Opening Tonight: More Than Standard Fare

A hotel shop is a place for token sundries, maybe an ironic souvenir, which you won’t miss at The Shop, opening tonight in The Standard. The difference here (as with all the Balazsian curios) iseverything else you can get—emphasis on everything. Forgot your sunglasses? They’ve got a solid selection of Dita, Paul Smith, and Super. Need some bling? Anna Sheffield, Bliss Lau, and Dominic Jones are all in. Bored? Babeland is stockng the sex toys and Cire Trudon offers an assortment of candles. Really bored? There’s knitting kits from Soho’s Wool and The Gang and art supplies from Krink. And if you’re more of a collector than a creator, The Shop will also be collaborating on limited-editions artworks and site-specific installations with artists like Rostarr, Jose Parla, Thomas Campbell, Geoff McFetridge, Chris Johanson, and Cheryl Dunn.

“It’ll be a series of artists that we admire for their love of the city,” says creative director Claire Darrow, noting all the work wil be New York themed or inspired. First up is Julia Chiang, who nailed 300-some Ring Pops to the back wall of the store to spell out the installation’s title, All For You, which was only partially Valentine’s Day-driven. “I’m drawn to the idea that this type of candy disappears, but it still leaves a mark, like memory,” says Chiang of the piece that will remain up until all of the pops melt away. The editions  followed up on her My Rotten Apples series, which appeared at the New Museum shop, and comprised 50 unique bright red porcelain apples, each packaged in a hand-tooled wooden box. “On Valentine’s Day we’re always bombarded with the oversaturated, sappy ideas of love. Hopefully the apple and the candy open people up to a different kind of desire,” Chiang says. “I wanted them to have this wet, sticky, lick me kind of thing going on.” We’ll assume she’s talking about the Big Apple, but it sounds more like forbidden fruit to us.

THE SHOP IS LOCATED AT THE STANDARD HOTEL, 444 WEST 13TH ST, NEW YORK.