Nancy Gabriel and Guillaume Excoffier are the duo behind the ephemeral, collectible design gallery, [Gabriel & Guillaume](https://gabrieletguillaume.com/). Combining contemporary pieces and vintage treasures, the two curate an array of diverse spaces in Beirut, Paris, and now, New York City.
At the never-before-seen Landmark Penthouse atop Steinway Hall (111 West 57th Street), Gabriel & Guillaume share their most recent gallery, including works by Jean Michel Othoniel, Hans Hartung, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Diane Arbus. **_Flaunt_** spoke with Nancy and Guillaume to discuss their New York debut.
**_How do your curated pieces inform the space that's chosen for each gallery?_**
Our pieces truly give life to the space. It's not only about furnishing, it's also about curating a whole decor. We bring furniture from the 19th through the 21st century, and we also have Cueto Art Advisory who curated the art for the space. We also bring books and objects so that when you enter the space at 111 W 57th, you really feel you are entering the home of a sophisticated international collector. The building is a 1920s NYC landmark built for Steinway, so we wanted to emphasize that glamorous heritage.
**_What informed the Landmark Penthouse location?_**
We participated for the first time this November in the great fair, Salon Art + Design, in NYC. We wanted to have the opportunity to show more pieces and for more than four days, to become better acquainted with the NYC collectors. That's how we met Guillaume Coutheillas, who offered us to exhibit in the amazing Penthouse at 111 W 57th St.
**_What's your favorite piece from the current gallery?_**
Nancy: I would choose the Gio Ponti Library from the late 1930s in collaboration with Fontana Arte. It's a unique piece, a true statement piece in a drawing-room, and it has this great look with the door covered in striped red and white silk.
Guillaume: I'd go for the Garouste & Bonetti Sofa. I absolutely love this work edited by Galerie En attendant Les Barbares, around 1990. It's very delicate and so comfy with the great shearling upholstery.
**_Eclecticism is the defining thread throughout all your exhibitions. What are your favorite movements or artists to pair together? What are your favorite movements or artists paired in this exhibit?_**
Right now, we have a passion for late 1980s / early 1990s design. We collect a lot of pieces by Galerie Neotu, the French pioneer gallery, who was the first to edit what would later be called « design art » and launched the careers of Garouste & Bonetti or Martin Szekely.
Many of their pieces are very surprising, and it's often hard to point out their period if you've never seen them before. And we think they pair very well with other periods. For instance, Garouste & Bonetti's silver cabinet, as it is whimsical, looks brilliant mixed with the more modernist Brazilian armchairs from José Zanine Caldas, or Carlo Hauner & Martin Eisler.
We also love the Carlo Bugatti fireplace, which is from 1900, and is a mix of Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese influences, and is so unique in its style, that it goes with anything from 18th-century antiques to contemporary design!
**_First Beirut, then Paris, and now New York City. Where to next?_**
2020 is a great year for us! First, we are going to San Francisco for another exhibition with FrenchCalifornia in a penthouse in Mission - it's opening in June, and it will stay open for nine months. And in October, we participate for the first time to PAD London, the leading European design fair!
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