Bellorado-Samuels stands in front of the living room mirror.
Seth Caplan
On the library wall the artwork is by (top, left to right) Joe Guerrero, Paul Anthony Smith, Charisse Pearlina Weston, Chioma Ebinama, William Rhodes, Malick Sidibé, Barkley L. Hendricks, Felipe Baeza, William Cordova, Charisse Pearlina Weston, Barkley L. Hendricks, William Rhodes, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Kerry James Marshall.
Seth Caplan. ART: Jose Guerrero. © Paul Anthony Smith / Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Charisse Pearlina Weston / Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and Patron Gallery, Chicago. Chioma Ebinama / Maureen Paley, London. William Rhodes. © Malick Sidibé / Malick Sidibé and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Barkley L. Hendricks / Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Felipe Baez. © Kerry James Marshall / Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Barkley L. Hendricks / Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Toyin Ojih Odutola / Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Throughout the two-bedroom apartment, which Bellorado-Samuels renovated over the course of four years, the concept triumphs over comfort. There are the mirrors, of course, that line a wall at one end of the open-plan living area, adding dimension and reflecting the room and windows. In the extra bedrooms, storage was sacrificed in favor of wall space. In Bellorado-Samuels’s own bedroom, the television is stashed under the bed and works by Barkley Hendricks, Sadie Barnett, and Charisse Pearlina Weston take pride of place. The second bedroom was turned over to a custom bookshelf that took ten months to develop with a millworker, Paul Finsterwald, whom she met through the gallery.
That instinct to prioritize pieces with meaning and sentiment has roots in San Francisco, where Bellorado-Samuels grew up. Her father, Joe Sam, was a political activist and artist who often worked with found materials. “We would go to the train tracks and collect things for his art that would end up on the kitchen table,” she remembers. “There’s a certain practice of care you develop in just loving objects and the things that you live with. All you need is a little bit of restraint and you’re golden.”
In the living room, the wall of mirrors is by HMH Architectural metal and glass and the daybed is from CB2. The vintage armchair is by Rodolfo Bonetto for Driade. The artwork (left) is by Sadie Barnette. The side table Bellorado-Samuels is a former Brooklyn school classroom from Bedford Galleries. It is topped with an antique women’s cowry shell and fiber wedding veil from Papua New Guinea and a light sculpture by Nandi Loaf.
Seth Caplan. ART: © Barkley L. Hendricks / Estate of Barkley L.
Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Sadie Barnette.