Le Cabinet de Curiosites at NY Mercantile Exchange

 Stroll into a historical financial building in Tribeca and enter into a dark fantasy.  The New York Mercantile Exchange building is currently hosting an elegant, unusual exhibit presented by the Malborough and Steinitz galleries.

The unique show is the collaboration of artists, Thierry Despont, Manolo Valdes and Claudio Bravo.  The show is intended to be a multi-layered experience to evoke wonder in the viewer.  It features a mix of opulent antiques, like Napoleon Bonaparte's Empire table,gigantic celestial paintings, preserved insects, fantasy creatures made of found objects.

Had I had to room to do so, I would have twirled around the floor, but the opening of the exhibit attracted an equally sophisticated crowd. Artists like Cindy Sherman and Mario Testino mingled with Princess Firyal of Jordan and Baroness Sheri De Borchgrave.

The multiple rooms had the macabre ambience of Victorian mystery and scientific discoveries of worlds past.  Gilded, but aged walls.  Treasures with a dark edge.

The exhibit runs until January 31, 2012.  It is located on the 2nd floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange Building at 6 Harrison Street.  Admission is free and open to the public.