Tom Fruin, Hotel
When Wythe opened in May of 2012, it was an early and sustained commitment to bring the creative spirit of Williamsburg inside the hotel. Engaging Duke Riley and Tom Fruin in commissions, offering space for exhibitors including Jack Early, Alicia Henry, Mason Saltarrelli, and Tim Fite, employing local craftspeople in the construction process of the hotel, and hiring artists themselves as employees of Wythe, were and continue to be important parts of this commitment. Emily Klass, for instance, was an early staff member at Wythe and the first artist to have her work displayed in the rooms of the hotel. Caite Moore, another hotel staff member, published a book of her poetry in collaboration with Wythe.
Duke Riley, This Tree that men chopped down
Williamsburg has evolved dramatically since the hotel first opened its doors, while Wythe remains earnestly committed to a supporting role in the ethos and artistic expression of Brooklyn’s creative community. Our first Curator, Kimia Ferdowski Kline built an amazing collection, including works from Katherine Bradford, Brad Kahlhamer, Annette Wehrhahn, Chris Martin, Tamara Gonzales, and Louise Despont. There are finished pieces, works in progress, and pages from artists’ sketchbooks to showcase the creative process. Kimia also created a strong community of these artists at Wythe, giving us a foundation to grow from.
Jean-Pierre Villafañe, Hand Play II
This commitment to connect Wythe with the creative community around us is apparent in the larger, public pieces that the hotel displays; Tom Fruin’s colorful “Hotel” sign on the exterior of the building is wrapped in vintage tin signage, lovingly scavenged by Tom for over a decade. The aesthetic choices for the hotel have never been solely for the purpose of displaying beautiful things—though, a lucky and considered derivative—but to celebrate the process and honor the connection to the neighborhood and its inhabitants.
Vyczie Dorado, untitled
The arrival of Alessandra Gómez as the hotel’s new Curator, brings the next exciting chapter to Wythe. Alessandra sustains the same dedication to providing a platform for local artist communities, she says that “the focus will be responding to artists’ needs and creating space for work that falls outside traditional art-world contexts.” Alessandra has also acquired seventeen new pieces to add to the collection. Works by Donyel Ivy-Royal, Jean-Pierre Villafañe, and Maya Lee-Parritz, drawn and painted on paper. These pieces hold true to the hotel’s aim to support art that is perhaps most vulnerable for the artist in their overt exposure of process and artistic fluctuation.
Artists at Wythe
Explore the New York-based artists whose art hangs on our walls, and fills the hotel's rooms and lofts.
Brad Kahlhamer (b. 1956, Tucson, AZ) Starting last summer, (now 15 books and counting) I returned to my longtime interest in the sketchbook, reconnecting my drawing practice with the emerging artistic social circles surrounding my Bushwick studio.
Katherine Bradford (b. 1942, New York) Boats and swimmers appear in my paintings because the surfaces I create with paint tend to resemble water. I love wide expanses of brushed on color.
Emilie Louise Gossiaux (b. 1989, New Orleans, LA) is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. As a visual artist who is also blind, Gossiaux brings their inner worlds into the physical realm through drawings, ceramics, and sculptural installations based on dreams, memories, and their sense of touch.
Yevgeniya Baras (b. 1960, Syzran, Russia) My drawings record intentional and chance-driven activities, creating a kind of compacted evidence of my understandings, memories, and physicality. Doubling and symmetry is a constant in the work.
Susumu Kamijo (b. 1975, Nagano, Japan) Yes. I like poodles. But I also like medium-rare ribeye steak, vintage scotch, my new iPhone with no stupid cracks on the screen, clean underwear, curling players, fat penguins in Antarctica, and probably a few hundred or thousand other things in the world.
EJ Hauser (b. 1967, Peru, IL) builds on themes of transformation and mythology, Hauser uses drawing as a starting point for pushing the language of painting into new territories.
Michael Berryhill (b. 1972, El Paso, TX) For me drawing is visual thinking. Variation and invention is the rule, and abundance is the game.
Dylan Rose Rheingold (b.1997, New York) is a painter based in New York, NY. Her practice explores identity, girlhood, memory, and nostalgia within American contemporary culture. Rheingold lives and works in New York.
Lucy Kim (b. 1978, Seoul, South Korea) is an artist working across painting, sculpture, and biological media. Kim is Associate Professor of Art at Boston University.
Annette Wehrhahn (b. 1976, River Vale, NJ) Moving around inside my vessel I am transmitting and receiving messages. I hear something said and get a mental picture, catch a glimpse of my shoes as I write an e-mail.
is an accomplished performer, playwright and screenwriter involved in New York’s queer cabaret and experimental theater scene. His performances combine the aesthetic languages of camp, shock, TedTalks, art history lectures and satire. He intends to produce his first short film, Princess Hole, by the end of 2026.
A Note from Wythe's Art Curator, Alessandra Gómez:
The interdisciplinary programming at Wythe is expansive and will only continue to grow. I’ve been inviting performance artists to stage work in hotel rooms in an effort to blend visual art and performance art communities. I think that is exactly what makes the Wythe Art Program distinct: We’ve been able to create new opportunities for artists outside of traditional frameworks.