At the most exclusive parties in the world of art and fashion, his culinary installations they are an immediate icebreaker. In front of long braids of mozzarella, marzipan sculptures, packets of butter and pastries, “guests can only go back to being children”, he smiles Laila Gohar from the kitchen of his loft. The Egyptian-born artist skillfully transforms trays of boiled potatoes into something chic and desirable. «I like working with basic ingredients, most people consider them boring, but that’s where imagination comes in», he says, «I like to inspire wonder and interaction». His work is a way to bringing people together, creating delightful, unusual and new experiences.
As soon as you enter its loft a Tribeca the selection of objects, furnishings and toys – they belong to Paz, the one and a half year old son she had with chef Ignacio Mattos – immediately puts you at ease. «Usually those with small children live in more structured apartments, we like to live like this, in one airy and open space» says Gohar. «Obviously, sometimes I want a door to slam in the face of those who make me angry, but I love this one fluid dimensionwhere every object, every detail, is part of a whole.”
The Kitchen it fits into the dining room, which in turn fits into the living room. Everything feeds into each other. «The loft in some ways remained as it was. Almost all of these former industrial spaces are renovated with luxurious finishes, losing character. I’m allergic to marble and precious metals”, she says, looking towards the two magnetic neoclassical busts leaning outside the windows, on the fire escapes. “They followed us into this house too,” he smiles. The interiors slowly came to life.
I love this fluid dimension where every object, every detail is part of a single whole
The dining table is of Sabine Marcelisa friend with whom Gohar has collaborated on several projects. Many lamps by the German designer Ingo Maurer “We lived in his apartment in Lispenard street, it’s nice to remember him among his lights.” The wall lamp between the kitchen and the dining table is a piece from the Marrow collection designed by Rafael Prieto. «I had cooked the osso buco and at the end of dinner Rafael continued to observe and touch the remaining bones. He asked me if he could take them home. From there the idea of the collection was born. When my son was born he gave me one as a gift,” she says.
Among the eighties animalier chairs in the dining area, the gelatinous armchair by Gaetano Pesce inherited from a friend, the egg holder candelabra Of Gohar World and the long blood red curtain, Gohar’s surrealist touch is a perfect glue. It is no coincidence that in October the English auction house Sotheby’s called her to set up the inauguration event of the surrealism auction and the new headquarters in Paris. «It’s beautiful when furniture, objects and art communicate with each other. In the same way I like it when there is tension between things.” What never fails is theintimacy and a profound sensuality in everything he creates, whether dinners at home with friends or monumental installations for clients, including luxury brands such as Prada and Hermès.
Born in 1988 in Cairo, to an Egyptian father and a mother of Turkish origin, Gohar moved to America at 19 thanks to a scholarship from the University of Miami. «I didn’t know anyone, there was no social media, I felt like I was on the moonfar from everything. So free.” After college, it’s time for New York to attend a media studies program at Parsons School of Design. «At the same time I worked in the kitchens of some restaurants in Manhattan, then things evolved spontaneously», he explains. In New York the number of guests at his dinners continued to grow, thanks to word of mouth, encouraged by friends, especially in the world of fashion.
Con the stylist Simone Rocha Gohar has been collaborating for years, “we speak the same language”, he says. Last year for the show ECHO on the connection between clothing and memory, Rocha invited Laila Gohar to contribute a piece: una children’s quilt made of a particular bread Iranian sewn and mended. «The bread, the bed and quilt are a symbol of my primordial need to keep newborn babies warm and nourished.” Great sensitivity and, lately, closeness to Egyptian roots: «Not in the dishes I cook, but in the culture of hospitality, welcome, generosity. It’s a big part of my life. Another way of host».
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