Artful Contemporary
Open spaces and clean lines enhance a glorious art collection in a modern desert home
MOCA Opens Its Doors
Since its inception in 1999, MOCA—the Museum of Contemporary Art—has occupied a number of temporary and roving spaces throughout Tucson. In February, MOCA proudly opened the doors of its new permanent location. “We’ve moved into our first real home,” says Executive Director and Chief Curator Anne-Marie Russell. The Neo-Brutalist building that now houses MOCA is a former fire station designed by William Wilde.
MOCA’s inaugural gala, held on February 6, honored Swiss-born conceptual artist Olivier Mosset, a member of the Radical Painting Group of Paris who now lives in Tucson. The evening began with a members-only Champagne curator tour. Dinner and dancing followed during the elegant black-tie event.
MOCA’s mission is twofold: “The museum celebrates innovation and creativity in all fields,” observes Russell, “and it provides a platform for emerging artists of all ages.” Exhibitions and residencies proffer a wide range of contemporary art in various media and special events on subjects ranging from science and literature to music and design. “We especially like to present artists talking about artists,” comments Russell.
MOCA’s gift shop provides a rare Southern Arizona venue for modernist and contemporary design objects. The museum is also committed to cultivating the next generation of cultural leadership in Tucson. To that end, it has instituted the MOCA NEXT Initiative guided by the NEXT board. “The board is composed of emerging community leaders who understand and appreciate the value of a cultural institution devoted to new art and new ideas,” explains Russell.
For Martha Macks-Kahn, her home is a work of art. When building this stunning desert contemporary, the professional art advisor and gallery owner created spaces specifically to showcase her highly informed art collection. Each step takes visitors to another encounter with top-notch art, modernist furnishings, and inventive finishes.
"I would call the house Southwestern-minimalist-contemporary," explains Macks-Kahn, who specializes in modern and contemporary art. "I tried to be clean in design and less decorative. Everything is useful—there's zero wasted space." Space functions as another artistic element throughout the house, with its uncluttered planes and sharp right angles. Matte-finished walls serve as a backdrop for showstopping canvases and inventive sculptures representing artists from around the globe. "Each wall was treated as a distinct element," says Macks-Kahn. Floors feature poured concrete in graphite tones; standard baseboards are replaced by recessed aluminum, providing yet another contemporary element. "My theory is that a home has to look beautiful empty," she insists.
Macks-Kahn, who built the home with her husband, Dr. Peter Kahn, worked closely with Tucson architect Kevin Howard, known for his finely tuned modernist sensibilities. "It was a real collaboration and a wonderful experience," comments Macks-Kahn. "He said he learned as much from me as I learned from him." Clean lines carry over from the pearl gray exterior, to a smoother variant on stucco, and into the interior where windows play an integral role in the overall effect. "The house faces north," notes Macks-Kahn. "It's the best light for art." She also kept the innate power of the desert scenery in mind at every turn: "The house is very much a site-specific sculpture."
The elongated lines of the great room offer a prime example of Macks-Kahn's penchant for art functioning with design. Above a predominantly—and intentionally—horizontal fireplace hangs a mammoth abstract, The Sunrise Ruby by Louise Fishman. "The great room space was built around that painting," observes the homeowner. "It worked so well with the natural colors of the landscape." Moving from room to room, guests become aware of the symbiotic relationship between the art and the furnishings. "Sculpturally, it was important to me to have consistency throughout the house," she explains. "I see furniture as functional sculpture."
In addition to collecting art, Macks-Kahn also possesses a broad knowledge of modernist design in furnishings. In the kitchen, a vintage George Nelson table sits below an O-Space pendant lamp by Luca Nichetto and Giampietro Gai. "The lamp is very sculptural," she says. "At night it looks like a flying saucer." Meanwhile, a geometric canvas by David Shapiro offers a subtle yet perfect backdrop on one wall. "The Keane chairs around the table are from California," she points out. "They sold for $14 in the 1950s." This tableau provides a microcosm of Macks-Kahn's general approach, as contemporary art offsets classic modernist furnishings.
For example, an Eames lounge chair and Saarinen side table provide midcentury comfort in a den, while one of Arne Jacobsen's curvaceous Swan chairs sits by a desk. "I search a lot on the Internet to find things," she admits. In the master bedroom, an iconic Mies van der Rohe lounge rests among some truly breathtaking contemporary art, including a brilliant canvas Greens Adjacent to Red Earth by Suzan Frecon. "That artist has been chosen for the Whitney Museum's biennial show this spring," indicates Macks-Kahn. One of the home's most striking pieces also resides in the master bedroom, the luminous Front and Center, an oil painting by the homeowner.
In one seating area, the warm tones of a mid-century Brazilian wood-and-glass table—brilliant in its asymmetric design—echo the earthen hues of a soft abstract painting by Madeleine Keesing hovering above a cushy sofa. "Some wonderful Latin designers did their own mid-century furniture but with a South American twist," says Macks-Kahn. "I found that table on eBay." In a hallway, the eye triangulates among three powerful works. On a shelf on one wall, a salvaged-objects sculpture by Willie Cole titled Tji Wara reflects his interest in other cultures, as bicycle parts re-create a 19th-century African Bamana headress. On another wall, Kate Shepherd's glossy The Red Sea picks up the red elements in Cole's sculpture. "She's someone I have sold to collectors," notes Macks-Kahn. Playful sculptures known as "trash stones" by Wilhelm Mundt draw the eye down to the floor and back to Cole's sculpture. "The art talks to each other," she observes. "It's all about placement—which is my specialty."
The dining area provides another example of the homeowner's astute sense of placement and design. Afloating server set into a rectangular niche boasts a thick limestone slab top and sleek stainless steel drawers. Above it, Robert Moskowitz's dark yet playful oil, Untitled with Dog, repeats the server's basic form. An elongated dining table in rich American walnut further emphasizes the horizontal shapes and is surrounded by some original Nakashima dining chairs from 1948.
Three vintage Venini glass lamps—Macks-Kahn found them at a home sale at Christie's—provide warm tones above the table. Although their globes were intact, in every other way they were, she says, "a mess." She had them completely rewired, replaced their original chains, and then had them hung like mid-century lamps on wires. "They provide a point of color," she adds.
Macks-Kahn also designed the unique rectangular steel hardware that graces the oak cabinetry in the kitchen. "I found someone who does steel work," she recalls. "No detail was left untouched." Astainless steel island with a granite top offers another contemporary element in the kitchen: "The idea was for the island to float in the middle of the room."
Art also functions as a transition between interior and exterior spaces. Abright yellow sculpture by British artist Julian Opie reveals the white outline of a reclining nude: she appears on both sides of the form, which sits right in front of the massive windows opening from the great room out to the pool. "Visually, it works as an indoor-outdoor draw," says Macks-Kahn. The Opie also pulls the eye out to the pool and Brazilian sculptor Saint Clair Cemin's vibrant green Supercula.
"Martha is a sophisticated collector," confirms Anne-Marie Russell, executive director and chief curator of Tucson's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). "Being an artist herself gives her both empathy and insight into the creative process." Russell adds that Macks-Kahn possesses a "great spirit of humanism" in her approach to living with art, and she lauds her "level of detail" in mixing unique objects and furnishings.
Russell points to some small negativespace sculptures by Rachel Whiteread hanging near a light switch as representative of the homeowner's careful eye: "That's a playful and intelligent installation showing Martha really enjoys living with art." In all of the home's art, Russell sees evidence of the myriad approaches taken by artists, dealers, and museums toward collecting. "Martha has all these elements in her collections," she says.
Looking at Macks-Kahn's eclectic art, one senses that the entire home, and everything in it, constitutes its own work of art. "These are artists I either represent or admire and want in my own collections," explains Macks-Kahn. Taking in the art in such an appropriate setting, how can one help but feel the same way?