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Photography by Jason Winkeler
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Photography by Jason Winkeler
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Photography by Jason Winkeler
Art dealer Sarah Cunningham’s first exhibit in St. Louis isn’t taking place at an art gallery or museum. Instead, the Rhode Island native has decided to use her home as a pop-up venue, creating an atmosphere of sophistication and comfort as guests mingle.
The six paintings on display, a series created by Emmet Duggan and titled Birdhouse Summit, feature fashionable rooms populated by birds. The works were born at a time when Duggan was feeling “extreme isolation” after a move from New York City to Dierks, Arkansas. On the canvas, Duggan says, he painted a party.
“By drawing them, I gave the birds what I wanted,” he says. “You can satisfy the urge to do things in life without actually doing them.”
The idea to show art at home is a “no-brainer,” says Cunningham. The setting invites guests to consider what the paintings might look like in their own living rooms and entries.
Jennifer Dewar and Jason Yi admire a painting titled “Ray Gun.” The work depicts a modern interior with a Jeff Koons “Balloon Dog” sculpture, a Sputnik-inspired light fixture, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Four birds, including a cardinal peering into the room from the perimeter, are painted into the scene, seeming human-like as they move about the space.
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Photography by Jason Winkeler
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Photography by Jason Winkeler
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Photography by Jason Winkeler
“I would have him design my house,” says Dewar. “I love the wallpaper, the fabrics…”
“And the rug that looks like grass,” adds Yi.
Cunningham and Duggan met in 2011 outside a farmers’ market in Boston’s Copley Square. Later that year, Cunningham, who owns Walker-Cunningham Fine Art, exhibited Duggan’s work at her Newbury Street gallery.
“I loved the art right away, the intensity of the emotion, and the fact that it’s accessible at the same time,” she says.
