Bergdorf Goodman’s 2022 artist exhibitor Kristin Simmons is bringing a colorful installation to the retailer’s Fifth Avenue flagship. Starting Thursday through March 20, the New York-based artist will welcome visitors to her interactive exhibition, “Obsessions and Confessions,” spanning the store’s seventh floor. Comprised of several “rooms,” the whimsical exhibition takes cues from Bergdorf Goodman through original pieces and games like a Swarovski-adorned “candy” machine filled with Botox vials and BG-branded vitamins, and a playable arcade claw machine stocked with lip-shaped pouches.
“Artists are not traditionally ‘supposed’ to be lovers of luxury or focus on conspicuous consumption in order to be taken seriously, but who makes those rules and why can’t we change them? For me, it’s all about superseding societal stereotypes and wanting viewers to expect the unexpected,” Simmons says. “‘Obsessions & Confessions’ juxtaposes cultural symbols of success, status, power and pleasure with underlying societal critiques. It’s a metaphorical sugar rush of brilliant colors and pithy witticisms that examines conspicuous consumption and also pokes fun at my own appetite for luxury.”
Original works on view are available to purchase for $3,000 to $60,000, and for $2 visitors can play the claw game for a chance to win one of Simmons’ works. A portion of proceeds from the exhibition will benefit Free Arts NYC, a nonprofit that provides arts mentorship for underserved youth across New York City. “Art is something everyone should be able to experience no matter who or where you are,” Simmons adds.
