How does a writer for the New Yorker, a defining photographer of the house of Yves Saint Laurent, and an artist featured on repeat at the Whitney and Centre Pompidou fade into near obscurity? A new survey of David Seidner’s cross-disciplinary practice brings his writing, portraits, fine art, and commercial photography to the fore once again at New York City’s International Center of Photography. During his heyday, any New Yorker or Parisian—Seidner split his time between the two cities—with even a passing interest in fashion, art, photography, or the magazines covering those beats would have been hard-pressed to escape his influence.

In a series of untitled nudes, his subjects, who are very much alive, are rendered so still as to be practically sculpted. Arresting black-and-white portraits of himself and Louise Bourgeois pull heavily from the Italian Renaissance technique of chiaroscuro to unsettling, breathtaking effect. Fashion photography for Azzedine Alaïa created a fractured, funhouse-mirror effect, predating the first edition of Photoshop by four years. The list goes on.

Surface spoke with ICP senior curator Elisabeth Sherman about the obligations we hold to overlooked artists, mining Seidner’s incredible archive for the exhibition, and her favorite works.

What about Seidner’s work made you feel like now, looking at ICP’s 50th anniversary, is the moment to stage this show?

We’re celebrating the depth in our collection. I wanted to do that with a less well-known figure. We will, in the future, celebrate our many archives that people know well. Robert Capa just had a show last year. That’s part of our job, bringing people back out and reminding the public about these overlooked figures.

How did your professional background impact the way you pieced together Seidner’s portraits, magazine articles, fine art photography, and advertisements for the show?

I’m a contemporary art curator. I came from the Whitney Museum and worked with everything from photography to painting, sculpture, installation, and performance. It’s not about the category—it’s about the artist. I follow artists. I’m used to working betwixt and between categories, and it doesn’t feel different to do that between fashion and fine art, just like it doesn’t feel different to do that between painting and photography.

Any favorite works on view?

I love seeing him figure out his ideas and his style, also how he’s going to honor all of these amazing people that he’s in awe of. John Cage was really important to him, and you see him photograph [Cage] at the very beginning. And then the orchids and how strikingly beautiful they are—how saturated, how elegiac. To know that he’s making that work as he knows his health is failing. Those two counterpoints mean a lot to me.

“David Seidner: Fragments, 1977–99” will be on view until May 6.

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After 23 years of fits and stops, Fontainebleau Las Vegas unveiled itself to the world in dramatic fashion with a star-studded soirée featuring performances by Justin Timberlake and Paul Anka. When you show up that late to the party, you better come correct. In that regard, the iconic Miami import does not disappoint.

The stunning 46-foot sculpture by Swiss artist Urs Fischer in the south lobby is the first tell that no expense was spared at real estate tycoon Jeffrey Soffer’s $3.7 billion resort, the second-tallest tower in Sin City. Designed by architects Carlos Zapata Studio and David Collins Studio, with such big-name collaborators as Lissoni & Partners and Rockwell Group joining the fray, the property is outfitted with 3,644 rooms, 24 restaurants, a 55,000-square-foot spa, 3,800-seat live performance venue, and more. The collection of hospitality venues immediately rivals anything on The Strip.

Miami nightlife king David Grutman brings hotspots Papi Steak and Komodo west, along with an outpost of his South Beach stalwart LIV nightclub. Chef Evan Funke’s buzzy L.A. Italian restaurant Mother Wolf joins forthcoming openings such as the revered New York City omakase den Ito and beloved Mexico City institution Cantina Contramar to round out the headliners.

In a throwaway culture rife with overconsumption and social media influencers bombarding us with buzzy new products, it’s easy to lose touch with life’s true necessities. This reality has been top of mind for Mathieu Lehanneur, the Parisian luminary who not only designed the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Torch but was named Maison & Objet’s Designer of the Year for the trade show’s 30th edition. At the fair, which wrapped on Monday, the French multi-hyphenate unveiled a temporary structure that makes a case for rethinking our consumption habits and embracing minimalism. A radiant yellow cabin furnished with items like a punching bag and a seemingly floating glass table, Outonomy also aimed to provide respite and clarity during the noisy event.

Mounting a temporary installation at a design fair as a riposte to consumption may seem counterintuitive, but—in line with the fair’s theme of “Tech Eden”—Lehanneur seeks to galvanize shifts in how we approach our living habits and interact with the world. In that sense, Outonomy ventures beyond serving as a vehicle to brag about sustainable initiatives. It’s more of a thought starter. “I wanted to suggest an alternative vision to the modern representation of man dominating over nature,” he says. “The history of civilization and architecture is punctuated by attempts, solutions, and propositions for an isolated dwelling: the igloo, the cabin, the hut, or the yurt. The idea here is to combine our needs with current technologies. It’s about a possible life, a way to ask each visitor the implicit question: are you ready?”

This past weekend, some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects gathered in Paris to be honored by the Créateurs Design Association. The Shangri-La Paris hosted the glittering affair: a black-tie awards ceremony and celebration overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Winners in 14 categories were revealed, and Gaetano Pesce and Frida Escobedo both received special recognition of their prolific careers and contributions to their respective fields.

When was it? Jan. 20

Where was it? The Shangri-La Hotel, Paris

Who was there? Philippe Starck, Karim Rashid, Jonathan Adler, Krista Kim, Frederik Molenschot, Julien Lombrail, and more.

When: Until March 9

Where: Seizan, New York

What: Jorge Palacios treads into both linguistics and physics by exploring scientific phenomena in which the viewer is not simply a bystander, but an active participant. From their presence in the exhibition, the renowned Spanish sculptor refines his pursuit of a universal visual language to express inertia, balance, velocity, gravity, magnetism, electricity, sound, light, or time. “What would be the shape of abstract concepts,” he asks. Influences, from photographer Bernice Abbott’s investigations into magnetic behavior, George Gabriel Stokes’ study of wave propagation, and Nikola Tesla’s study of electricity, abound in the names of the works: Wave Magnitude, Emerging Particle, and Anamorphosis and the sculptures that embody them.

Vitra is a Swiss furniture company known worldwide for creating innovative products with lauded designers. Vitra’s catalog includes furniture, lighting, and objects from mid-century titans Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Verner Panton, Alexander Girard, and Jean Prouvé, as well as works from Antonio Citterio, Jasper Morrison, Alberto Meda, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, and Hella Jongerius. Vitra products are installed worldwide by architects and designers in living, working, and public spaces that inspire comfort and productivity.

Surface Says: The Swiss furniture brand’s eye for comfort, sleekness, and versatility makes it a standout in a crowded market of beloved brands. Through its collaborations with the industry’s top minds, Vitra goes the extra mile.

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