Demisch Danant Spotlights French Design at Its New Home by Architecture at Large
After crossing paths at a Paris flea market, Suzanne Demisch and Stephane Danant discovered a shared passion for hippie-era local furniture, eventually becoming business partners and launching their first gallery in Chelsea in 2005. With an eye for rare post-war mod French design, the twosome presents colorful geometric pieces they have personally hunted down. Now, they have opened in a new location in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, with a sleek design by Architecture at Large.
Sitting in the ground floor of a townhouse that was once the oldest Italian bookstore in America, the new space is nearly twice the size of the previous location. Making the most of the expansion, Rafael de Cárdenas and team divided the location into three gallery spaces for maximum effect.
To celebrate its new space, the gallerists are holding their inaugural exhibition, “Made in France,” through October 29. The show trails their decades of researching, rediscovering, and supporting 1950s through 1970s French designers. On travertine floors sit pieces from Pierre Paulin, César, and Verre Lumiere, and others.
After coming across her work in the late 1990s, Demisch and Danant finally tracked down Maria Pergay, an as-of-then relatively unexplored designer in the gallery world, in 2004. Not only did they uncover rare and eventually iconic works, but they also forged a personal bond—eventually co-authoring monographs on her career.
Additionally, after first noticing Etienne Fermigier’s works left unattributed in media and the market, the pair became increasingly more fascinated by the mysterious artist. With little information available due to his early death and limited body of work, they made it their mission to accumulate pieces as well as information about his legacy; now, they can offer exclusive insight into an otherwise unknown figure.
An extensively illustrated catalogue accompanies the event, with text by Demisch and Danant, recounting their personal journey and those of the pieces and artists they present.
