Onna House is excited to announce the launch of Onna House Soho, a new gallery located in the heart of Manhattan. Spearheaded by Onna House founder Lisa Perry, this new experimental space will provide a platform to exclusively exhibit and celebrate women artists, while functioning as a site for communal gathering and an expansive series of events. This new location not only marks the continuation of Onna House’s specialization in works of craft, but also highlights Perry’s ongoing mission to support women’s rights in the art and design worlds.
Located at 383 West Broadway in Soho, Onna House Soho is the next chapter for a storied loft in a historic building, originally home to OK Harris, a gallery founded in 1969 by Ivan C. Karp, a former Co-Director of the Leo Castelli Gallery, which was among the first galleries to open in Soho and helped transform the neighborhood into a vibrant center for contemporary art.
The gallery, divided into several cozy rooms, has been imagined as the urban equivalent of Onna House in East Hampton. It features a central lounge area beneath a row of windows that fill the entire room with natural light, along with a tea room enclosed by shoji screens, which will anchor the main room. The tea room will also feature extensive wall space for the exhibition and display of unique works in ceramic by a rotating group of women artists. In addition to highlighting and collaborating with local, New York City-based artists, Onna House Soho will also offer artist made jewelry and standout pieces of vintage furniture and accessories from a collection that Perry has built from her years of traveling. Adjoining the main room will be an additional gallery space where visitors may stumble upon an afternoon game of mahjong. Very much the game of the moment, Perry is carrying on a tradition and love of the game from her mother.
Onna House Soho will exhibit the work of dozens of artists, including Jessie Mordine Young, Kaori Tatebayashi and Katie Grove. Mordine Young uses textile to think, feel and remember, channeling her experiences through a daily practice of weaving. Her works incorporate color, handspun natural dyes, glass beads, dried flowers, shells and other fragments. Born in Arita, Japan, the historic center of porcelain, Tatebayashi grew up around her grandfather’s wholesale porcelain trade, eventually moving to England where she first came to consider ceramics as being more than functional objects. She uses England’s abundant botanicals to handbuild delicate porcelain sculptures. For Tatebayashi, clay behaves like plant life: vital and shifting in its raw state, hollow and permanent after the fire. Tucked away in an upstate New York hideaway, Grove brings the outside in through foraged raw materials, gently deconstructing what the land offers and recomposes it into new forms. Bark seamlessly becomes baskets, while logs magically transform into sculpture.
As with its other location in East Hampton, Onna House Soho will offer time and space to further a dialogue around women's rights that feels simultaneously personal and political, intentionally designed to feel like a communal home: as a welcoming and inclusive space where people can come together, learn about and support the careers of women artists.
“Life comes full circle and I’m thrilled to be launching Onna House Soho in the space where I started my fashion line nearly 20 years ago," said Perry. "This loft, where so many creative ideas and innovative designs were born, holds a dear place in my heart. Now, the doors will open to a new gallery that will allow us to support an exciting group of women artists and designers as they work to leave their mark.”
Onna House is a beautifully restored modernist home built in the 1960’s filled with unique art pieces, furniture and objects. The mission of Onna House is to create visibility and appreciation for the work of women artists and designers.
This video was created for the 12th Annual Hamptons Innovation in Design Awards (IDAs), which celebrates outstanding design in the Hamptons. Last year, HC&G honored Lisa Perry as the 2024 Innovator Award Recipient for her visionary work in founding Onna House.
The video offers a glimpse into the vibrant and collaborative community that is Onna House. Through the voices and stories featured, the video reflects the profound impact this space has had on artists, designers, and art enthusiasts alike.
An Event with Onna House Artists
From left to right:
Back row: Nicole Corbett, Toni Ross, Saskia Friedrich, Candace Hill-Montgomery, Sabra Moon Elliot, Almond Zigmund, Adrienne Fierman, Lisbeth McCoy, Erica-Lynn Huberty, Maryellen Bartley, Patricia Udell
Front row: Linda Miller, Jerelyn Hanrahan, Lisa Perry, Amy Wickersham, Michele Pred, Kelly Tapìa-Chuning, Claire Watson