The Luss House (1955), designed by Pratt in Venice alumnus Gerald Luss (PiV ‘10), Ossining, New York (Photo: Michael Biondo).

A major exhibition of contemporary art and design, “At the Luss House,” will be on view at the mid-century modern building designed by Pratt in Venice alumnus Gerald Luss (PiV ‘10) in Ossining, New York from May 7 – July 24, 2021.

Luss’s first freestanding architectural project was the house in Ossining, New York built for his family as their own home in 1955. He acquired the land three years prior and first constructed a treehouse to live in on-site in order to provide him the opportunity to sense and experience the site’s potential. The house was built from prefabricated industrial components put together on a system Luss designed, including handcrafted interior details that remain vibrant today such as built-in shelving, cabinetry, and the use of exposed planks and paneling throughout the house including cedar, macassar ebony and teak woods.

The exhibition, organized by art fair OBJECT & THING and art galleries Blum & Poe and Mendes Wood DM, features the work by 18 international artists whose work responds directly to the environment of Gerald Luss’s architecture. Exhibiting artists include Alma Allen, Lucas Arruda, Cecily Brown, Matt Conners, Green River Project LLC, Mimi Lauter, Tony Lewis, Eddie Martinez, Ritsue Mishima, Paulo Monteiro, Kiva Motnyk, Paulo Nazareth, Johnny Ortiz, Frances Palmer, Marina Perez Simão, Yoichi Shiraishi, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, and Kishio Suga.

Gerald Luss commented, “It is satisfying to have this exhibition infuse new life in the home I designed for my family at the onset of my career and to see new generations of artists and designers bring their contemporary perspective into the space. In my own life and work, I find it essential not only to create work daily, but to also live among the objects and work of other artists, expanding my vision of the world. I look forward to experiencing how this exhibition casts a light on my former home and sharing in the inspirations for us all.”

Gerald Luss is a designer and architect best known for his influence on large-scale corporate projects during the unprecedented post–World War II building boom in Manhattan, although his work can be found around the world. He is particularly noted for the innovations he developed for the interiors of the famed Time-Life Office Building (1959) on Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan – the epitome of midcentury modern skyscraper design in which Time-Life occupied 350,000 square feet of space for its headquarters, commonly recognized today as the backdrop of AMC’s Mad Men series.