.
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DEVELOPMENT
ARTISTRY RESIDES AT DHA CAPITAL’S 75 KENMARE STREET W R I T T EN BY
J E FFR E Y S TE E LE ANDR E KIKOS KI ARCHITEC TU R E
I M AG ERY CO U R T E S Y O F
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DEVELOPMENT
HA Capital entrusted the architectural design to AIA Institute Award-winning Andre Kikoski Architecture, the firm setting the tone for Nolita’s future. Kikoski conceived a contemporary building with a highly articulated cast concrete facade, blackened steel and accented by chamfered bronze window frames and architectural fans that stress shade and shadow. It’s a stunning architectural achievement that will change with the seasons, remain fresh and modern and resonate with the surrounding historic masonry facades of SoHo and Nolita. ARCHITECTUR AL ACHIEVEMENT 75 Kenmare makes a bold statement without overpowering surrounding historic masonr y facades.
ADDRESS CROSS STREETS NEIGHBORHOOD SITE AREA STORIES GBA UNITS UNIT BREAKDOWN
PARKING AMENITIES
75 KENMARE STREET KENMARE & MULBERRY NOLITA 11,362 SF 7 STORIES 82,795 SF 38 RESIDENTIAL UNITS 19 1-BEDROOM UNITS 14 2-BEDROOM UNITS 4 3-BEDROOM UNITS 1 4-BEDROOM PENTHOUSE 165 AUTOMATED SPACES 24-HOUR CONCIERGE FITNESS CENTER ROOFTOP TERRACE PRIVATE COURTYARD
The exterior artistry of 75 Kenmare is complemented by the interior design of music icon Lenny Kravitz’s own Kravitz Design, which sought from the start to create a luxurious, layered, warm and inviting living space invested with refined elegance. That aesthetic is expressed through a range of sophisticated finishes from textured metal to natural stone and rich oak. Residences feature one to four bedrooms, 7-by7-1/2-foot custom designed casement windows and white oak floors. The gourmet kitchens boast five-burner Gaggenau cooktops, Bosch dishwashers and Gaggenau refrigerators and freezers with integrated oak wood panels. Select residences even feature private terraces. Penthouse terraces offer integrated grilling stations from Wolf Outdoor Kitchens, undercounter refrigerators and icemakers. Amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness studio and Future Green Studio-designed landscaped courtyard and rooftop terrace.
NONPAREIL NEIGHBORHOOD
Believing Nolita did not offer enough entry-level apartments, DHA Capital desired a mix of residences from small to large. According to Dan Hollander, managing principal of the New York City-based fi rm, “One- and two-bedroom units have been strong sellers.” Expanding on the buyer base, Hollander added, “we have a range of buyers, from foreign [purchasers seeking a] pied-a-terre to New York City locals who love the area. Nolita is home to many unique restaurants that provide a special character to the neighborhood. Residents have their pick of a variety of local outposts: Cafe Gitane, Rubirosa, and La Esquina.” When acquiring the site, DHA Capital noted a number of upsides including an adjacent city park with protected views and lush green space, proximity to shopping, dining and transit, and a limited supply of condominiums. The pluses more than compensated for the construction challenges the site would present such as the difficulties of building next to a city park and forging an underground space for parking next to an active New York City subway tunnel.
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DEVELOPMENT
LUXE LIVING 75 Kenmare boasts state-of-the-art parking, landscaped open spaces, gourmet kitchens, a stunning lobby and sophisticated interiors designed by Lenny Kravitz.
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LIGHT AND AIR
One of 75 Kenmare’s most attractive features results from the building’s distinctive seven-sided design. “It’s all about light and air,” says Kikoski. The large secondstory courtyard and huge casement windows also ensure abundant light in ever y home. The architect adds that the expansive oversized windows framed by blackened metal and lustrous bronze are perfectly proportioned to the building, inviting light to penetrate into every interior corner. An ornamental mullion runs across the frame. “It dances within with its own kind of rhythm and creates a building that bet ween the pat terning, texturing and movement, replicates music,” Kikoski says. “It’s super cool to have the opportunity to do that.” The fenestration is balanced and modulated by the masonry exterior. “I believe the best residential buildings in New York City are masonry,” Kikoski asserts. “Glass buildings don’t belong in a rich, historic and beautiful neighborhood like this. In Nolita, it’s all about textures, shadows and shapes. We wanted a building that participated in the conversation—but to do it in a super fresh way.”
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Finely scaled vertical flutes that rise the facade’s entire elevation allowed the designer to tint and shape the concrete and provide a patina. “At every moment of the day, and every moment of natural light, the facade responds with depth and shadow,” Kikoski says. “It’s all about the craftsmanship of the beautiful wooden form work into which the concrete is poured. It’s made by master craftsmen.” Kikoski continues, “Concrete is typically such a banal and uninteresting material. But not here, because we’re using procedures and processes that are all about the human hand. The concrete becomes beautiful, crafted and a work of art. The building has a skin that blends into this neighborhood through craftsmanship in a beautiful way.” Kikoski recalls a seminal moment at 75 Kenmare’s birth that set the tone for the project. He spoke with the Chicago-born Hollander about the latter’s love of Frank Lloyd Wright. “It’s unusual to see a New York City developer with that level of sensitivity,” Kikoski remembers. “He asked, ‘What would the legacy of the building feel like in 15 years?’ That thought inspired us to do something meaningful and substantial.” EQ.
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DEVELOPMENT
ABUNDANT LIGHT The building’s distinctive sevensided design and huge casement windows invite light to bathe ever y interior corner.
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Q& A
ARCHITECTURE THAT RESONATES Andre Kikoski
EQ DELVES INTO ANDRE KIKOSKI’S CREATIVE PROCESS
I N T ER V I E W ED BY
DH: You and I got to know each other better through 2 West Water in Sag Harbor. My firm financed the project and you designed it. As you know, the prior developer had failed for years to secure approvals, but your firm made the process look effortless. What’s your secret? AK: We set out to create architecture that deeply resonates with this special village and wanted to make buildings that would truly stand the test of time. So, before we started, we looked at the physical characteristics of the village and took inspiration from its architectural language. By investigating the context, and distilling its essence, we created a design that responds to and amplifies the very core of Sag Harbor. Our process delivered una nimous approval for the project from the Architectural Review Board in just five months—a testament to the careful analysis that we undertook to embrace the language, materiality and spatiality of this context and its community. DH: What other work have you done in the Hamptons? I’ve also heard of your Hamptons Prototype house. Tell me more about it. AK: We designed 97 Mid Ocean Drive, a spectacular 10,000 sq. ft. oceanfront house, to create harmony among house, land and sea. It’s a contemporary design that brings the outdoors in by dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior living spaces with structural sliding glass walls. The massive outdoor deck, poised above the dunes, provides a focal point for casual summer living with a glass-edged pool, trellised kitchen, dining area, seated fi re pit and multiple areas landscaped with native plantings. Notably, our design embraces the most advanced sustainable technologies in climate-conscious building including geothermal ground coupling and a solar
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rooftop panel farm. Even the playfully proportioned facades incorporate hightech glazing to minimize solar heat gain. Our Hamptons Prototype is a 3,000 sq. ft. house that is shockingly affordable to build and offers an effortless indoor/outdoor lifestyle. Inspired by the farm buildings of Long Island’s East End, we developed two different options each featuring an expansive gabled great room, luxurious master suite, three additional bedrooms including a second junior master suite and a fully fi nished basement to create a gracious home that can be tailored to a variety of tastes and different one to two-acre Hamptons building sites. DH: In this issue we’re featuring one of your latest, 75 Kenmare. I think with this project you have demonstrated versatility and creativity, in terms of design language and understanding of materials, and execution in the field. How did you approach this project? AK: We sought to make a striking contemporar y statement to complement Nolita’s rich architectural fabric with a landmark façade that is integrated, layered and offers a cohesive experience of architecture and its context. We studied ways hand-laid brick is used to create detail and expression in historic buildings around Nolita, as well as ways that masonry brings pattern, texture and rhythm to this and fi ve adjacent neighborhoods. The result is an innovative design solution that embraces the historic character of the neighborhood yet feels contemporary. The concrete features three narrow channels at 1-1/2", 2" and 2-1/2" wide, each rising 65 feet above the street. With each channel set in its own plane, and randomly staggered with respect to the other two, the facade offers a contemporary composition of color and patina that is animated by a play of shade and shadow in this
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richly visual and finely tuned work of architecture. Perched at the convergence of SoHo, NoHo, the Lower East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown, our design creates an architectural connection to these five intersecting neighborhoods and a true sense of place in the city. DH: You love travelling, how does it influence your work and what do you bring back to your clients? AK: I find it abundantly inspiring to visit new places and feed my endless curiosity about the world. These sights, sounds, smells and tastes are fundamental to the innovation and fresh perspective we bring to our client collaborations, especially those who are inspired to integrate art and architecture with innovative craftsmanship. One Hudson Yards benefits from the vibrant new sense of design I experienced in Stockholm, whereas my recent trip to Singapore influences how we think about combining buildings with landscape. DH: Given carte blanche, what would your next design project be? AK: We have been so fortunate to design everything from high-rise towers to houses and every aspect of their facades and interiors—including materials, furniture and even wallcoverings and faucets—and have won international awards in every category. Right now, I think it is pressing to tackle projects that more aggressively deal with some of the major problems we face such as climate change. We are starting on a passive house on the remote coast on Maine, and we are excited about that. I’d also love to design a car. DH: Next time, I want to hear more about that. EQ. Please visit www.equicapmag.com/kikoskiinterview for in-depth interview with Andre Kikoski and his work with Hudson Yards.
DEVELOPMENT
FOCAL POINT
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DEVELOPMENT One Thousand Museum is also known as “The Scorpion Building” because of its distinctive exoskeleton design.
HOW ZAHA HADID’S FINAL PROJECT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO LIFE IN MIAMI
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PATR ICK B R ENNAN 1000 MUS EUM
I M AG ERY CO U R T E S Y O F
arely does a single tower transform a cityscape and supercharge the complete vibe of an area but that’s what is happening on Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard where the late Zaha Hadid’s final U.S. residential tower, One Thousand Museum Residences, has become an instant icon.
Developed by Louis Birdman, Gilberto Bomeny, Gregg Covin, Todd Glaser and Kevin Venger and nicknamed “The Scorpion Building” because of its distinctive exoskeleton design, One Thousand Museum soars 62 floors above Museum Park and is attracting buyers from around the world who are seeking a top-of-the-line condominium home with unrivalled amenities at the center of Miami’s fi nancial, business, entertainment and cultural activities. Co-developer Louis Birdman commented, “We are honored to deliver an architectural masterpiece by one of the
world’s leading talents, and in an iconic city like Miami. One Thousand Museum is Zaha Hadid’s embodiment of the Magic City’s bold and vibrant fl air. The building has been extremely well received by not only buyers, but locals and visitors that marvel at the striking exoskeleton amongst the skyline.” One Thousand Museum is represented exclusively by ONE Sotheby’s International Realty which is offering the building’s 84 residences ranging from duplex townhomes, half-floor plans and full floor residences priced from the mid $5MM’s to over $20MM. So what can a prospective buyer expect for their money? Once they have been whisked to their apartments via secure, high-speed elevators, Hadid’s east-west, flow-through floor plans and striking design offer panoramic views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Miami skyline all of which can be enjoyed from the floor-to-ceiling windows or the expansive lounging terraces found in each condo.
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Interiors feature custom Italian kitchens with quartz countertops, topof-the-line appliances from Gaggenau, refrigerators by Sub Zero, custom Italian made walk-in closets and interior doors by Luadi Porte with customized Valli & Valli handles designed by Zaha Hadid herself. Apartments also feature premium European illumination customized by German designer Uli Petzold and state-of-the-art automation infrastructure created by Crestron. The building’s amenities are similarly top notch. Residents enjoy lightfi lled indoor/outdoor pools, and a spa and wellness center that includes a spacious fitness center with the very latest strength and cardio training equipment. A dedicated indoor area for movement training and stretching, Yoga rooms, private rooms for massage and beauty treatments, steam and sauna rooms and relaxation and lounge areas, all overlooking and opening onto the spacious sun and swim terrace. In order to provide residents with a seamless, luxury lifestyle experience, One Thousand Museum is the fi rst residential project to partner with Forbes Travel Guide to train all staff in accordance with their five-star ratings system. If that wasn’t enough, residents have access to a curator of hospitality and even a private rooftop heliport for those wishing to skip traffic to the airport, hop to nearby islands or to their private yachts. Realizing Hadid’s vision for the building presented a series of complex challenges for Plaza Construction, the builders selected for the project, with further layers of complexity added because the components and products were engineered in Dubai and shipped to the site for construction. The process proved to be so difficult that One Thousand Museum has been recognized as one of the world’s most challenging architectural projects to date. In fact, no other building has been built in the U.S. using this process which adds to the mystique of Zaha Hadid’s fi rst and last Miami residential project. EQ.
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ADDRESS NEIGHBORHOOD SITE AREA STORIES TOTAL BLDG SF. UNITS AMENITIES
1000 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD MIAMI 1 ACRE 62 STORIES 950,000 SQ/FT 84 ON-SITE CURATOR OF HOSPITALITY INDOOR/OUTDOOR WELLNESS AND SPA OVER TWO FULL LEVELS PRIVATE ROOFTOP HELIPAD
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ONE THOUSAND MUSEUM IS ZAHA HADID’S EMBODIMENT OF THE MAGIC CITY’S BOLD AND VIBRANT FLAIR. Soaring 62 floors above Museum Park, the luxur y condo’s floor plans emphasize panoramic water and skyline views.
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Sag Harbor
REDUX
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RENDERINGS COURTESY OF BESPOKE REAL ESTATE
J E FFR E Y S TE E LE
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hat makes the quaint and beautiful fishing village of Sag Harbor the center of year-round fun in the Hamptons? Simply put, it’s the lifestyle. With roots planted firmly in the 19th Century, the village invites all who visit to walk its historic streets anywhere they want to go. That walk might transport them to the sparkling Sag Harbor waterfront. Or it could carry them to any one of the growing number of outstanding restaurants in town, from Tutto Il Giorno to Le Bilboquet to such perennial local favorites as The Beacon, Sen Japanese Restaurant and The American Hotel.
JAY BIALSKY’S NEW WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT WILL ACCELERATE THE HAMPTONS’ HOTTEST MARKET
Now Sag Harbor is about to grow even more enchanting. Remaking the waterfront will be a 1.25-acre park on Ferry Road and a newly approved three-townhouse waterfront development on 2 West Water Street, from local developer Jay Bialsky. Two centuries ago, Sag Harbor was a whaling and shipping capital. With the decline of whaling and the 1870 launch of the Long Island Railroad’s Sag Harbor branch, the village evolved into a summer resort town, and later a World War II-era shipyard center. Its industrial past now a distant memory, the village has transitioned into a favored retreat over the past 15 years. Today, it’s the Hamptons’ hottest, strongest real estate market. Recent developments include the 2014 repurposing of a 135-year-old Bulova Watch factory into the Watchcase, a blend of lofts and townhouses. Across town, developers transformed an old motel into Baron’s Cove, a glorious resort epitomizing Sag Harbor’s waterfront revitalization. Of earlier vintage is The American Hotel, converted from boardinghouse and saloon into a Sag Harbor icon 40 years ago.
ARRESTING ARRIVAL
The big news in Sag Harbor these days regards a fresh new waterfront development on waterfront land at 2 West Water. Long a civic embarrassment, the site for years had housed a dilapidated, moldering structure known as the 1-800-LAWYER building. The ramshackle hovel had served as condos, then as a single-family residence. Over time, it had eventually decayed into a vacant blight on the otherwise picturesque shoreline. Two previous developers had attempted to create something new on the parcel but had been met with abject failure. Among reasons for those bungled attempts was the density of proposed developments on the land, the first for 18 residences, the second for 13. Not surprisingly, the number of residences proposed led to sizable resistance from village residents and officials and sent the fledgling efforts to a quick and certain defeat.
ENTER JAY BIALSK Y
As they say, the third time is the charm. Local real estate veteran Jay Bialsky, for 25 years a successful single-family home developer, bought contiguous waterfront lots at 1, 3 and 5 Ferry Road—as well as the parcel at 2 West Water Street—becoming the third developer to attempt a project on the site. What had not been accomplished in 12 years Bialsky managed to pull off in fewer than a 12 month span. Less than a year after taking the reins, Bialsky had won village approval for a new development of three waterfront residences and a half dozen 50', deep water boat slips (two slips per residence).
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“CREATING OPEN SPACE WITH THE PARK AND CLUSTERING THE DEVELOPMENT ON 2 WEST WATER STREET WAS A WIN-WIN FOR BOTH THE VILLAGE AND I” —JAY B I A L S K Y
2 WEST WATER will transform a formerly blighted parcel into a luxur y destination with a host of amenities and amazing views.
ENDLESSLY UNIQUE
As a result of several variances, the four-story homes will feature below-garage parking as well as rooftop pools and outdoor decks on each level. Including both interior and exterior space, the residences will range in size from 11,000 to 16,000 square feet. From their high-end designs to their astonishing features and finishes, the residences are intended to appeal to the discerning tastes of a global elite seeking a “Cote d’Azure of the Hamptons.” The waterfront residences lower density and unique design proved one key to approval. Another key was the agreement Bialsky forged to sell a portion of the parcel to the village of Sag Harbor for a 1.25-acre park. That green oasis will spread across part of the Ferry Road parcels, while the trio of highly distinctive homes will fill the Water Street address. “Creating open space with the park and clustering the development on 2 West Water Street was a win-win for both the village and I,” Bialsky says. The park will face the prominent Sag Harbor Bridge to North Haven and serve as a much-appreciated village recreational resource.
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While Sag Harbor is no stranger to new construction, the village has yet to see anything like the development Bialsky intends to build. “We lived on Mid Ocean Drive. We sold our home on the ocean to move to Sag Harbor with the intention to live in one of these residences. We love the boating lifestyle of Sag Harbor. It’s easy, efficient and fun. Being able to access deep water within two minutes gives us more time for adventure on the water without ever sitting in traffic.” The buyers of the two other homes will be able to totally sidestep any requirement of driving to the water. They’ll be able to board a seaplane on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and glide to a landing 40 minutes later on the Sag Harbor waterfront. “After landing, the owners will be met by their captain and brought directly to their personal dock,” Bialsky said. “The owners will step from their dock into their home and sip a cocktail at their rooftop private pool while admiring the sunset. They’ll have dinner at one of Sag Harbor’s waterfront restaurants. The Beacon Restaurant is just one property away. Over the next two days, the owners will enjoy all the Hamptons has to offer, whether on land or water, and fly back Sunday afternoon without ever having entered a car.” Equicap has been a participant in the project since the initial acquisition of the property in 2005, having arranged acquisition and construction funding for the developers. Terming Bialsky “a perfect fit for this project,” Equicap founder a nd ma naging director Da niel Hilper t sa id shepherding the project has meant overcoming a number of hurdles. “But through the efforts of Jay Bialsky,” he said, “We’re poised to move forward with a waterfront development every bit as gracious as Sag Harbor itself.” According to Bialsky, “Due to the rarity, this is a once-in-alifetime experience. Only two additional families will have the rare opportunity to enjoy this lifestyle.” EQ.
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Reach captivating new heights.
The new Continental GT. Now with a V8 engine. Discover more at Manhattan.Bentleymotors.com or Contact us at 1 212 594 6200 The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2019 Bentley Motors, Inc. Model shown: Continental GT V8.
BENTLEY MANHATTAN
711 11TH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10019
HOSPITALIT Y
PHOTO COURTESY OF BACCARAT HOTEL
THE F PERFECT
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PAIRING CITY LIGHTS, COUNTRY NIGHTS— FROM BACCARAT TO BLANTYRE
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A . J. S IDR ANS K Y
or those who love both the serenity of country life and the indulgence of city living, the Blantyre, a luxury resort in the Berkshires, the Baccarat Hotel in New York City and the Charles Hotel in Boston are offering a joint weekend package including dining and activities.
The Blantyre, a member of Relais & Chateau, is an award-winning Forbes FiveStar resort. Occupying a Tudor-style mansion, it is an elegant destination set amid 110 acres of lush lawns and woodlands in Lenox, Massachusetts. The property was acquired by Robert Paterson in the 1890s and modeled on his mother’s ancestral home in Scotland for which it was named. It is appointed in English manor house style.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDLERAIA.COM
HOSPITALIT Y
“EXPERIENCE A CULTURAL JOURNEY FROM CAMBRIDGE TO THE BERKSHIRES” The Baccarat Hotel in New York City, also a Forbes FiveStar Hotel, is designated as one of the best hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler. Located in the heart of Manhattan, the Baccarat is an oasis of understated opulence. A new concept in the elite hospitality sector, the interiors pay tribute to the refi ned aesthetic of 18th century France while incorporating the feeling of a private and welcoming 21st century home. Designed around the elegance of Baccarat crystal, and other selected bespoke brands, the hotel caters to the highest levels of hospitality. The Charles Hotel in Cambridge, just steps from Harvard Square, provides an environment of tranquility in one of the world’s most competitive academic centers. The hotel embodies modern architectural style and design, while providing a subtle but stunning setting. It is a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts and is an AAAA Four-Diamond award winning hotel. It features classic New England design, unpretentious service, top-level technology and one-of-a-kind accommodations.
THE PACK AGES
The adventure begins with two evenings at Baccarat Hotel New York followed by a private luxury helicopter fl ight and landing at Blantyre Country Manor for a two-night stay. A curated selection of exclusive offerings enhances this transporting experience. Your stay includes two nights in a Grand
Classic King room, personalized premier cocktail experience for two in The Bar, Champagne and Caviar Tea for two, one 90-minute specialty treatment in the Spa de La Mer, breakfast for two both mornings and a welcome amenity. Your stay at Blantyre includes two nights in a Manor House Accommodation, private champagne tasting experience for two in the nation’s only Dom Pérignon Salon, dinner for two in a private dining room, one 80-minute specialty treatment in The Spa at Blantyre, breakfast for two both mornings, and a welcome Amenity. Total cost for the weekend inclusive of all tax and gratuity is $16,500.
TOW N TO COUNTRY
This combined jaunt between two beloved properties is a celebration of culture and adventure. Guests will enjoy sightseeing at world-renowned museums, visiting local attractions and festivals, participating in outdoor recreational activities and sampling the tastes of the season in both popular cultural destinations. The Town to Country Experience includes one night in a deluxe room at the Charles Hotel, dinner for two guests at Henrietta’s Table, two tickets to the Harvard Art Museums including the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum and in-room dining
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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
The Town to Countr y Experience includes one night in a deluxe room at the Charles Hotel in Boston with numerous amenities included.
Matthieu Yamoum, The Man from Champagne PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLES HOTEL
breakfast for two guests. Your stay at the Blantyre includes one night in the Gilded-Age Country Manor, dinner for two guests at The Conservatory, two tickets to the Rockwell Museum, the Clark Art Institute or the Berkshire Botanical Garden and breakfast for two guests. The package is priced starting from $660 at The Charles Hotel and $755 at Blantyre. Selfdrive car hire is available or car transfer service between the properties can also be arranged for an additional fee.
THE DINING EXPERIENCE
All three properties feature world class dining. The Conservatory at the Blantyre showcases the culinary talents of Chef Jeremy Berlin’s exceptional cuisine. At the Charles Hotel, Chef Peter Davis has created an award-winning culinary experience at Henrietta’s Table. At the Baccarat, Chef Gabriel Kreuther, of Gabriel Kreuther restaurant in the Grace Building, will treat you to his Michelin-star cuisine.
THE CHAMPAGNE DIVIDEND
At both the Blantyre and the Baccarat guests have an opportunity to sample some of the finest champagne available today. The Blantyre boasts the Champagne Salon, inspired by Dom Perignon. The Salon serves exclusive specialty vintages including Vintage Trinity, Dom Perignon 2006, P2 Vintage 2000 and Rose 2005. The Baccarat features an extensive cellar of fine vintage and rare champagnes curated by their wine director, Matthieu Yamoum, a native of the champagne region. He will organize tastings and parings as requested. EQ.
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MATTHIEU YAMOUM, WINE DIRECTOR AT THE BACCARAT HOTEL IN NEW YORK, is a man immersed in his own history. Born in Champagne, France, he has been learning about champagne, the grapes that make it and the methods that set it apart, since his teenage years. Basically, this delicate wine runs in his veins. He has curated a collection of over 300 bottles of rare and vintage champagnes at the Baccarat. “Champagne means quality,” says Yamoum. “It is the most complicated wine. There are many variations, many different tweaks, even from bottle to bottle.” In Yamoum’s view, it’s the artisanal nature of the product that makes it so unique. And Baccarat crystal is the perfect vessel from which to drink it. “Food, Champagne, luxury and crystal,” he adds, “is the ultimate artisanal experience.” Yamoum’s most decadent recommendation? “Drink champagne in the morning. Have it with scrambled eggs. There’s nothing better to start the day.”
Modern by Perello Design & Build
Just completed and featured on the cover of EQ; this Bridgehampton modern retreat features 7 bedrooms, 8 full baths, 2 half baths, resort style pool and spa, pool house, finished lower level and sunken tennis court on 1.4 acres over looking Campbell Stables. Combining an authentic timber frame set among modern finishes this house truly is one-of-a-kind. $8.995M WEB# 344316
Grand Estate by Jack Curto Overlooking Long Springs Farm
Set on 2+ acres overlooking 20 acres of LONG SPRING FARM, a spectacular new luxury residence by master builder, Jack Curto, Principle of Curto & Curto Development. Moments to Southampton Village and famed ocean beaches. Surrounded by open fields with sweeping vistas with southwestern exposure and spectacular sunsets. Designed and crafted to perfection with a keen attention to the bespoke millwork and fine detail that Jack is known for. $7.995M WEB# 346422
James K. Peyton Licensed Real Estate Salesperson m 9 17. 8 8 2 . 5 5 8 9 jpey ton@corcoran.com
Real estate agents affiliated with The Corcoran Group are independent contractors and are not employees of The Corcoran Group. Equal Housing Opportunity. The Corcoran Group is a licensed real estate broker located at 2411 Main Street, Bridgehampton, NY 11932. All information furnished regarding property for sale or rent or regarding financing is from sources deemed reliable, but Corcoran makes no warranty or representation as to the accuracy thereof. All property information is presented subject to errors, omissions, price changes, changed property conditions, and withdrawal of the property from the market, without notice. All dimensions provided are approximate. To obtain exact dimensions, Corcoran advises you to hire a qualified architect or engineer.
URBAN PL ANNING
RENDERING COURTESY OF SCOTT BROWNRIGG + CROWN
The AMAZON Effect RETAIL DISRUPTION LEADS TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS FOR NEW YORK
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MICHAEL SANTOR A
EQ.
M AG G IE-LE IG H O’ NE ILL
ince 2015 more than 60 once landmark retail chains have filed for bankruptcy and closed thousands of storefronts. Despite inflation and population growth, department store sales have plunged 36 percent since their peak in 2001. Meanwhile, 2018’s e-commerce retail sales exceeded $120 billion, a record-breaking trend that is expected to continue.
The phenomenon known as the Amazon Effect is loosely defi ned as the ongoing evolution and disruption of the retail market, digitally and tangibly, resulting from the unprecedented shift from shopping on Main Street to the e-commerce marketplace. Low prices, greater variety, fast delivery and the ability to make purchases at anytime from anywhere with an internet connection are the primary reasons shopping habits are changing. Media coverage of these effects focus largely on the decline of brick-and-mortar retail stores and the forced adaptation into experiential shopping of the surviving retailers, but how does the logistics of rapidly growing e-commerce impact the environment and other aspects of our daily lives? Noted as a logistic phenomenon, Amazon’s delivery network can deliver consumer goods to a shopper’s doorstep in days or even hours. Commonly considered a customer satisfaction strategical tact, this convenience service comes with tremendous consequences. An increase in e-commerce activity ultimately results in an increase to the number of commercial vehicles operating daily to meet the demand of higher volume and timely deliveries. According to the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, “In many urban areas, motor vehicles are the single largest contributor to ground-level ozone. Ozone causes public health problems including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and permanent lung damage, and it is a major component of smog. After arriving in the U.S., parcels are transported to distribution centers, primarily by truck and/or tractor trailer. The maximum length a semi-trailer vehicle can be to operate in NYC is 53 feet. In addition to being subjected to unreasonably high peak hour toll fees, truck drivers must also operate within the constraints of several NYC Traffic Rules like delivery windows, limited truck zones and eventually congestion zone fees. According to the NYC Dept. of Transportation, there are only six interstate routes approved for 53-foot tractor trailers,
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one of which is the Cross Bronx Expressway, located on I-95 between the Bronx-Westchester county line and I-295, which is well known as a perpetual traffic jam. In 2016, the Center for Disease Control released data indicating that the South Bronx is one of the two most asthma-ridden neighborhoods in NYC. This public health epidemic is directly linked to the air quality and air pollutants emitted daily in these communities. The expressways (Major Deegan, Cross-Bronx, Sheridan and Bruckner) are some of the most congested in the City and they are all located in the South Bronx. The NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene used methods developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to estimate the impact of air pollution and the results are stifling. The majority of those affected by these air pollutants in NYC are people of color, primarily Black and Hispanic and economically classified as low income. The distribution network for the increased deliveries to a growing population needs to efficiently serve the region’s core and can only be located in northern New Jersey due to proximity, large ground floor space and low land cost requirements. Our interstate vehicular infrastructure currently operates at capacity, so this hike in demand will be perpetually linked to heightened levels of major pollutants. It is our environmental responsibility to bring these issues to light and engage the public and private sectors in solution driven discussions, namely major investments in alternative, greener means of transportation that reach the final destination with efficiency to prepare the region for the future of this paradigm shift. Our underutilized freight rail system is a perfect starting point for a long-term resolution. EQ. Michael Santora is Founder & Principal of Crown Architecture and Consulting, D.P.C which recently partnered with Top 100 Global architecture firm Scott Brownrigg to form SB+C Architecture, D.P.C. Maggie-Leigh O’Neill is Bids Manager at SB+C Architecture, D.P.C.
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ART
KAVI GUPTA, CHICAGO IL
Kavi Gupta is a leading contemporary art gallery based in Chicago. One key differentiator that sets Kavi Gupta’s programming apart is their interest in discovering under-represented and underappreciated artists who are deserving of global attention. Kavi Gupta Editions further realizes the gallery’s mission by producing unique, high-quality artist books and catalogs. Kavi Gupta maintains an international presence by participating in many of the most influential global art fairs each year, including Art Basel Hong Kong, Frieze New York, Frieze London, the New York Armory Fair, Chicago Expo, and of course, Art Basel Miami Beach. Art Basel Miami Booth A16 Image courtesy of AFRICOBRA 50 (installation view), 2018, Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St., Chicago, IL. Photographer: John Lusis.
NOT TO BE MISSED…
EQ’S TOP GALLERY PICKS FOR ART BASEL MIAMI 2019!
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K ATIE HEC TOR
hy do scores of art-goers, industry aficionados, and curious spectators f lock from all over the globe to Miami Beach each December? Aside from the exceptional weather, breathtaking sunsets, and delicious cuisine, Miami is host to one of the most anticipated art events of the year.
Attending Art Basel Miami is a must if you find yourself in town for Art Week. But, with over two-hundred leading contemporary and modern galleries featured under one roof how does one determine what to see first? EQ breaks down our top five picks for this year’s fair.
PACE GALLERY, NYC
Pace is a leading contemporary art gallery representing many of the most significant international artists and estates of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Under the leadership of President and CEO Marc Glimcher, Pace is a vital force within the art world and plays a critical role in shaping the history, creation, and engagement with modern and contemporary art. Since its founding by Arne Glimcher in 1960, Pace has developed a distinguished legacy for vibrant and dedicated relationships with renowned artists. As the gallery approaches the start of its seventh decade, Pace’s mission continues to be inspired by its drive to support the world’s most influential and innovative artists and to share their visionary work with people around the world.
Installation view of Pace at Art Basel Miami Beach, Booth D8 Miami Beach Convention Center December 6–9, 2018 Photography courtesy Pace Gallery
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Pace advances this mission through its dynamic global program, comprising ambitious exhibitions, artist projects, public installations, institutional collaborations, and curatorial research and writing. Today, Pace has seven locations worldwide: two galleries in New York, including its newly opened global headquarters at 540 West 25th Street; one in London; one in Geneva; one in Palo Alto, California; one in Hong Kong; and one in Seoul. Art Basel Miami Booth D8
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ART
CASEY KAPLAN, NYC
In March of 2020, the gallery will celebrate 25 years of operation. To commemorate this important anniversary, Casey Kaplan will open an exhibition with renowned contemporary artist Liam Gillick, who has exhibited with the gallery for over 20 years. Gillick’s work has been included in numerous major international exhibitions including Documenta and the Venice, Berlin and Istanbul Biennales — representing Germany in 2009 in Venice. Solo museum exhibitions have taken place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London. For Art Basel Miami 2019, the gallery is presenting new works by many of the gallery artists, highlighting the breadth and rigor of the overall program, as it has evolved over these past 25 years. Select artists on view at the fair will include Kevin Beasley, Matthew Brannon, Sarah Crowner, Hugh Scott-Douglas, N. Dash, Judith Eisler, Liam Gillick, Jonathan Monk, and Matthew Ronay, among others. The booth will also include new work by Hannah Levy, the most recent addition to the gallery’s roster. Art Basel Miami Booth C27
Matthew Ronay Flexed Poised Breached Swollen, 2018 Basswood, dye, gouache, plastic, steel, cotton 26.5 x 19.5 x 24.25”/ 67.31 x 49.53 x 61.59cm MR2018-024 Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York Photo: Jason Wyche
GAGOSIAN, INTERNATIONAL
Art Basel Miami Beach, Installation View, 2018 Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano. Courtesy Gagosian.
Expanding from a single eponymous gallery established in Los Angeles in 1980, Gagosian has grown to seventeen locations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. From the beginning, Gagosian has distinguished itself by presenting unparalleled museum-quality exhibitions of works by historical artists such as Arakawa, Richard Artschwager, Francis Bacon, Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning, Walter De Maria, Lucio Fontana, Helen Frankenthaler, Alberto Giacometti, Howard Hodgkin, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Piero Manzoni, Claude Monet, Henry Moore, Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and Zao Wou-Ki, among many others. Art Basel Miami Booth D7
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LÉVY GORVY, NYC
Lévy Gorvy cultivates a program devoted to innovation and connoisseurship in the fields of modern, postwar, and contemporary art. Founded by Dominique Lévy and Brett Gorvy, Lévy Gorvy maintains gallery spaces at 909 Madison Avenue in New York, in Mayfair, London, and in Central, Hong Kong. Art Basel Miami Booth E6
©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.CourtesyLévyGorvy. ANDY WARHOLBlondie1981Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas42 x 42 inches (106.68 x 106.68 cm)©2019 The Andy WarholFoundation for the VisualArts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists RightsSociety (ARS), New YorkPrivate Collection
CANADA, NYC
Canada was opened on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 2000 by a small group of artists committed to promoting the work of both emerging and (mostly overlooked) established artists. As an artist-run cooperative, Canada remains unconventional in its structure and divergent in its programming. In September, the gallery opened a new space in Tribeca.
Xylor Jane, LoveLetter, 2019, oil on panel, 20 × 16 inches (50.80 × 40.64 cm)
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For Art Basel 2019, Canada will present works by gallery artists including Matt Connors, Jason Fox, Xylor Jane, and Joanna Malinowska. Art Basel Miami Booth B14
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ART BASEL AT A GLANCE Founded in 1970 in Switzerland by Ernst Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner, and Balz Hilt, Art Basel originated as a means for galleries and industry professionals to combine resources and increase visibility and collectors bases. In 2002 Art Basel expanded its reach to the United States establishing a presence at Miami’s Art Week with Art Basel Miami. This year, Art Basel Miami will present 267 leading international galleries from 32 countries and will display artworks by over 4,000 artists including paintings, sculptures, installations, photography and fi lm, video and digital art. Over its fi ve days, Art Basel Miami is expected to attract over 80,000 visitors who will be able to view works ranging from editioned pieces by young artists to museum-caliber masterpieces. Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Upcoming Auctions London Jewels December 4, 2019
New York Jewels December 8, 2019
Knightsbridge Jewels December 11, 2019
California Jewels December 12, 2019
California Jewels February 4, 2020 INQURIES +1 (212) 461 6526 jewelry.us@bonhams.com bonhams.com/jewelry A PAIR OF FANCY COLORED DIAMOND AND DIAMOND EARRINGS $850,000 - 1,250,000 To be offered in New York Jewels December 8, 2019
© 2019 Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Principal Auctioneer: Matthew Girling, NYC License No. 1236798-DCA
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Artists To Watch
I
n an industry that embraces both rising stars and late bloomers, there remains no standard age, method, or trajectory for a visual artist to realize their life’s work. Sustaining a career in the arts is often a long and fluid journey spanning decades. Additionally, with thousands of up and coming artists jumping into the fray each year, it’s nothing short of a feat for an artist to distinguish their voice amongst the
crowd. EQ sits down with several artists who have pursued their visions and have achieved national and international recognition from institutions, the global art community, and commercial galleries. What allowed these individuals to rise to the top? In Artists To Watch, we take a peek into the minds of four trailblazing artists who will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on the world of contemporary art.
SABLE ELYSE SMITH
Image courtesy of the artist. Sable Elyse Smith in her studio
I N T ER V I E W ED BY
K ATIE HEC TOR
If you haven’t heard the name, Sable Elyse Smith,
you soon will. Her career is assuredly on the rise after an extraordinary breakout year which landed her work in institutions and galleries such as MoMa Ps1, New Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, JTT, Rachel Uffner Gallery, and Recess Assembly, New York, just to list a few. Smith is an interdisciplinary visual artist and writer whose work addresses topics such as memory, violence, and the politics of navigating the day-to-day. Through objects, images, and audio sourced from state-sanctioned spaces and popular culture, Smith’s large-scale sculptures, videos, photographs, and text-based pieces focus upon unseen political power structures and their influence throughout an individual’s lifetime.
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KH: What led you to pursue a life in the arts; what was your journey like and who were some of your mentors along the way? SES: My earliest memory of creating was actually making music and writing. Writing, of course, was the easiest. All I needed was a pen and not even a notebook just any scrap of paper. Language has always seduced me and any number of words in succession provides a portal for me. It has always given me both travel and escape and maybe more importantly aspiration. Music, of course, does a similar yet different thing at different layers and frequencies. It touches you and you can’t touch it back.
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I don’t know that I was necessarily led to pursue a life in the arts. I think it was just always the language I was most fluent in and reluctantly over a long time I finally accepted that it was ok to focus on. I have to say I haven’t really had any mentors. Maybe early on two professors were extremely influential to me Alan Loehle and a poet Linda Taylor. There have been important people who have impacted me and supported me across my career notably: Naima Keith, Sarah Workneh, And Troy Michie.
ent ways. There is always a great deal of diversity in what my day to day looks like. For this new series of sculptures, I’m working with a fabrication studio in the Midwest. My sweet spot for video editing is probably between 9pm–3am. I have to start my day with a walk to the coffee shop with a book in hand. This is just as necessary a process as anything else and I spend a great deal of time in the studio writing. Most of anything I produce has derived from language somehow.
KH: Walk me through your process. Do you typically plan out your work through renderings, materials tests, or research or in response to specific sites? SES: My process does not move in a straight line. There is ritual in my routine and maybe for the studio but not the practice specifically. I work across many different mediums and in many differ-
KH: What are some challenges you’re currently facing in the studio; with the work, within your practice? SES: Hmm, challenges are an interesting question or subject to think through. What is a challenge or limitation? What are the boundaries that certain restrictions might form and the resulting reality of that? How one contextualizing these
I N T ER V I E W ED BY
RÓ ISÍN N Í M HÓR DHA
TRACY SWEENEY achieved with characteristic energy and enthusiasm for the world around her and the process of creating the work itself.
Tracy Sweeney is a visual
artist based in Straide, near Castlebar, County Mayo, located on the west coast of Ireland. Her unique, visceral and multi-media work is not bound or restricted by frames. Her process and methodology in presentation is through the application of oils, paints and spray to a canvas of wood. The dimensional aspect is revealed through textural layers using carpenters’ tools such as scrapers, chisels, grout and floor brushes. Sweeney is doing one of two things in each work — evoking the sense of an object through colour, texture and contrasts; or directly reflecting a glimpse of reality by recreating it on the picture plane. The idea of recreating either memories or observations is another in a set of dualisms that can be seen to pervade Sweeney’s work — the artist moves between abstract and figurative, colour and monotone, memory and reality. Recording observations of the rawness of the real world and its impact
things for themselves makes all the difference I think. Realistically at the moment, I am running out of space. I’ve been working on a series of large-scale sculptures and more complicated, spatially, video installations, especially over the last two years. With these things, I’m never able to resolve the work 100% in the studio. Some of what I know and learn about the work has to happen in real-time in the exhibition space. That can sometimes be frustrating for a personality like mine. I can plan and plan but sometimes I can’t physically see and be in the presence of all of the components until install. And at that point, if it fails it fails. There’s a little wiggle room but I’m not afforded that prolonged period of troubleshooting or even scrapping an idea altogether. Studio space and I’d say that the resources needed for my fabrication have drastically increased.
“Empire” by Tracy Sweeney Fine Art. Imagery courtest of the artist.
through art, is important to Sweeney. Her ongoing examination of new and unconquered territory is continuously channelled into her practice and is
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RNM: What led you to pursue a life in the arts; what was your journey like and who were your mentors? What were some of your earliest memories of creating? TS: I’m from the rural west of Ireland. My grandmother taught me how to draw and my uncle was a photo-realist painter. As a child I was mesmerized by his work. My enduring memory is the smell of the oils and turpentine he used. He painted in an ancient shed, full of tools and tea chests, but his works were linear, architectural and red; lots of red paint! When I paint, I like to think I’m creating work that makes the viewer hark back to another world, the memory of a scent, a texture, or the “reality” of surface and place. By that I mean that it evokes the sense of an object through color, texture and contrasts; or directly reflects a glimpse of reality by recreating it on the picture-plane. Today, my paint-
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ing heroes are Antoni Tàpies, Hughie O’Donoghue and Charles Tyrell. RNM: Walk me through your process. Do you typically plan out your work through renderings, materials tests or research— or are you more likely to jump right into production? TS: With my style of painting, spontaneity is key, the happy accident is hugely important. I fi nd pleasure in the experimental nature of mixed media combinations and thrive on unfamiliarity when painting. My starting point is a body of photographs I’ve captured of rusted boats, layers of paint, of time, industry and graffiti, or the layers of history on the exterior of an old ruin. The photograph serves to inspire, usually a color, or the initial question of how the surface formed either manually or organically. I abandon paintbrushes and I paint with trowels, scrapers and chisels; builders’ tools. The work is highly physical, ripping into surfaces, pulling back, re-plastering. I build a wall and I tear it down to become an artifact. RNM: Many of your pieces feature hard horizontal lines that split the piece into two sections. Where do they come from? Is there a reason you do this stylistically? What does it allow you to do with your pieces? TS: I started using “the line” in my work quite unintentionally, blocking off areas so that the juxtaposition of a chaotic surface established either a relationship or a tension when butted up to the adjoining surface. I first studied and worked in print, which is two dimensional and then progressed to painting which became more three dimensional for me. My late mentor, South African artist Patrick O’Connor, pointed out to me that Matisse believed that paintings contained screens and windows; the screen being a surface to look upon, the window being a surface to look through. I began to interpret and apply this literally, creating shadows and depth in the window section of my works, creating ambiguity and causing the viewer to question, so that they were never quite sure what they saw through that vista. Opposing that, the screen became a section I could build, something
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solid, tangible, tactile, something the viewers understood. For many of my pieces, a line, or a differentiation becomes apparent and harks to a horizon of sorts, separating the work, creating screens or windows. My new works are playing with abandoning that line and exploring what depth I can build solely through the markings of paint, or the tearing of layers. RNM: Through years of dedication you’ve managed to establish your voice in the art world and realize a creative life for yourself. What advice, if any, would you give your past self, the version of you who was just getting started? TS: I am interested in creating works that suggest materiality and meaning from
“Reef” by Tracy Sweeney Fine Art. Imagery courtesy of the artist.
a free-spirited studio practice — with no preconceived notions of what may happen. But it’s taken maturity to allow myself to ‘let go’. I would tell the younger artist in me to have no fear, let it out and never stop. It’s an energy that continually courses through you. The fear and issues people can have may stop them from cre-
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ating, but for me, the whirlwind of ideas and ‘making’ is integral to my life and my sanity! RNM: What are some challenges you’re currently facing in the studio, with the work, or within your practice? TS: I paint onto wood, to allow myself the ability to scratch back into the surface, to dig and hone the picture-plane. Logistically, the works become more like sculptures than paintings. The physicality involved in this way of working can be tiring and manually exhausting but using a paintbrush would be to my detriment as the style would become too tight and the playfulness would be lost. Creating something monumental is of utmost importance to me, so the weighty-ness of a painting is integral to each in order to extend the feeling of its reality. RNM: What projects are you are currently working on? How has your 2019 been, and what’s next? TS: I am working on a multitude of private and public commissions, for private clients, interior architects and designers in Dublin, Stockholm and London. One of those commissions is a series of pieces for the Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum located in Hamden, CT. I have also been invited to take part in art fairs in Europe and the USA, the details of which are being confirmed in coming months. So far, 2019 has been a whirlwind of art fairs particularly with Saatchi in London (The Other Art Fair), a group show in Philadelphia and a museum commission in Connecticut. Being selected by Saatchi has informed collaborations with interior designers and architects in London, Dubai and the U.S. It’s really exciting for me as there is a growing following for my paintings given my aesthetic is one of strength and masculinity. In fact, most of my collectors are men. The inherent structure in the works along with the physicality of ‘building’ these pieces seems to appeal to a visually strong and bold collector. When people invest in art, it should give them constant stimulation every time they lay eyes on it otherwise it’s not serving its purpose.
ART
JOSEPH KLIBANSKY
Leap of Faith (bronze), 2016 by Joseph Klibansky. Imagery courtesy of the artist.
I N T ER V I E W ED BY
Joseph Klibansky is a contemporary artist
whose work is highly sought after by collectors across the world. He is known for using mixed media to create both utopian and dystopian cityscapes and also for a series of thought provoking pop art inspired bronze cast sculptures that shed light on the burdens of success and wealth. Born in South Africa in 1984, Klibansky is based in the Netherlands where he attended business school before pursuing his passion for art. I recently spoke to him about his art, life and passion for supercars. This is a condensed version of that conversation; to read the complete interview go to www.equicapmag.com/ klibansky-interview PB: I’d like to start with your earlier work, the mixed media paintings of surreal cityscapes where you juxtapose architecture with slices of urban and natural landscapes. Tell me about your concept. JK: The concept was experimentation combining the high pace of modern city life with the slow motion of nature to question what would happen if we just let nature go and grow and take back the city to create a utopian co-existence between nature and city life. I used well-known backdrops—cities such as London, Hong Kong and Paris—because they all have different vibes that I wanted to explore. In the last three years you have been working on a series of Pop Art inspired sculptures including “Reflections of Truth. Tell me more about this striking series.
PATR ICK B R ENNAN
In “Reflections of Truth” I used Pinocchio as a metaphor for modern society and introduced the diamond to represent the craving for success and wealth. In the fi rst piece Pinocchio is on his knees, mesmerized by the diamond ring. He is craving success and wealth, his tongue is hanging out and his nose is already starting to grow through the ring. The second piece depicts the burden of wealth. The diamond has grown and is weighing him down, he is succeeding but he is feeling pressure from all sides. In the third piece Pinocchio fi nds himself flattened beneath the diamond because everything has become so much more stressful. What I want this series to say is that you must be self-reflective on this journey, asking “how far do I want to go? When do I want to stop? How complicated is my life? How does this affect my family?” There are so many things to think about and this series highlights these thoughts and reflections. I think many of your readers can relate to this as they have achieved success and many of them have achieved massive success. PB: Your 2017 exhibit “Leap of Faith: at the Museum de Fundatie in Zwole” was hailed as a great success with the pieces coming together in the perfect space. How hands-on are you in the curation of your exhibits? JK: While I am the artist and very hands on, it is totally a team effort involving my father, mother, brother and wife as well as my external team. When we do an exhibition like “Leap Of Faith” it really is all hands on deck. For example, we are doing
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a massive show in Guangzhou, China that opens on November 29th and runs until March 2020 and we are all heavily involved in every aspect of this show which is going to be about 800 square meters with a 10 meter sculpture outside. We are working with K11 which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is the brainchild of Adrian Cheng. K11 is developing a number of shopping centers across the region in which they are curating amazing art experiences within the shopping centers to create unique shopping experiences for their shoppers. We are all working very closely with the K11 team, and if all goes well the show will be traveling to multiple locations in China which is an exciting prospect for me. PB: I am fascinated by the creative process and technique behind the creation of “caught up in a dream.” Speak about the importance of the process. JK: For this series, I started with four paintings and wanted to use a screen printing technique that was actually used by Andy Warhol. I started with rough canvas and layered the paint on it very thickly. Then I splashed paint on it in order to create elements of speed and to get a different pattern in every piece which ensures that each one is unique. I then created the drawings for the four paintings, create foils, enlarge the foils, use screen printing techniques to create the frames and a UV emulsion that I then burn out with light. After that I wash the
NATHANIEL MARY QUINN
screens and push the ink through with a squeegee to create one image. Once it’s complete, I destroy the screens and I love it because once the screen is gone, it’s gone. It’s like a traditional hand printing technique which is important especially in an age when we do all this digital printing, I like to go back to the basics. Changing gears, quite literally, a large number of our readers are collectors of classic cars and supercars, so could you tell me a little about your car collection and how you started collecting. JK: For me it was always a dream to own these vehicles and I started at quite a young age and was lucky because my art was successful and I was able to follow my passion. My fi rst real, real car was a Maserati GranTurismo and I bought that car and couldn’t believe, when I drove away, that it was actually mine! My next car was a white Ferrari 458—the most extreme, crazy car ever for anyone to have especially for a young guy. I then fell in love with McLaren and my fi rst McLaren was a 570S. After the 570S, I bought a 720S and now I own a 600LTspider. So are you a confirmed McLaren guy or is there something else sitting in your garage? JK: Yes, I also have a Ferrari 488 Pista and before that I had an 812 Superfast.
I N T ER V I E W ED BY
GAR DY S T. FLEU R
From a young age, growing up on the South
Side of Chicago, Nathaniel Mary Quinn demonstrated a curiosity for learning and an insatiable passion for drawing. However, Quinn’s journey toward becoming a celebrated artist would not be straight forward. As a teenager tragedy struck first with the unexpected death of his mother followed soon after with the disappearance of his father and two brothers. Driven to overcome this unfathomable loss, Quinn further committed himself to his education and artwork. In 2013 Quinn stumbled upon a new technique that decidedly changed to the course of his career. While completing a painting that incorporated a collection of fragmented images from memory Quinn subconsciously accessed a likeness to his brother Charles, who disappeared years prior. This collage-like method of painting inspired Quinn to explore notions of loss and memory by blending visual cues from pop culture and family photo albums, into a singular image. Quinn’s unique style quickly attracted the attention of gallerists, curators, collectors and opened the door for a plethora of opportunities. In 2018, Quinn received his first solo museum exhibition and is currently represented by, Gagosian, one of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries. GSF: Let’s talk about artistic freedom. How would you describe what true artistic freedom is? NMQ: True artistic freedom is quite difficult to define. Freedom, in and of itself, is rather challenging because a great deal of courage is required to be free, which makes it easier to simply comply, to follow the masses, to fall in line. This is also the challenge with artistic freedom, the difference between creat-
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ing exactly what you want to create as opposed to creating what you have been conditioned or taught to create. I aim to create exactly what I want to create, which requires that I examine that which I want, which leads one down the trail of self-examination and scrutiny, which forces you to confront all sorts of things that are incredibly difficult to face and contend with. GSF: Do you believe that you are fully free to create whatever you want in a completely different style? NMQ: I am not sure that I can create freely what I want in a completely different style because one’s st yle of creating must reflect one’s own visual language, which reflects one’s own internal hear tbeat, one’s spirit, and soul, one’s natural disposition. I may not be as free as a creator by means of hyper-realism or pure abstraction.
fulfill the wishful notions of others is doomed to fail, and these people will abandon you as quickly and swiftly as you abandoned your own imagination. GSF: How has your growing prominence in the art world influence how you approach your work now? NMQ: Nothing has changed. My growing prominence in the art world has not impacted my studio practice or how I approach my work. Otherwise, I’m just changing on the basis of collective subjective perception, and that is weak. One must always stay true. If my career collapses tomor row — or even at this ver y moment — I will still continue along the same path of creating art as I am doing right now. You can take away my career, you can take away my money, you can refuse my inclusion in museums and their collections, but you will never have my talent — that’s God-Given — and it’s the absolute most va luable com mod ity that only requires hard work, courage, and belief to manifest. You can’t go to the local store and buy a can of talent.
GSF: Was there a different level of artistic freedom you experienced before becoming well known? NMQ: Before becoming a full-time artist, my level of a r t ist ic freedom was relatively high and became more potent as I garnered GSF: Is there a parmore success, as I beticular statement gan my journey as a about humanity or the full-time artist. Nowahuman experience days, my pursuit of arNATHANIEL MARY QUINN “C’mo’ And Walk With Me”, 2019 Black charcoal, gouache, soft pastel, oil that is central in all of tistic freedom is even pastel on Coventry Vellum Paper 50 x 38 inches 127 x 96.5 cm © Nathaniel Mary Quinn Photo: Rob McKeever Courtesy Gagosian your works? higher because I have N MQ: Empat hy a nd more time to create my vulnerability carry the same weight and significance as black work, whereas before I had three jobs: one full-time teaching charcoal, gouache, paint, and soft pastels: I use all of them to job, an adjunct professorship job, and weekend tutoring gigs. create my work. My artistic freedom has always been protected by my refusal to submit myself to collective public perception or advice from GSF: If you had to pick a theme song for this chapter of your life, other folk who do not actively engage in traditions of art makwhich song would it be and why? ing. One should never be governed by public hype; otherwise, NMQ: Daryl Coley “When Sunday Comes.” you’re just a puppet with no power, and real power rests in one’s ability to wield one’s own imagination and innovation. This is GSF: What does a perfect day off from creating art looks like? especially true when it comes to social and professional alignNMQ: Just sitting down in the backyard, staring off into the sky, ment, in trying to win the good graces or acceptance of other listening to music, smoking, and relaxing in complete peace people, such as museum and gallery directors, curators, writand tranquility. This makes me happy, so much to the point that ers, etc. Any artist who abandons his or her own imagination to if I were to die at that moment, I would die a happy man. EQ.
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CURATING COLLECTIONS Muys Snijders
F
MUYS SNIJDERS SHARES INSIGHTS INTO BONHAMS’ BOUTIQUE AUCTION SERVICE I N T ER V I E W ED BY
DANIEL HILPER T BONHA MS
P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U R T E S Y O F
ounded in 1793, Bonhams is one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctioneers of fine art and antiques, motor cars and jewelry. At the center of Bonhams’ success is its specialists who are leading connoisseurs in their fields as well as astute business people. After a long stint at Christie’s, Muys Snijders recently joined Bonhams in New York as the Head of the Americas Post War & Contemporary Art Department. A member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Snijders has been involved in the auction business since 1998 and has worked in London and Amsterdam, as well as New York. EQ caught up with Snijders to chat about upcoming changes at Bonhams, her advice for young collectors and much more. DH: Congrats on your new position as Head of Americas for Post War & Contemporary Art. How does this role differ from your last experience at Christie’s? MS: Bonhams offers a boutique and bespoke service. The sales are smaller and highly curated. As such, we are able to dedicate much more time and attention to each work of art and to the people who consign the works of art to us. There is a lot of respect for artifacts and we look to bring them to life by exploring their history. DH: There are many exciting changes at Bonhams. Where will you take the post-war & contemporary art department over the next couple of years? What’s your differentiator? MS: We are looking to grow our auction sales in New York and Los Angeles, as well as to develop private sales and a yearround program of exhibitions. What is important to me is that
we are offering something for everyone and that we celebrate the artists as well as the collector’s eye. I like to encourage a dialogue between us and the creators, collectors and art world experts. Sharing expertise is especially important when engaging with new collectors. DH: A lot of our readers are young collectors. What advice can you share on how to buy at auction? MS: I would advise collectors to explore and to have fun engaging with and looking at art and objects across the sales that are on offer. It is important to discover and enjoy the process. At Bonhams there is a specialist or expert for almost every niche collecting field you can think of. Our specialists are always there to help and guide new collectors. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and obtain information.
Untitled (The Church of the Ascension Grace House Mural), 85 foot mural, the first Haring mural to come to auction. Painted circa 1983/1984. 72
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Janet Sobel, Untitled, 1948.
DH: Tell us about my ths/common misconceptions that you come across when working with new collectors. MS: The notion that good contemporary art has become unattainable. In fact, I would argue that in today’s market there is an abundance of work available. What is more challenging though is to make sure to distinguish between what you really like and what you think you should like. Oh yes, and it is a myth that if you are in an auction salesroom and you accidentally touch your hair that you are at risk of having placed a bid. A good auctioneer will always confi rm and ensure that you are actually bidding through making eye contact or asking you whether you are bidding. DH: What is an auction estimate and how do you price a work of art for auction? MS: An auction estimate is based on a number of factors including recent
auction prices for similar works, market compa rables, t he a r t ist’s cu r r ent market, provenance like exhibition history or previous owners and specifics of the work including the age, size, condition and quality of the piece. The estimate is a guideline, the auctioneer will generally start the bidding a few steps below t he low est imate a nd provided there is active bidding the price tends to go up from there. DH: Why would I buy at an auction? MS: G enera l ly, buy i ng at auc t ion is fun and exciting. T here are t he previews and exhibitions ahead of the sales where you can look and engage with the art which is then followed by the actual sale. You can leave a bid, be in the room and raise your paddle, be on the telephone with an auction r epr e s ent a t i v e or b e on l i ne a nd participate from a remote location.
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Louise Nevelson, Rain Forest Column X VIII.
DH: What are some featured pieces from your November sale? MS: One of t he highlights of Bonhams’ November 13 Post-War & Contemporar y Art is Keith Haring’s Untitled (The Church of the Ascension Grace House Mura l), t he f irst Haring mural ever to come to auction. T he monu ment a l 85 foot mu r a l was painted circa 1983/1984 in the stair well of Grace House, a former convent a nd home of t he Cat holic Youth Organization in Upper Manhattan. The sale included works by celebr ate d a r t is t s suc h a s Helen Frankenthaler, Wifredo Lam, George Condo, Sam Francis, Louise Nevelson, among others. The sale also håighlighted works from the Estate of Arnold Kopelson, which includes five works from artists such as Hans Hofmann, Eric Fischl, Willem de Kooning, and Larry Rivers. EQ.
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HEART OF THE VILLAGE, HISTORIC HOME. 6
U N I O N
WEB ID 1164993 NESTSEEKERS.COM
S T R E E T,
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197 7 Ford Bronco. Photo courtesy of Hagerty
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2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition. Photo courtesy of Bonhams.
A NEW BREED OF CL ASSIC C A R I N V E S TO R S I S J U S T AS ENTHUSIASTIC EVEN IF T H E Y N E V E R TO U C H T H E TA N G I B L E A S S E T
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W R I T T EN BY
JACK WILLIA MS
n the years following the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, the collector car market saw somewhat of a golden age as prices across the spectrum continuously rose. According to Hagerty, an insurance company that measures valuation trends across classic cars, the average collector car price rose from around $100,000 in 2009 to more than $180,000 in late 2018. With this, of course, came signature sales, too. It seemed like every few weeks an ultra-rare Ferrari was selling in the tens of millions of dollars, while, lower down the spectrum, classics with some element of rarity, uniqueness or a simple nostalgic association to a bygone era appeared to be a surefi re investment in an economy that featured low interest rates and disappointing stock market returns. In recent years, however, dents have started to show in a market that experts now say has started to settle down to a more sensible rate of pricing. This was none more evident than at the 2019 Monterey Car Week when, according to Hagerty, the sellthrough rate — an indicator of the success of auctions — for the most elite of vehicles dropped to 48 percent from 67 percent the previous year. “Part of that was because sellers haven’t come to terms with where the market currently is, so they might have been looking back at prices from three years ago and not being willing to let them go for what they are today,” said Brian Rabold, the Vice President of Valuation Services at Hagerty which now puts the collector car average at around $149,000 back to 2013 rates.
1988 BMW M3. Photo courtesy of Hagerty
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“…MANY OF OUR USERS DERIVE CERTAIN EMOTIONAL VALUE FROM INVESTING IN ASSETS OF SIGNIFICANCE…” — C H R I S TO P H E R B R U N O, C E O O F R A L LY R D
1963 Cor vette Split Window Couple. Photo courtesy of Rally RD.
This dip in sales, however, most drastically hit vehicles priced $500,000 and above. For Rupert Banner, Group Motoring Director at auction house Bonhams, recent years have still seen an increase in the interest for certain vehicles in this pricing sector — particularly those Banner categorizes as “modern classics.” According to Banner, these are high-performance cars that perhaps didn’t transact much 10 to 15 years ago but are now coming straight to market. At the Monterey auction, Banner said, Boham’s sell through was down only five percent as a result of focusing on fresh-to-market cars. Banner points to the sales of the likes of McLaren F1s and P1s, a Ferrari LaFerrari and certain Ford GTs as examples of those that have seen their prices jump. This shift in vehicle type may also be in line with how experts previously predicted the market would move, especially with regards to who was — and now is — collecting. In 2014, for example, it was estimated that of the roughly five million collector cars in the U.S., 58 percent were owned by Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964 and many soon reaching retirement age). Where will their cars go? If we look at history, we might predict that interest in 1950s American cars collected by Boomers may well dry
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up — just as in the 1970s, interest in pre war cars (like Buicks and Dodges) by the Great Generation steadily rose until the 1990s, only to hit a wall. The cars don’t disappear, per se; interest in them just wanes amongst a new generation that has less interest in them. Thunderbirds and ’50s Chevies could perhaps be next, and some dealers have already expressed difficulty in moving such classics. Next in line are, of course are Generation X and Millennials, many of whom would have entered the market during the recent boom. These are individuals who would have grown up looking starry-eyed at Ferrari F40s and racing supercars on 1980s and 1990s video games. With this group have come to market more Ferrari 308s and Volkswagen Golf GTIs — the cars of their era — supporting Banner’s assessment for wannabe collectors focusing on Modern Classics, no matter what price bracket. Brian Rabold of Hagerty agrees. For Millennial and Gen X investors, he said, the focus has been on vehicles that would have been aspirational in their youth but don’t necessarily fall into the super-high price brackets. Low-production or unique Honda S2000s, Mazda MX5s, BMW M3s and Porsche 911s are some examples that fall into this category. It’s a sign that, unlike previous generations of American car collectors, today’s collec-
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2014 McLaren P1. Photo courtesy of Bonhams.
1980 Lamborghini Countach.Photo courtesy of Rally RD.
2017 Ford GT ’66 Heritage Series. Photo courtesy of Bonhams.
1976 Porsche 911 Turbo. Photo courtesy of Rally RD.
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tors operate in a globalized market and desire more than just American cars. Rabold did, however, also point to the growing appeal of SUVs of the past — classic JEEP Grand Cherokees or fi rst generation Ford Broncos, for example — as nostalgic American models that have appealed to the new generation. With this change in investor comes a change in investment strategy — and companies looking to tailor to it. Today, it’s believed more and more non-Boomers may see car collecting less as a hobby, less tinkering on a vintage Mustang in their father’s garage, and are instead viewing once-tangible assets simply as emotion-driven investments, perhaps without even touching the vehicle itself. Enter Rally Rd, a new company that looks to make collector car investing available to anyone, by allowing individuals to essentially buy stocks in high-quality cars that would usually be reserved for the super wealthy. To help appeal to the emotions of the investor, Rally Rd. tells the story of the classic car by sharing background and photographs of every vehicle it offers. To date, the company says it has more than 100,000 members and has had around 45 offerings. They hope to reach 100 offerings by the end of 2019. “While our largest demographic is younger, Millennial-aged individuals, we have users from all ages, income levels and geographic locations,” said Christoper Bruno, CEO of Rally Rd. “It’s rare for an investment platform to have an 18-year-old participating in an offering side-by-side with someone who is retired and has spent 40 years investing in public markets — but this is common on Rally Rd. Of course there is a common theme, “he added, “which is that many of our users derive certain emotional value from investing in assets of significance as well as experiential value from being a part of a community.” Where that communit y’s hear ts will lie next — be it through an app or get t ing behind t he wheel of a nostalgic purchase — will continue to fascinate. EQ.
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Adrenaline RUSH
I N V E S T I N G I N J E W E L RY AT AU C T I O N —A P R I M E R
$312,575
6.09 ct square shaped emerald cut diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, fancy vivid yellow, V VS2 clarity
$2,540,075 2 .17 ct. rectangular step cut diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, fancy intense blue, V VS2 clarity
W R I T T EN BY
T
PATR ICK B R ENNAN BONHA MS
P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U R T E S Y O F
o most people, auctions are a rariďŹ ed and daunting proposition and a place where only the wealthiest of the wealthy gather to buy and sell impossibly expensive pieces of art. Certainly that perception is borne out by some of the trophy art sales of the past few years. But a growing number of discerning collectors are discovering that auctions are a venue where beautiful pieces can be picked up in a fun environment where bidding also brings an adrenaline rush not normally experienced in a retail environment.
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$306,325
21. 56 carat Burmese sapphire and diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels
MONEY
“THE AUCTIONEER IS THE JUDGE AND JURY IN THE ROOM.” — B R E T T O ’ CO N N O R
A N 18K GOLD A ND DI A MOND ‘ TR IK A’ BR ACELET, BULGA R I, TOGETHER W ITH A PA IR OF E A RCLIPS Designed as a series of gold links, the panels pavé-set with round brilliant-cut diamonds with gold stitch-work detail; the earclips of similar design; bracelet signed Bulgari, with Italian registr y marks; estimated total diamond weight: 12 .90 carats; mounted in 18k gold; length of bracelet: 6 ⅜ in.; length of earclips: 1 ¼ in.
Estimate: $15,000–20,000
One such environment is a jewelry auction. In order to learn more about how jewelry auctions work — and to explode some of the myths surrounding auctions and auction houses — I recently sat down with Brett O’Connor G.G., Senior International Jewelry Director and Senior Vice President, U.S. at Bonhams, which was founded in 1793 and now has offices and a network that spans 22 countries. O’Connor’s passion for jewelry began at an early age and he honed his knowledge and skills at the Gemological Institute of America where he graduated in the top one percent of his class earning his GjG designation. In a distinguished 25-year career, O’Connor has spent extended periods in Europe and Hong Kong as well as New York and Los Angeles. He joined Bonhams in November 2018 and is a world-renowned auctioneer and jewelry expert which makes him the ideal person to help us explore this emerging asset class.
First a little context. Until 1987 jewelry auctions were primarily attended by the jewelry trade where they bought and sold pieces among themselves. In April of that year an auction in Geneva, Switzerland hit the headlines when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s jewelry collection was put up for auction after the death of the Duchess. At her request the proceeds of the auction were bequeathed to the Pasteur institute in Paris as a gift to the French people in gratitude for taking in the Windsors following the Duke’s (Then King Edward VIII) abdication from the throne and their subsequent exile from the U.K. The Geneva sale raised an eye-popping $50.3MM and included pieces such as a Van Cleef & Arpels brooch which sold for a staggering $806,000 and the Prince of Wales brooch, which was commissioned by the Duke as a gift for the Duchess and was bought by actress Elizabeth Taylor for more than
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“KNOWLEDGE IS KING AT AUCTION.” — B R E T T O ’ CO N N O R
$623,000. This auction caught the attention and the imagination of the public and propelled public attendance at jewelry auctions. In fact, according to O’Connor, the ratio of private citizens to trade attending auctions is now 80/20 whereas prior to the 1987 auction, it was reversed. So what happens at an auction? The fi rst thing to know is that attendance at auctions is free of charge and they are open to the public. If you want to bid, you must fi rst register with the auction house and once you have taken your seat in the auction room you will most likely be joined by other bidders from around the world either on the phone or online. If you want to register as a bidder, you will need to answer a few basic questions, but if you are planning to bid on more expensive items, you may undergo a financial background check. For only $35 attendees at the auction can buy a catalog detailing the items to be sold with information about the individual pieces, their provenance and other relevant information to further educate the potential bidder. Prior to the auction itself, the auction house organizes viewings so that potential bidders can see the pieces that will be offered at auction up close and in person. Despite the apparent calm of the auction room, auctions are frequently incredibly exciting and frenetic events as bidders compete with one another to win the pieces that have caught their eye. The entire proceeding is handled by the auctioneer who, according to O’Connor, is both “the conductor” and “judge and jury in the auction room.” This means that the auctioneer controls the tempo of the room, maintains control of the bidding process, keeps their eyes and ears open for bidders in the room, on the phones and online and — on top of all that — maintains a calm and serene demeanor throughout. It’s similar to how a world class conductor handles an orchestra, except that there is no sheet music in an auction room! What are the advantages of buying jewelry at auction? The most obvious is that, unlike most retailers, auctions offer a large number of pieces from a range of manufacturers at a number of different price points. It’s a little known fact that a successful bidder can pick up a unique piece of jewelry often at a fraction of the retail cost. “Auction represents true value,” according to O’Connor. Authenticity is guaranteed by the auction house which employs domain experts who know their subjects inside and out and who provide key information and insights to potential buyers. “Knowledge is king at auction,” adds O’Connor and while this may sound like a daunting prospect for the novice, acquiring knowledge is not quite as terrifying or as difficult as one might imagine. Bonhams encourages the public to come in and use the auction house to meet with its experts in order to become better educated and to learn more about specific pieces in the upcoming auction that have piqued their interest. If you’re thinking about selling rather than buying jewelry at auction, Bonhams offers complimentary estimates to potential sellers and also offers complimentary valuations to members of the public who bring their jewels in to be examined. Nothing beats the atmosphere or excitement of an auction at a top auction house. See you there. EQ.
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$375,075
12 .18 ct pear shaped brilliant diamond ring, H color, VS1
$81,325
An 18k gold and ruby butterfly brooch, Van Cleef & Arpels, French, circa 1940
ANOTHER SPECTACULAR OCEAN FRONT
$ 3 5, 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 5 B E D S 5 B AT H S 2 , 78 8 S QF T
JAMES GIUGLIANO 631-456-3567
JAMESG@NESTSEEKERS.COM
MONEY
CRYPTOCURRENCY CONTROL
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CRONY-CAPITALISM AND CASHING-IN ON NOTHING CHANGING W R I T T EN BY
S HAH G IL ANI
f you think cryptocurrencies are the future, you’re right. If you think bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, has a future, you’re wrong.
SHUTTERSTOCK
2.3 billion Facebook users and unleashing a replacement for existing currencies. Libra would be backed by founding partners and future Sure, the advent of cryptocurrencies is proof pospartners who, using global currencies, would buy interitive that everything changes. But, the failure of bitest-bearing government bonds to tether it to reality. It would coin to become a viable means of exchange, and more tellingbe a global currency and a real store of value and an inexpenly, Facebook’s wannabe world-changing cryptocurrency Libra sive and fungible means of exchange. being killed in its crib, proves that as much as everything It would also make its issuers rich as the massive amount of changes, some things stay the same. “backing” they put up collected risk-free interest. It would be Here’s why bitcoin still lives, why libra was killed off, what a fiat currency, only trusted because it wasn’t a government or the future of cryptocurrencies is going to be, central bank ploy. and how to make a lot of money as nothing Ultimately, libra could be multiplied like really changes. money and credit in a fractional reserve sysBitcoin created a stir when it came out in tem. It would be a game changer. That’s why 2009. But the hype around the new cryptolibra had to be killed. currency wasn’t about cryptography, blockBut the technology behind cryptocurchain, or distributed ledgers. rencies, blockchain, can’t be killed because It was about how bitcoin was mined, how it is the future. It won’t be killed because it wasn’t government controlled or issued by crony capitalists are figuring out how to use a central bank. It was about freedom, includblockchain to their advantage. In fact, the ing from fiat money and fractional reserve future of cryptocurrency, like it or not, will banking. It was about anonymity and cryptobe central bank issued cryptocurrencies. currencies changing the world. Why? Because the money and credit that None of that was ever going to happen. our fi nancial systems are based on, includThe crony capitalists who control moning mountains of Treasury debt denomiey in the real world, namely governments, nated in dollars, the extension of credit by central banks and their minions, were never banks through the fractional reserve sysgoing to relinquish their hold on what they tem, the functioning of our economy, and want us to believe is a store of value, or their the generation of trillions of dollars in interfiat, fractional reserve banking regime that est on Federal Reserve Notes, is the domain Photo courtesy of the author yields trillions of dollars in interest and fiof the Federal Reserve System, supported, of nances government spending for votes. course, by Congress. Bitcoin was attacked by entrenched powers who saw it as a The Fed’s eventually going to come up with its own cryptoshot across the bow of the ship that floats the capitalist oligarcurrency because it’s easier to trace, easier to tax, and easier to chy. But squashing the interloper wasn’t necessary. control than paper money. Until then, and even then, rememThe new crypto’s limitations were correctly calculated and ber some things, no matter how they look like they’re changa “live and let die” approach centered on not regulating bitcoin ing, remain the same. to make it stable. On its own, bitcoin became extremely volaThat means in old dollar terms or future dollar-crypto tile, sinking its prospects as a stable currency or store of value. terms, the Fed’s going to keep rates lower for longer, the stock That’s why bitcoin’s still alive, not as a fungible currency, market’s going to continue going higher, bonds are going to as a speculative synthetic instrument to be traded like tulips. continue to trade in a range, no matter how volatile they get Facebook’s libra, on the other hand, was no shot in the dark. from time to time, and real estate, as the last great hard asset, Government and central bank powers correctly saw libra is going to appreciate over time, as it always does. as the ultimate Trojan Horse, making its way into a village of Who says change is good? EQ.
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The 2019 Equicap Supercar Rally at Gurney’s P H OTO G R A P H Y BY PATR ICK MC MU LL AN , B LU E NOS E A N D DAN WAG NER
EQ hosted its Annual Supercar Rally to Gurney’s Montauk at: equicapmag.com/events
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“ANOTHER PARKING LOT PACKED WITH FERRARIS MASERATIS, AND PORSCHES. THEN THE PARTY AT THE BEACH SPUN BY DJ AXELLE— EPIC!” — DA N I E L H I L P E R T
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THE EMERALD COLLECTION
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