We’re used to seeing Nicolas Party in illustrious company, past issues of Surface included. Yet the latest launch that brings the Swiss artist’s name to fore isn’t a gallery opening or an art fair, it’s the Paris Review’s new Art of Poetry issue. Party created two captivating pastel paintings to cover the newsstand and subscriber-only issues of the literary magazine.

One he describes as “a sunset landscape,” which he admired from his studio on a recent call with Surface to discuss the commission; the other is a still life of “melty, odd, colorful fruits.” Both can be purchased as magazine issues or poster prints. In an interview with Surface, Party chats about leveraging the art world’s largesse to fund other art forms, why poetry is the closest thing writers have to painting, and what he’s reading.

Artists can be very selective about the commissions they accept. Why did the Paris Review’s Art of Poetry issue make sense to you?

Usually the commissions that artists will be a little more careful with are very commercial collaborations. Obviously, [with] the Paris Review, it’s really not the case. It’s a cultural icon. So if it means more collaboration that will highlight so many creative writers and poets and also actually making art and the covers, it’s really an honor to be part of this wave of tradition in magazines. The Paris Review is more than a “commission.”

Were you given any prompts to guide the covers, or was the process open-ended?

It was very open. They said “Do you want to do the cover?” and I was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s awesome.” Another part of it was that we will sell the work for fundraising, so I had that in mind.

How so?

I ended up doing two covers because I was like, “The two motifs will fit very well on the cover, and they’re very recognizable.” Not that I expect many people that have the Paris Review to know my work, but the few people that know, they will maybe recognize the style or the type of subject and I wanted to do something recognizable. The commercial contemporary art world has a lot of money going into it. It’s a great way to redirect some of that money.

These covers are for the Art of Poetry issue, so what’s your connection to the genre?

I didn’t say, “Oh, I’d love to do the poetry issue,” but I do read books and poetry. My wife is a writer and she reads a lot of poetry, and we share that together. If there’s anything in the writing field, poetry is probably the closest to painting because it uses words in a much more open way than journalism or nonfiction writing. Poetry is like a field where words can start to escape their very close meanings and definition. It’s where writers explore that.

One of the reasons I love painting is that it’s hard to define what’s happening. In poetry, it’s very similar. The relationship between the reader and the piece is big in shaping their perception of the poem.

Poetry or prose, fiction or nonfiction: what have you been reading lately?

Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns, Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, Hisham Matar: The Return and A Month In Siena. I’ll mention my wife’s book, Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, which came out two months ago. It’s a fantastic book.

That’s quite the range.

I feel, weirdly enough, with nonfiction, when you read those books you feel like you’re getting tons of information and you’re going to be so smart at the next dinner, but the months pass and you forget almost every fact. And you’re like “I read this amazing book” and you can only describe a little bit of it. I think novels stick with you much deeper. You connect with those fictional characters. You spend many hours with them. They kind of stay with you forever.

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On March 31, Canadian artist Cassils will partner with the National Center for Transgender Equality to stage Etched in Light at the National Mall to mark Trans Day of Visibility. The Creative Capital awardee is known for intense, thought-provoking performances that can require upwards of 12 to 14 hours of physicality—like shoveling sand, or using their own body heat to melt an ice sculpture in a statement on metamorphosis and gender norms. With Etched in Light, Cassils brings a cyanotype (a category of blue-tinged photographic print) featuring more than 100 unclothed trans and nonbinary performers to the heart of the nation’s capital.

In the 1960s, members of Milan’s artistic avant-garde—among them Piero Manzoni, Nanda Vigo, and Paolo Scheggi—frequented traditional trattorias in the city’s once-bohemian Brera district. Now the Milanese Montmartre is revisiting that history with Trattoria del Ciumbia, a new eatery envisioned by Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci of Dimore Studio as an homage to the area’s culinary past.

They sprinkle unexpected contemporary twists throughout, from the aperitif area’s pewter counter embedded with vitrines of reassembled plates to a discreet dining room lined with plum and burgundy velvet curtains. There, diners can enjoy secondi like braised beef cheek and stewed snails while perched on Vico Magistretti chairs underneath hanging Flos lamps. Head down the walnut-paneled staircase to a private disco club for after-dinner drinks—and peep through a subtle porthole to catch a glimpse of the fully stocked bar.

Homegrown studio Cúpla London is cutting through city gloom with a new outpost of Rixo in Marylebone. Though the womenswear brand was also founded in London, its creative signatures evoke Lake Como more than they do Covent Garden. Vivid, hand-painted prints are the basis for its brightly colored dresses, which artist Sam Wood translated to the interiors in the form of hand-painted murals in resort-ready hues of tangerine, Lisbon lemon, and cerulean.

Moroccan zellige tiles create the effect of making the boutique feel farther-flung than the high streets. An abundance of vintage furniture sourced by the brand’s founders in its nascence was revitalized by the Cúpla team—headed up by creative director Gemma McCloskey—to imbue the new space with an essence of the brand’s nine years of heritage.

Alejandro Moyano has dedicated his young practice to introducing heritage Andean craft to the world. Through his aptly named studio Andean, the Quito-based industrial designer works closely with Ecuadorian artisans to infuse contemporary pieces with the spirit of their region, running the gamut from hand-carved bowls from locally sourced volcanic rock to sculptural candles inspired by Quito’s sacral motifs.

When: Until May 19

Where: Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia

What: As art director of Harper’s Bazaar for nearly a quarter century, the Russian graphic designer ushered in a bold new aesthetic informed by European modernism that made photography a cornerstone of the fashion magazine’s identity—and influenced a rising cadre of emigré photographers like Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Lillian Bassman. The trajectory of his career and his impact on print culture today comes into full view here through personal stories, case studies, and collaborative works by him and his protégés.

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Since 1872, Fritz Hansen has been crafting extraordinary design. Fritz Hansen’s highly distinguished Classic Collection comprises a number of the most iconic pieces of furniture from renowned Danish designers, including Arne Jacobsen’s Egg, Swan, and Series 7 chairs, and Poul Kjærholm’s PK22 chair and PK80 daybed. The Contemporary Collection features new furniture and accessories from some of today’s most inspiring, globally recognized modern designers, including Jaime Hayon, Piero Lissoni, and Cecilie Manz.

Surface Says: One of Denmark’s oldest and most revered furniture producers, Fritz Hansen is known for its Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjærholm designs. In recent years, the brand’s smartly appointed pieces designed by Jaime Hayon have kept things exciting.

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