Interior Design Magazine (September 1995) "A conceptual relationship between realist art and design links a gallery's products with its interior" by Andrea Loukin At the Tatistcheff Gallery in New York the traditional "Don't touch!" mentality is gone. The 80's are over and pretension is passé. When Peter Tatistcheff decided to renovate his gallery to reflect market changes, he chose the youthful design team of Harry Elson and Jason Gold. The gallery owner was confident that the architects could help him identify with a new generation of potential buyers yet not alienate his existing clientele. Elson and Gold first turned to the realist artwork in the gallery for inspiration. "We asked Peter what really turned people on to this kind of art and he said that his customers were initially attracted to the realism, but the true devotees always came close to see the obsessively crafted quality of the work," i.e. the many tiny, two dimensional brush or pencil strokes that compose the three dimensional effect, explained Elson. "We wanted to recreate this same sense of discovery, but in an opposite way, by making a three dimensional object first appear two dimensional," says Gold. He refers specifically to the reception desk/work galley, set down "like a pebble in water" in the middle of the 1,000- sq.-ft. space. From the entrance, a few feet away, the unit seems flat and rather graphic; upon approach, multitude of shifting planes and subtle angles become apparent, as does the depth and pattern in the natural materials. More literally and to connote warmth, the unit was intended to recall a hearth and chimney. On a functional level, this construction offers division without barrier. It allows the director and owner places to work and have client meetings without blocking the views to customers, or the customers' view to artwork behind. Although the form of the unit, in its novelty, is appealing to a younger clientele, the architects and owner agree that the "exquisite materiality" as Gold puts it, of cherry, anigre, steel, kirkstone, concrete, plastic laminate and glass, and obvious quality of the craftsmanship that enabled the designers to create so many complex angles, appeal to the more traditional sensibilities.