Ulysses de Santi and Ashlee Harrison’s ‘Crossings’ Convenes 53 West 53’s Diagrid With Art and Collectible Design

Throughout a four-bedroom penthouse residence within Jean Nouvel’s sculptural Midtown Manhattan tower, 53 West 53, Brazilian gallerist Ulysses de Santi and curator Ashlee Harrison have assembled the contemporary art and design exhibition “Crossings.” The curation converses with the architecturally significant structure’s geometries, known as the diagrid, while painting a picture of life alongside postwar design and contemporary art.

Highlights are plentiful—from a rare Amadeo Maciel Residence Chair by Joaquim Tenreiro (manufactured in 1935) to a two-seated chair by José Zanine Caldas, dated to 1980 and previously exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. These are contrasted with collectible design inclusions by Lucas Simões and art pieces by Lola Montes Schnabel and Wolfgang Tillmans.

“For me, ‘Crossings’ is about how art and design actually live in dialogue with us, over time, through movement and juxtaposition” Harrison shares. “This exhibition reveals design not as static objects, but as part of an active, cross-disciplinary exchange to be experienced,” de Santi adds. “Brazil has an incredibly rich history of art, craft, and design. Working with Ashlee to put these works in conversation with diverse international artists has been both creatively rewarding and a wonderful opportunity to showcase their wide-ranging functional and expressive potential.”