The Artist (left):
Virgil Marti: “A lot of my work is thinking of something from a very high art form and something similar from my middle-class background. They’re sculptures, but in another way, they’re just lamps. The distinction between art and design has bugged me, and I’d just as soon straddle it.”
The Work:
Large Chandelier (Red Stag and Anemones, Reversed) (2004). Virgil Marti resin antler-and-flower chandelier, $35,000. (Marti is represented by the Elizabeth Dee Gallery, 545 West 20th Street.)
The Collector (right):
Tony Podesta: “We paid a studio visit, and decided it would be fun to commission a chandelier for our apartment in Venice. Venice is to some extent a fantasyland, and we thought his fantastic visions would go well there.”