Crystal Flowers

102 West 76th Street
New York, NY 10023
allisonlwade.com
@crystal_flowers_nyc

Evolving out of the long-standing study of communication in relationships in my practice, I am currently exploring channeling with the spirit of the deceased artist and poet Florine Stettheimer and her sisters through hypnotism. This has led to the creation of a multidisciplinary body of work that ranges from the training of talking birds to mimic Florine’s poems, Holography, to the broadcast of an FM pirate radio station that can only be heard within one block of her former home.

In 2018, I founded Crystal Flowers Art Salon, paying homage to site-specificity by locating itself in Stettheimer’s former home salon. Artist, patron and cornerstone figure for a prominent group of early 20th century modernist artists, Florine along with her sisters fostered a salon in Manhattan between 1915-1935 which became an important platform of engagement and exchange for artists, poets, musicians, and intellectuals.

Interview with Crystal Flowers

with Founder Allison Wade
Questions by Emily Burns

Hi Allison! You are an artist and currently run the art salon Crystal Flowers out of your apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The location is really unique, as it is a historic building, and used to be the Stettheimer house, the family home of Florine, Edie, Carrie, Rosetta Stettheimer. They sound like a fascinating group—they were artists and (other things? Writers and poets) and frequently held salons in the house, including music, poetry readings, art shows, (more?). When and how did you find out about the history of the building?  
It was a gift from the universe, I was living down the block and the apartment I was in was being sold. 2 days before I was planning on moving back to Brooklyn a neighbor told me about an apartment down the block that was available. I walked don the block to see it and decided to take it. I had no idea at that time that it was the Stettheimer house.  It was not until a month or 2 later that my downstairs neighbor told me that the house was previously owned by artists. I started doing research on the building and to my surprise, it was the Stettheimer home.

The Stettheimer women left Germany in 1914 and moved to Manhattan’s Upper West Side when it became clear that World War I was approaching. Florine was in her early 40s at this time and the move to New York was a turning point in her painting style. She turned her focus from bouquets to portraiture, depicting the observations of her salon’s guests (see her paintng, Le Soirée, 1917).

During the time of World War I in New York, the sisters presided over a renowned intellectual art salon. The salon guest list comprised of creatives such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Henry McBride, Man Ray, Carl Van Vechten, Gertrude Stein, and Marcel Duchamp. Their salon was a platform for artists, poets, musicians, and thinkers to collectively engage with art, dinner, drinks, and conversation.

Can you tell us a few of your favorite stories about the sisters and the goings-on during their time in New York from your research? 
They were in the center of the DADA movement and this house was one of their meeting spots. One can only imagine the wonderful debaucherous parties that went on into the late hours of the night here.  They were feminists and threw amazing parties in this space. It is rumored that one of the sisters was a lover of Duchamp and that his female alter-ego, Rrose Selavy was inspired by the Stettheimers. Ettie was the conversationalist of the family and a writer, publishing under the pseudonym Henrie Waste and Carrie was the party planner, ran the Stettheimer household, planed the imaginative meals that including creative dishes as feather soup and would throw birthday parties for paintings. Carrie was also a dollhouse maker and she created a replica of their home in miniature. Florine was more of an observer at these gatherings, taking in the sights and later turning them into her paintings. 

The sister were “an exotic if somewhat strange trio: Ettie in red wig, brocades, and diamonds; Carrie, who dressed never in the fashions of the day but in the elegance of a past era; Florine in white satin pants.”  Bruce Kellner Carl Van Vechten and the Irreverent Decades Norman: Oklahoma, 1968 p. 119

You show exhibitions in your entire apartment, with work hanging on the walls as if it were part of the interior design, not relegated to another room like an apartment “gallery” of sorts. What is it like to live with the artwork in the shows as part of your daily life? Are there any unique advantages to showing work in this way?
I want the space to feel like a domestic space, not a gallery. I want to feel similar to what the Stettheimers had it set up and to other salons from the past. I want the art to integrate into with my everyday objects, almost as they have always been here. My apartment and the salon is  located on the parlor floor, they lived in the entire building but hosted their salon on this floor. It is wonderful to live in and with the changing installations. I feel like my apartment really metamorphs every few months with new salons and with all the new visitors coming through.

In combination with your exhibitions, you host opening receptions and dinner parties, which are incredibly intimate gatherings of groups of people in a small space, which is your home! What has the experience been like of opening your home to others in this way? What makes this experience different and or more rewarding than a traditional opening in a gallery setting?
The Salon gatherings are always more interesting than then large openings. Being able to host small dinners with different artists, historians, and writers in the space turn into late-night fete’s that conjure the energy from back 100 years ago. It is very exciting to have scholars and curators who have written dissertations about the Stettheimers here in the space and to learn about them through the experts.

Florine only showed her work in this space, at her dinner parties. Do you know why? 
The story goes that Florine had her first solo show at Knoedler & Company Gallery in New York in 1916,  and did not sell any of her paintings. After that exhibition, she only wanted to show her work in her home.  She also requested that all her work be destroyed after her death but luckily her sisters ignored her request.  Her journals were partially destroyed by the removal of here private writing by here sisters. 

You have gotten some impressive press recently! Congrats on your review in The New Yorker on Angelina Gualdoni's show. I am always excited to hear about artist-run projects and spaces getting legitimate press in the city. It seems like the press has been really open to going off of the beaten path to find interesting new spaces and work. How did The New Yorker find out about you? 
Yes, thank you. Joane Fateman from the New Yorker came by the last show during open hours, I did not recognize her nor did she tell me who she was. I asked her how she had heard about the show and she said she saw it on a blog or an Instagram post. Jasmine Golestaneh solo exhibition Hotel received a review in Forbes Magazine also. 

You have been really open to trying new and different approaches via the Salon format. For instance, for one of your openings, a neighbor (who happens to be a talented opera singer) sand Opera through the vents of the building throughout the evening. This sounds so fun and different, and you are really curating some very unique and personal experiences for people through these types of gatherings. Where do these ideas come from and do you have any other favorite events from your salons?  
So far they have all been ideas I have dreamt up, but I happily take suggestions from the artist I am working with and from friends. The opera singer came to fruition because she was constantly practicing in the bathroom and I can hear her so clearly that I thought it would be nice to have a live concert for visitors through the vents. Currently, I am collaborating on my own work with the artist and professional Hypnotist Shauna Cummins. She is hypnotizing me and I am making work while in trance, channeling the sisters.  Since beginning this project, I came up with the idea of creating an exhibition in the space which will culminate in a group show of work made by a small group of artists who get hypnotism here in Crystal Flowers and see what happens.  

In a world that is so filled with hectic running around, impersonal encounters with too much technology, constant distraction, and more, your salons sound like a true escape to an inviting world of human conversation, and being truly present and in the moment. What has been the response of your guests to your evenings? Are people clamoring for more?
I have received a positive response to the salon space so far. There are not any galleries on the UWS so its an adventure to travel up here. Also, it's always interesting to allow strangers into your intimate space, you really have to open up tp the experience of exposing your home to complete strangers. 

The women who lived in the house were pretty hardcore feminists. What have you learned about their views and personalities from all of your research on them and the building?
The Stettheimer sisters were known as radical feminists during the Dada movement of the Twentieth Century. They did not believe in romance, marriage, or having children. They were pioneers and wore pants which was not common at the time, they smoked and drank, and they constantly surrounded by artists and writers who were drawn to their salon parties.  Their intellectual pursuits were put first, this was radical for women at that time. 

You have ventured into the metaphysical world and have worked with shamans to channel Florine via the space. Can you tell us more about that experience?
Yes, I have invited multiple mediums into my space that has been a catalyst for my work over the last few years and for the creation of the salon. It has been extremely enlightening to learn about what they say.  One shaman told me that Florine talks to me while I sleep, he said she is always talking to me. He also said that I don like it when she sits on my bed and talks to me while I am sleeping. Another medium told me about a woman in a chair sitting next to the fireplace. I think it is Carrie from her description, she just stares and laughs at me. 
What is the Stettheimer Dollhouse at the Museum of the City of New York? 
The dollhouse was made over a period of 25 years by Carrie and is a recreation creation of the Stettheimer houses. The ballroom in the dollhouse has a remarkable collection of miniature artworks created by their friends. There is a mini version of Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase and lots of miniature paintings by Florine.  Everyone should go visit that dollhouse at the City Museum of New York. It is permanently on view.

What type of artwork or artists are you interested in showing? 
I am interested in working with artists whos work conjures the spirit of what occurred in the space 100 years earlier and convening artists whose echos Florine's ethos.  I am also very interested in working on shows that feature female artist who spent time in the space such as Mina Loy and Clara Tice.

 Where did the name Crystal Flowers come from?
The name Crystal Flowers is the title of Florine's book of poems.

You are also an artist, as well as a professor of art—how does running the space coincide with your artistic practice and teaching? 
Finding out about the history of the space was a catalyst for my work.  It really shifted what I do with my own personal work in the studio and it has been a great learning experience as an artist.  I try to bring as much of this back into my classroom at FIT SUNY. I teach a few exhibition classes at school and my students are always excited to learn about the curatorial process and about the exciting events that happen in their professors' mysterious salon apartment.  (I sometimes stretch myself too thin…...that's why you are getting this so late. I am so sorry. Things have been very busy at work with admission events)

 How can people find you, visit a show, or come to a reception?
The smaller salons are invite-only.  I post the public openings and open hours on Instagram and on my website. You can get on my mailing list at  crystalflowerssalon@gmail.com Instagram: @allisonlwade & @crystal_flowers_ny 

Whats up next for you and the space? 
I am currently working on a show of the Dada artist Clara Tice. 

Thanks so much for talking with us!
THANK YOU!!!!!

To find out more about Crystal Flowers, check them out via Instagram.