{"id":308788,"date":"2026-01-28T22:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/308788\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T22:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:56:13","slug":"a-design-industry-powerhouse-pivots-to-open-a-new-york-city-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/308788\/","title":{"rendered":"A Design Industry Powerhouse Pivots to Open a New York City Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amongst the tight-knit design<\/a> community, Michael McGraw is a familiar presence as his venerable agency helps shape the narrative around major interiors studios, architecture firms, collectible design galleries, and covetable brands. However, this month, McGraw is branching out, opening Dernier Cri<\/a>, an exhibition space on New York\u2019s Upper East Side that will debut on January 29 with \u201cNight Shift,\u201d a group show of sculptural works all rendered in deep, rich shades of black.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Modern<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view of \u201cNight Shift\u201d at Dernier Cri.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Joe Kramm<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"art<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view of \u201cNight Shift\u201d at Dernier Cri.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Joe Kramm<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to open Dernier Cri not to fill a void in the market, but to build a physical extension of the work I\u2019ve been doing for years as a design publicist, championing extraordinary design and the people who create it,\u201d McGraw tells Galerie. \u201cNew York is already home to many excellent galleries, each of them bringing an important and distinctive point of view to the broader conversation around art and design. My own point of distinction comes from years of immersion in editorial design culture\u2014studying what gets published, what gets passed over, and why. As a design publicist I see so much interior design and constantly think about what makes it sing, what makes a space linger in the memory. My aim is to inspire interior designers with outstanding pieces that help them conjure spaces that truly captivate, by giving a platform to art and design that is compelling and thought-provoking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Geometric<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWork by Julian Mayor.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Dernier Dri<\/p>\n

Included in the gallery\u2019s inaugural show are geometric, high-shine stainless steel chairs by Julian Mayor, a UK artist and designer McGraw discovered on a photoshoot with designer Jamie Drake<\/a>. Also on view are hand-carved biomorphic wood totems by North Carolina talent Casey Johnson; ceramic forms by Paros, Greece, sculptor Todd Marshard\u2014a dynamic artisan McGraw was introduced to by designer Genevieve Gorder; and designer Jessie Nelson, whose work popped into McGraw\u2019s social media feed when the artisan was working in a Connecticut town not far from the gallerist\u2019s home during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

My aim is to inspire interior designers with outstanding pieces that help them conjure spaces that truly captivate\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael McGraw<\/p>\n

\u201cMy inaugural exhibition is a glimpse into my phone\u2019s screenshots and my computer\u2019s bookmarks tabs\u2014I have been obsessively keeping track of artists and designers and their work for years,\u201d says McGraw, who is also introducing the work of Dutch abstract artist Marit Harte to a U.S. audience in \u201cNight Shift.\u201d \u201cI am starting with a cross section of my favorites. What unifies them into a very cohesive and beautiful show is that I limited the palette of everyone\u2019s work to a single hue: black.\u201d<\/p>\n

Its a very apropos theme considering how the Manhattan gallery got its name. \u201cDernier Cri is a name I borrowed from a men\u2019s fashion boutique that once stood on the Upper East Side\u2014not far from us\u2014in the 1960s,\u201d says McGraw. \u201cLe Dernier Cri specialized in the latest looks, the \u2018latest thing.\u2019 Halston\u2019s studio was above it. I first became aware of the boutique while watching The French Connection, where there\u2019s a fleeting glimpse of Le Dernier Cri during a suspenseful chase scene\u2014pure, classic New York. The name has captivated me ever since. I love a double entendre: its literal translation, \u2018last cry,\u2019 feels romantic and slightly dark, while in common usage, dernier cri means \u2018the latest thing.\u2019 It fits me perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Contemporary<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view of \u201cNight Shift\u201d at Dernier Cri.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Joe Kramm<\/p>\n

While the first showcase runs through March 5, plans are already in the works for the future of Dernier Cri. \u201cI am endlessly fascinated by artists\u2019 histories and how their lived experiences have gotten them to where they are, creating what they create,\u201d says McGraw. \u201cWe are all shaped by our past, and how artists channel their experiences into physical objects\u2014a painting, a sculpture\u2014piques my interest. This will be a major focus of our second exhibition, which will dive deeper into personal histories and past lives. The backstory will be a through-line across everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNight Shift\u201d runs January 29 through March 5, at Dernier Cri, 247 East 60th Street, Fl. 2, New York. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amongst the tight-knit design community, Michael McGraw is a familiar presence as his venerable agency helps shape the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,151228,366,18,117,966,2033,19,17,151229,969,55340,45393],"class_list":["post-308788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-dernier-cri","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-exhibitions","tag-gallery","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-michael-mcgraw","tag-new-york-city","tag-night-shift","tag-upper-east-side"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115975198008177435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}