One unlikely art venue is holding its own amid the mega-galleries of Chelsea, New York. This season, Gotham dispensary is presenting “The Smoking Section,” a sprawling show of 50-odd ashtrays that the trendy “cannabis concept store” commissioned from more than 45 renowned artists and designers. At last night’s reception, even passersby were curiously peeking inside at the mind-boggling creations of Netflix-famous glass blower Deborah Czeresko, sculptor and SNL costume designer Kate Rusek, rising textile artist Tura Oliveira, and their cohorts.
View of the reception for “The Smoking Section” from 10th Avenue. Photo by Vittoria Benzine
New York-based art collector, angel investor, and Gotham founder Joanne Wilson opened the legal dispensary’s original East Village location in 2023. Since then, Gotham has added stores in Williamsburg, Hudson, and most recently, Chelsea—all selling pre-rolls, flower, and vapes alongside high brow beauty products, cultural magazines, and the chicest smoking accoutrements you’ve ever seen.
Rachel Berks, Gotham’s vice president of product development and partnerships—who conceptualized and curated “The Smoking Section”—is one of the few employees who’s been with the company from the start. She told me over a video call that Wilson drew inspiration for Gotham from the now-defunct Parisian concept store Colette, beloved by the fashion set. “You really see concept stores more in Europe than you do in the U.S.,” Berks said.
A wood ashtray by Richard Haining, and a soldered glass and copper ashtray by Grace Horan on view in “The Smoking Section.” Courtesy of Gotham
Gotham has nourished art world connections since its inception. Its East Village location has a mezzanine gallery that often exhibits emerging artists, like the colorful drawings of Jared Freschman and the abstractions of Adee Roberson. In 2024, one of Gotham’s vendors, Amitha Raman, a prominent art collector with her own line of cannabis accessories, co-hosted a dinner at Derrick Adams’s Crown Heights studio with Gotham. Adams went on to produce his own line of Gotham merchandise.
It’s hosted group shows before, too. Alyssa Alexander, Adams’s studio manager, will curate one spanning Gotham Chelsea and Gotham East Village this January. Nevertheless, the ”The Smoking Section” marks the first time that Gotham has curated a group show of entirely new works in-house.
Installation view of “The Smoking Section” featuring Anna Sew Hoy’s stoneware in the foreground, with Tura Oliveira’s silver and epoxy behind it. Courtesy of Gotham
Berks had been holding the concept for “The Smoking Section” close since she started working for Gotham. When she quit smoking cigarettes 16 years ago, Berks threw out all her ashtrays. But working at Gotham reminded her of the object’s innate beauty, ritual significance, and capacity as a canvas. “I am married to an artist; all my friends are artists,” Berks added. “I knew I wanted to curate a show of commissioned ashtrays.”
She’s an artist too, as is her sister. Their works are in the show. The remaining participants were either friends of Berks, artists she already admired, new talent she found online, or contributions from her colleagues; some she met when Gotham showed at New York’s Shelter Design Fair earlier this year.
Ashtrays by Stefanie Haining, John Gill, Stephanie Boyd-Berks, and Math Bass in “The Smoking Section” at Gotham. Courtesy of Gotham
The directive was simple: “Really, just make an ashtray,” Berks said. “Some people made more than one.”
John Gill, a New York-based ceramicist represented by Miami-based Mindy Solomon gallery, created seven colorful, geometric ashtrays, all featuring little nooks for lit joints. Rusek, meanwhile, made five far smaller ashtrays in blue, violet, and indigo forms elaborating on her signature organic style. All five offerings that had amassed red dots by the time I arrived were part of sets, too, including three dark, earthen ashtrays by L.A.-based sculptor Anna Sew Hoy, and two stoneware paper fortune tellers by Brooklyn-based Stephanie Haining.
Piera Bochner,. Courtesy of Gotham
This exhibition is certainly not predictable, to say the least. Styles and shapes vary widely, as do the price points, which range from $55 to $24,000. There’s tiny ashtrays (I particularly liked the acrylic and resin by interdisciplinary artist Kim Mullis) and massive statement pieces, like the plaster and coal firepit by Ridykeulous, the queer feminist curatorial initiative by acclaimed French-American painter Nicole Eisenman and Brooklyn-based polymath A.L. Steiner.
Ridykeulous, . Courtesy of Gotham
The show’s artists have employed extremely diverse materials, too. Sure, there’s plenty of clay, glass, and metal on offer, but there are also ashtrays made from beeswax, abalone, and sinuously carved wood. The line between art and craft has proven a hot topic in this century—“The Smoking Section” makes a strong case for abolishing it. As I marveled at illustrator Jennifer Xiao’s incredibly detailed paper mache ashtray Dirty Dishes, replete with sudsy standing water and a little rat, I overheard another guest telling her friend my exact thoughts: “I wouldn’t even want to mess this up by using it.”
Jennifer Xiao,, with ashtrays by Kate Rusek, Alma Berrow, and Lauryn Sigel behind it. Courtesy of Gotham
Berks plans on making this type of show an annual tradition. “I don’t know what next year’s will be—maybe pipes, maybe bongs, maybe stash boxes,” Berks said. “But I think it’s a very exciting proposal to reach out to artists of all mediums, working across disciplines, saying ‘there are no restrictions.’”
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
