Kim Schoenstadt, _Enter Slowly Legacy_, 2021 Acrylic paint on wall, 138 x 240 in. Installation image at ArtCenter’s Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery, Pasadena, CA. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Los Angeles-based artist [Kim Scho](https://www.kimschoenstadt.com)[enstadt](https://www.kimschoenstadt.com) began researching women architects in 2019. One name kept making itself known to her, over, and over again—Eileen Gray.
A bisexual Irish architect in the 20s through the 40s, Gray is better known by some for her iconic chrome side table. To Schoenstadt, the architect has become much more than that. She’s a visionary, a romantic and above all, a genius. “I've just became obsessed,” Schoenstadt says. “It's fun, because instead of looking at what is existing, I'm really thinking about the potential of one's life.”
Kim Schoenstadt, _Sightline_ _Series_: _Rhein 2_, 2013, Drawing and paper collage on archival postcard reproduction. 12-3/4 x 17-3/4 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
_Enter Slowly Series_ Installation image at ArtCenter’s Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery, Pasadena, CA. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Kim Schoenstadt, _Enter Slowly_ _Series_: _Castellar Conversation_, 2021. Acrylic and embroidery floss on canvas duck. 13 x 18-3/4 x 1-1/2 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Opened on September 23 at the [Peter and M](http://www.artcenter.edu/about/campus/south-campus/facilities/peter-and-merle-mullin-gallery.html)[erle Mullin](http://www.artcenter.edu/about/campus/south-campus/facilities/peter-and-merle-mullin-gallery.html) [Gallery](http://www.artcenter.edu/about/campus/south-campus/facilities/peter-and-merle-mullin-gallery.html) and presented by ArtCenter College of Design, _Enter Slowly, The Legacy_ _of an Idea_ is a grand nod to Gray. With easter eggs of Gray’s work and personal quirks interlaced into her art, Schoenstadt embodies the architect in a fresh and modern take. From embroidery pieces based on rugs and paint spills that look like potions, the exhibit helps trace the life of Gray.
“I was also looking at…Chinese Scholars’ \[rocks\]. They are a meditative space, a complex form that every time you look at it you see something new, it's meant to inspire different ideas. I wanted to try and embrace that, that kind of thinking or kind of recreate that kind of moment on Belgian linen,” Schoenstadt explains. “These rug works are really more abstract, but also relating to the chaos of \[Eileen Gray’s\] life and her moment.”
Kim Schoenstadt, _Enter Slowly_ _Series_: _Tango Conversation_, 2021. Acrylic and embroidery floss on Belgian linen, 18-1/2 x 30 x 1-1/2 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Known for her large-scale wall drawings engaging with architecture and sculpture, Schoenstadt’s previous works include projects like 2016’s _Now Be Here_, a photograph which featured nearly 1,000 women-identifying and non-binary artists. _Now Be Here_ would then go on to become an arts organization, hosting a directory of women-identifying and non-binary artists, promoting their works and giving those a stage who otherwise may not have had one.
Schoenstadt’s art is purposeful, with just the right amount of color to bring life into Gray’s work. In the focal point of the exhibition is the house that Gray and her lover, Jean Badovici, built together in Roquebrun-Cap-Martin, France. The house, referred to as E-1027—E standing for Eileen, 10 for J (Jean), 2 for B (Badovici), and 7 for G (Gray)—is filled with innovative spaces and hidden script throughout.
Just like a remix of a song, the artist adds to the exploration of Gray’s E-1027, combining architecture of homes and buildings like Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, DC or Galileo Observatory in Argentina, and placing them in topsy-turvy ways on beautiful landscapes via works from her postcard series that surround the exhibition.
Kim Schoenstadt _Enter Slowly, The Legacy of an Idea_ is open through February 27, 2022 at Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery.
Kim Schoenstadt, _Sightline_ _Series_: _Antigua, W.I._, 2013, Drawing and paper collage on archival postcard reproduction, 12-3/4 x 17-3/4 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Kim Schoenstadt, _Enter Slowly_ _Series_: _St. Tropez Conversation_, 2021. Acrylic and embroidery floss on Belgian linen. 35 x 21-1/2 x 1-1/2 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Kim Schoenstadt, _Enter Slowly_ _Series_: _Centimeter Conversation_, 2021, Acrylic and embroidery floss on Belgian linen, 20 x 32 x 1 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
Kim Schoenstadt, _Sightline_ _Series_: _Nuremberg 1_, 2013. Drawing and paper collage on archival postcard reproduction. 12-3/4 x 17-3/4 in. Courtesy of the Artist, Annie Wharton Art Consulting, and ArtCenter College of Design. Photo Credit: Ruben Diaz.
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