LARRY’S LIST is pleased to announce a new collaboration with a long-time friend, Chris Shao of Chris Shao Studio/Objective Gallery: the upcoming launch of our new WeChat channel. This exciting new partnership is founded on our mutual love of cross-disciplinary creation — from contemporary art to collectible design, vintage furniture, and interior design.
Chris is a designer who finds inspiration in blending his Eastern heritage with his Western experiences. He creates a world where the two merge seamlessly into sleek design that also imbues a certain sense of romance. Not only does he do interior design via his New York and Shanghai studios, Chris also recently opened Objective, a gallery in Shanghai that specializes in collectible design.
In celebration of this partnership, LARRY’S LIST invited Chris to share all about his personal collection, how he commissions artists for projects, his tips for young designers, and the upcoming trends we should watch out for in the design scene.
10 Questions with Chris Shao
What is your number-one rule when designing a space to best compliment an art collection?
Know the space and know the art.
Would you share some of your personal favourite artists that you love to see featured in interior design?
Louisa Gagliardi, Austin Lee, and Alma Allen.
Interiors and art often seem to be in flawless harmony. Yet, we know from our collectors that artworks eventually change. Does this mean that the interiors have to change too?
Yes. And I fully embrace that! Wouldn’t it be so boring to live in a space where nothing changes? I love the fact that artworks and interiors interact and change with people and society. A great example is Plaza Hotel in New York, which is never the same. And neither was the work of Andy Warhol.
Having just a small glimpse via your IG account, we can see that you collect yourself. Could you tell us more about your own personal collection? Do you lean more towards collectible design or art? Which pieces are closest to your heart?
My personal collection consists of wide range of art and design, from paintings to sculpture to photographs. As I love to really blur the lines between art and design, when I collect, I won’t restrain myself to the simple categorization of collectible design or artwork. What I truly enjoy is the conversation that I can have with my collection. I like to collect works that make me feel emotional, cathartic and empowered. I find myself very empathic towards them.
I started collecting Han Bing’s work five years ago. Following her immigration stories, I have collected her work from when she lived in NYC, LA, and Shanghai. Her moving stories coincidentally match with mine, and I feel like I was the subject of her paintings, although I am really not.
I also love Vincent Pocsik. In his work “Bia,” he turns tubes into bodily forms in an extremely emotional and touching way. When I look at the lamp, I always feel that the lighting tube beneath the torso is a tunnel to the creature’s heart, wondering and shining their emotions.
Part of your design practice also involves commissioning works from artists, and you have recently opened Objective, your own gallery in Shanghai. Do you find that your role also crosses over into that of curator? Is this something that has come naturally or something that you have trained for?
I think it was a very bold move for me. Being both a designer and gallery owner is a very natural story but certainly unconventional in either the design or art scenes. In fact, most people don’t align them together. I love integrating and commissioning artists into my design projects. I remember working with Kathleen Ryan three years ago in my project “Ensue,” a fine dining restaurant developed by the chef Christopher Kostow. The piece is so precious and beautiful that we decided to show it again recently in an exhibition curated by Objective and Bank Gallery. So what’s wrong with being a designer and a curator?
Your designs are known for cutting across the East / West dichotomy and often incorporate elements of nature, resulting in wonderfully Instagramable spaces. How do you balance the need for creating liveable, usable spaces with curating that “Instagram moment”?
The fact is that I never intend to create Instagrammable spaces. The sequence is: I create beautiful and art-worthy spaces, and then other people capture the Instagram moments. I would never do it the other way. To be honest, not all my projects are photogenic, but I am very confident about my design. I devote my entire heart and soul to it.
Again, in regard to your style, we see many vintage touches and references to early 20th Century Shanghai and the art deco movement. How do you bring this nostalgia into contemporary design without becoming clichéd?
Architecture, interior, and art should be in one language when creating an “Arterior.” We bring many nostalgic elements into our project, especially where the building itself has tons of history. I will never do Art Deco in a modern Bauhaus glass building. I am all about getting things “correct” and finding the resonance between the space, the design and the art. Regardless the style of an “Arterior,” I also believe that contemporary living and functions are important – otherwise, we are simply creating a museum.
What advice would you give to a young designer with a focus on fine art or collectible design in finding their own unique perspective in interior design? Or even to a young collector looking to create a classic yet contemporary space at home?
Never follow the “Pinterest” rules. I quite often find people hanging paintings above their sofas or a gigantic portrait above a cupboard. The formula of merging art and design really bores me. There should be no rules!
As a tastemaker, are there any trends from your perspective you could share with us?
The trends that I have picked up on recently are…
– People are more welcoming to diverse mediums in creating art and design.
– An artist can create his/her work on wallpaper and sell for limited meters. For example, Sirine Fattouh’s limited edition, wonderfully feminine wallpaper entitled “The Artist is Present” (2019) produced by Studiocurart.
– Videography artists are getting more and more mainstream.
– In the future, people will see more, different challenges in design projects and then introduce different mediums to solve them, broadening the art and design spectrum.
Can you share 5 of your most inspirational IG accounts?
Larry’s List (seriously!)
Martin Morrell
The Design Release
Friedman Benda
Misha Kahn
Be sure to keep an eye out for updates on the launch of our WeChat channel where LARRY’S LIST and Chris Shao will be working together to deliver insights into all things art and design.
All photographs courtesy of Chris Shao.
Related: Chris Shao Studio
Instagram: @chris.c.shao, @chris.shao.studio
A selection of artists and designers featured in Chris’ designs and collection:
Alma Allen
Han Bing
Louisa Gagliardi
Austin Lee
Vincent Pocsik
Kathleen Ryan
Brecht Wright Gander
By Jamie Bennett
