Incollect Magazine - Issue 15

Incollect Magazine 13 F or the past twenty-five years, Wexler Gallery has occupied a distinctive place in the American art and design world. Long before “collectible design” became a widely used term, the Philadelphia gallery championed artists whose work blurred the boundaries between art, craft, and design. Today, as those distinctions have largely disappeared, the gallery’s approach seems prescient. “Being a successful design dealer is part Jewish mother, part shrink, and part P. T. Barnum,” jokes founder Lewis Wexler, who established the gallery with his wife and business partner, Sherri Apter Wexler. That success has depended on recognizing talent early on while building a market for work that initially sat outside conventional categories. Their vision reached a new milestone in 2023 with the opening of the gallery’s 11,000-square-foot headquarters in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood. Housed in a renovated by Benjamin Genocchio • photos courtesy Wexler Gallery Left: Sherri Apter Wexler and Lewis Wexler in their 11,000-square-foot gallery, a former pretzel factory, in the Fishtown area of Philadelphia. Photo: Josh Gaddy Photography, courtesy Wexler Gallery. industrial warehouse, today, Wexler Gallery is recognized as one of the country’s leading advocates for design artists working across a wide variety of material-based practices. From the beginning, the gallery rejected traditional divisions between fine art and the decorative arts. “The gallery emerged from a conviction that the future of collecting would not be constrained by the boundaries that had long divided visual art from design,” Wexler says. “From the very beginning we wanted to create a platform that reflected the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of contemporary practice.” Philadelphia proved an ideal home for that vision. The city’s long tradition of craftsmanship is supported by institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, and the Tyler School of Art. It also has a rich legacy of studio makers living nearby, from George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Paul Evans, and Toshiko Takaezu. The gallery’s roster now includes more than thirty artists and designers from over a dozen countries, among them Andy Paiko, Jomo Tariku, Trent Jansen, Daniel Shapiro, Richard Haining, Sofia Karakatsanis, and Marcus Vinicius De Paula. “I spent many years specializing in glass and ceramics, so I’ll always have a particular affection for artists working in those materials,” Wexler says. “But what excites me most today is the extraordinary diversity of creative thinking happening around the world.” That international outlook has given the gallery an unusually broad program. Exhibitions regularly explore sustainability, material innovation, cultural identity, and the relationship between traditional craftsmanship and new technologies. Australian designer Trent Jansen exemplifies that approach. His furniture transforms discarded materials into sophisticated contemporary design while addressing environmental concerns and Australian cultural history. For Wexler, the work represents the kind of thinking the gallery has long championed. “We first encountered Trent’s work at Design Miami,” he recalls. “What impressed me wasn’t simply the craftsmanship but the strength of the ideas behind it.” International art fairs have played an important role in expanding the gallery’s audience. Regular participation in Design Miami and Salon Art + Design has introduced its artists to collectors, architects, and designers from around the world. Throughout its history, Wexler Gallery has remained committed to artists who combine technical skill with original ideas. That philosophy has become increasingly relevant as greater value is placed on handmade production, sustainable practices, and works that reflect cultural narratives. The gallery expanded its reach in 2020 with a location at the New York Design Center, and has maintained an online storefront on Incollect.com since 2018.