Valerie Goodman is delighted to announce the opening of her new exhibition space: in the same building, on the same floor, but with almost twice the space ⎯ and southern exposure. Please join us to celebrate our new environment with a show of works by Jacques Jarrige, Eric Schmitt, Tinatin Kilaberidze, , Anasthasia Millot, Cristina Salusti, Kimille Taylor and Adrien de Melo ⎯ on March 29th, 2017 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at 315 East 91st Street on the fourth floor.

Since the Valerie Goodman Gallery opened in 2010, its relatively small quarters had kept their original, slightly improvised flair: the unfailingly refined and highly individualistic pieces on display were to triumph over the rather basic setting ⎯ the gallery’s informal esthetic reflected a young enterprise, devoted to introducing European artists and designers who were almost entirely unknown to New York. But now that these talents have begun to receive much notice on this side of the Atlantic, we’re proud to give them a more sumptuous home in the US.

One important element in this expansion was Valerie Goodman’s very personal experience of designing her upstate home in collaboration with Jacques Jarrige while he remained in Paris. This domestic ⎯ and ambitious overseas project ⎯ made both partners fluent in spatial exploration and negotiation via Skype, a skill they then applied to designing the new gallery. Jarrige suggested injecting a bit of drama to the act of entering the more or less square space: he designed a rectangular tunnel with a low ceiling. Only after passing through it, the large open room is revealed. And, also under his remote instruction, two almost identically sized plywood boxes were built to house the gallery’s office and storage spaces, further structuring the simple room. Plywood is one of Jarriges’ signature materials for furniture as well as sculptures, and its lively, moiré-like surface lends texture to the new gallery’s bright, white expanse.

And now the stage is set for a dialogue between a group of widely diverse objects which all share the language of elegance: Eric Schmitt has translated its elementary vocabulary from the Romanesque churches in his native village of Poitou into ceramics and glass, which he calls “capricious” materials. Cristina Salusti’s vessels exclaim it with their gleaming, gold-lined interiors held in coarse shells of pinched clay. Tinatin Kilaberidze allows natural wood to proclaim its weighty presence within the absolute grace of stark geometry. Anasthasia Millot’s pieces beautifully give the lie to their material ⎯her bronze tables and chairs seem as light-footed as antelopes. With his mirrors framed by runaway tiles, Adrien de Melo is chasing the same goal ⎯ “escaping gravity.” With his own furniture and sculptures defined by the gestural, delicate line triumphing over mass, Jacques Jarrige is conversant in his fellow artists’ pursuits, and he has created a space for all of them to converse with ease.