The vintage furniture, many of them acquired at auctions or on shopping trips to Paris and Palm Beach, agilely pivot between culture and camping: «It was about finding interesting things and giving them a new life,» he says lucid on the mixture, which puts in the foreground sculptoric seats of the twentieth century that then retouched with luxury fabrics. (Think of armchairs Art Decó in a neutral tissue of Zak+Fox or on a sofa of the mid -century in Mohair dedar). There are also Creations to the designer, such as Palley's magnificent wooden bed and the set of aluminum pieces of the guest blue room. The recreational moments, such as the spectacular chimney of the dining room, also covered with vibrant ceramic panels by Jordan McDonald, or the compraint of the room, crowned by a cushion with tassels. At all times, Palley and Lucido maintained close consultations: «It has been the longest ping-pong game that I have ever played,» says the designer, which qualifies the «authentic collaboration» project.
Throughout the whole process, Palley drew conceptual lines between art and furniture, however harmonious the whole was: «I firmly believe that art is not decoration,» he says about his collection, focused on artists queer And women, with, says, «an eye on the global south.» There are works by consecrated artists ―Lynda Benglis, Kiki Smith, Jenny Holzer, Robert Govern-, but also of new talents. On the ground floor, a tadáskía tapestry, Brazilian trans artist, mixes with a double portrait of the South Korean painter Eunnam Hong and a textile work by Vivian Caccuri, another Brazilian emerging star. In a corner, meanwhile, there are sculptures by the artist Kosovar Petrit Halilaj, whose husband, Madrid Álvaro Urbano, created the sculptures of leaves scattered at the base of the nearby windows. «When you live with art, it has to be more than static objects,» says Palley, pointing out the dialogues that have emerged organically among the works. A dialogue of the elegant houses.
These days, conversations have also materialized among people, since Palley uses their new house as an entertainment space. He has recently organized a dinner to celebrate the Sculpturecenter and a party for newly promised friends. At the end of the night, when the guests have left, he and his dog, taxi, climb the stairs to his suite of the upper floor, where the first work of art that he bought – a engraving of Julie Mehretu – hangs in view of that bedroom made. «Living with art,» he reflects, «is like living with friends.»