Professional Documents
Culture Documents
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
More Restaurant Launches in Iconic International Landmark
Diners Will Enjoy Modern American Cuisine, Contemporary Artwork and Elegant
Atmosphere
The Wright embraces the cosmopolitan excitement of today’s New York. Designed in white
by architect Andre Kikoski—who was inspired by the original Wright museum design—the
restaurant decor is contemporary and chic. A modern American menu created by David
Bouley protégé, Rodolfo Contreras, emphasizes seasonal, local, and sustainable ingredients,
appealing to savvy palates of New Yorkers and discerning travelers from around the globe.
The Wright promises to become a “must-see” destination.
The Wright combines an upscale atmosphere with a sleek, modern, and comfortable venue,
comprising 58 seats and a communal table where guests can enjoy a full-service menu. A
casual, European-style bar that features small plates, panini sandwiches, espresso, and
cocktails serves as a lively focal point of the space.
“Inspired by and created within an institution renowned for its art, architecture and
innovation, The Wright will extend that experience to its food and service,” said Aaron
Breitman, director of the new restaurant. “The Wright will appeal to neighbors seeking stylish
and sophisticated dining as well as visitors who want to experience the thrill of New York in
one of the city’s greatest cultural treasures.”
Located in the landmark Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue at 88th Street, The Wright is
open during the following times:
The Design
The Wright at the Guggenheim is designed by Andre Kikoski Architect, a Manhattan-based
architecture and design firm named one of “The New Garde of Ten Designers to Watch” by
New York magazine.
The 1,600-square-foot space features a curvilinear wall of walnut, layered with illuminated
fiber-optics, a bar clad in a shimmering skin of innovative custom metalwork and topped in
seamless white Corian, a sweeping banquette with vivid blue leather seating backed by
illuminated planes of a woven gray texture, and a layered ceiling canopy of taut white
membrane.
Andre Kikoski Architect's design philosophy for The Wright engages the heightened sense of
procession that is essential to the experience of the Guggenheim and the dynamic perception
of art that it fosters. Surfaces and textures are animated by movement, creating an ever-
changing fluid aesthetic that is an essential part of the design.
The Art
In summer 2009, the Guggenheim commissioned British-born artist Liam Gillick (b. 1964) to
develop a sculptural installation for The Wright. Gillick navigates across a broad range of
disciplines, developing his ideas through texts as well as object-based installations. His
commissioned work, The horizon produced by a factory once it had stopped producing views
(2009), traces the restaurant’s distinct architectural space. Conceived as a sculpture that can
be expanded or contracted to fit any designated space, this piece comprises a sequence of
horizontal planks of powder-coated aluminum mounted to the walls and ceiling; a similarly
constructed transparent screen marks the entrance to site. The resulting room-size installation
creates a modular skin on the interior’s surface, its parallel beams meant to be understood,
according to the artist, as “a series of horizons.”
The horizon reflects Gillick’s interest in “modes of production rather than consumption” and
is part of an ongoing narrative begun in 2004 that centers on a future post-capitalist society.
With this work, Gillick invokes the horizontal vista as a space where visitors can reflect and
discuss how the built environment structures and patterns everyday lives.
The horizon produced by a factory once it had stopped producing views (2009) was
purchased with funds contributed by Restaurant Associates and the International Directors
Council of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and is a partial gift of Casey Kaplan and
the artist.
#1151
December 8, 2009
Contacts
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Betsy Ennis
212 423 3840
pressoffice@guggenheim.org
The Wright
Karen Mazzotta
212 905 3235
karen@philandcompany.com