PaperCity Magazine

July 2015 - Houston

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A rtist George Sellers has spent the last decade creating a world of fantastical creatures that inhabit highly ornate, otherworldly rooms. His gigantic white-plaster wasps, beetles and spiders are often gilded in 24K gold. His custom carved gold-leaf prosceniums, jewel-encrusted ceiling medallions and white goat-footed tables reference Renaissance and Rococo designs. Costly and precious, Seller's rarified works have always been one-of-a-kind and custom pieces. Now, thanks to his new business partner Bradley Clifford, who joined him last year, Sellers is producing accessibly priced furniture and lighting for Mecox under the name Areté. The cubist and nature-inspired pieces, which will be carried at six Mecox locations throughout the country (including Dallas and Houston), come in a range of materials such as plaster, bronze, stone and glass. "Working with Bradley has enabled me to upgrade to other materials besides plaster, such as bronze, that is more stable," Sellers says. The pieces range from about $550 for the Clipped Cube metal side table to $6,900 for the Twisted Faux Bois console, hand-built from gypsum plaster. This fall, Areté introduces a collection of consoles, cigarette and side tables for Mecox in Carrera marble and Lueders limestone — "like something you'd see in a Catholic church, only abstracted," Sellers says. Breck. The two are currently putting together prototypes and presentations for collections of smaller accessories in fine porcelain bisque, which will be fired at some of the world's best porcelain foundries in Mexico. They plan to sell the collection to large luxury stores such as Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus, with a price range of $85 to $700. But Sellers hasn't left his love of specimens and curiosities behind. He's also producing prototypes of bronze lamps featuring bugs and other natural elements using the ancient lost-wax method, which will retail for $4,000 to $14,000. Sellers, who trained in Italy as a sculptor, is firing on all pistons now. "We're doing the Javitz gift show in New York, and next year we'll do Maison & Objet in Paris," he says. There, he plans to set up a booth for his newest goods in the New Talent section, in a mise en scène built from his carved, white- plaster architectural elements decorated with his massively scaled plaster animal heads and bugs. "I've been to Maison before and not seen anything like it," Sellers says. "I think it'll be the talk of the show." We couldn't agree more. Mecox, 3912 Westheimer in Highland Village Shopping Center, 713.355.2100, mecox.com. Rebecca Sherman SCOGIN MAYO METRO AS MEDICI Mary Lucking's Cesar Chavez/67th Street Metro East End Line MURALS FOR ALL FROM FROMENTAL F or a decade, Fromental has hand-made scenic wall coverings for luxury hotels such as The Goring in London with a high price to match. Now you can achieve the look for less with wallpapers released under the Studio Fromental label. Hand- drawn artwork, custom to a client's room specs, is printed on papers or paper-backed silks and linens. Imprimé is a classic chinoiserie scene in 22 colorways; Woodsmoke, with its black ground, pink flowers and green leaves, feels especially fresh. From $140 per yard, to the trade at George Cameron Nash. Anne Lee Phillips Studio Fromental's Imprimé in English Rose W e're mad for the outrageous whorls, plunging valleys and baroque excesses of the porcelain vases and candelabras by Anthony Sonnenberg. This is a contemporary talent crafting in high-fire porcelain over stoneware informed by touches of gold luster. He lives and works in Houston, exhibited this spring at Lawndale Art Center and is represented by Isabella Court dealer Art Palace. Acquire your own Sonnenberg from around $1,500 (as shown). Stay tuned: The artist's next solo is planned for Spring 2016 at Art Palace. Artpalacegallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon COURTESY THE ARTIST AND ART PALACE Anthony Sonnenberg's Finial (Teal/Pink/ Gold), 2015, at Art Palace ON OUR PORCELAIN POWER RADARNOW: W ho would have thought one of our most munificent municipal arts patrons would turn out to be … Metro. Its latest light-rail expansion impacts the East End, Southeast, Downtown and the North Line neighborhoods with a new transit infrastructure alongside meaningful public art. This summer signals the completion of a $1.7 million commitment to art and community which began in 2006. The ambitious Arts in Transit program is tailored to each neighborhood and has commissioned 22 artists total. Sara Kellner, current Houston Arts Alliance director of civic art + design, has been involved since the beginning, even before she headed to HAA. She has overseen the complicated process of selecting and pairing artists with each station, drawing upon the historical richness of each area to empower residents and tell stories. Artists range from Smithsonian-exhibited Houston notable Floyd Newsum (whose pyramidal sculpture at MLK and Griggs along the Southeast Line Studio Fromental's Imprimé in Woodsmoke George Sellers George Sellers pied-à-terre with plaster treasures from George Sellers Creative COURTESY METRO speaks to the Third Ward's rebirth) to Arizona-based Mary Lucking, designing for the Hispanic-infused East End; she polled area residents and created a timeline invoking highlights of that special locale modeled after the traditional craft of Mexican papel picado. Other talents you'll see when you ride the rail include 2014 Texas Artist of the Year Dan Havel of Havel/ Ruck Projects; Jesse Sifuentes with images of magnolias and a coffee plant for the East End Line; the Glassell School's Arielle Masson; Ryan Geiger of the distinctive avians; past Core Fellows Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette, collaborating on snappy text pieces for Downtown stops Rusk to the Theater District; Mother Dog Studios' John Runnels; flora- fauna queen Dixie Friend Gay; and Johnston Marklee, architects of the new Menil Drawing Institute, which oversaw a team of historians towards forging statement works for the Southeast stations in the heart of Third Ward. gometrorail.org. Catherine D. Anspon A TOTAL NATURAL SHAYNA FONTANA MAX BURKHALTER Two variations of George Sellers Twisted Juniper side table $2,525, at Mecox Gilded wasp and nest by George Sellers Creative

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