Serge Becker

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Serge Becker
Serge Becker Portrait.jpg
Serge Becker
Born1961 (age 63–64)
Paris, France
NationalitySwiss
Education Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich
Occupation(s)Creative director, nightlife & restaurant designer, impresario

Serge Becker (born in Paris) is a Swiss creative director, nightlife and hospitality designer and impresario. He is known for his irreverent approach to design, adventurous programming of venues, and a multicultural audience. Becker is part of a second wave of New York City restaurateurs, who incorporated nightlife and theatrical elements into their design-driven venues. A tightly curated guest list, staff casting, styling, and expert music selection were essential elements to this generation of hospitality operators, in addition to the traditional culinary focus. Becker, in particular, is known for using vernacular design references and transforming previously "undesirable spaces and locations" with a Cinderella effect. Becker was dubbed a "Cultural Engineer" by André Balazs in the New York Times [1] for his innovative creations and prescient timing.

Contents

Biography

Born in Paris in 1961 and raised in Zürich from age 8. Serge Becker is the son of Ruth Becker, a Swiss Theatre and TV administrator, and a Vietnamese Father. He studied graphic design at Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich from 1977 to 1982.

While studying, he worked at night as a DJ at popular local clubs. Together with photographer Pietro Mattioli he selected records at one of Zürich's early punk evenings, documented in the book 1977. [2] In the early 80's he started to book early New York City rap performers like Kurtis Blow, Davey D, and Grandmaster DST to help introduce this burgeoning culture to Switzerland.

Inspired by that raw energy, he moved to New York City in 1982, where he started a 3-year stint as art director at the art nightclub AREA. This led to a 15-year-long creative partnership with AREA co-founder Eric Goode. Together they designed and operated seminal New York City clubs and restaurants, directed music videos, and produced art and photography.

In 1998, Becker joined George C. Wolfe, Josh Pickard, and Paul Salmon to open Joe's Pub at The Public Theater. The same year, he started the multi-disciplinary design firm Can Resources with architect Derek Sanders and creative director Lisa Ano. The office designed multiple commercial and residential project,s including the beloved Flower Box Building in the East Village.

In 2000, Ano and Becker also launched the critically acclaimed cult magazine List, a publication presenting all content in list format. It was an instant hit, but the magazine and Can Resources both fell victim to the dot-com bubble crash and 9/11.

In 2004, Becker and Sanders joined artists Thomas Sandbichler and Jeff Gompertz to open the multi-media art club Volume in North Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The short-lived venue was a trailblazer for the neighborhood's future development and set a high standard for innovative, immersive cultural programming. [3]

In 2005, Becker and Sanders opened the Mexican restaurant and bar La Esquina, which introduced an authentic Mexico City style menu in a theatrical speakeasy environment.

In 2007, Becker joined Simon Hammerstein and Richard Kimmel to open the Neo-Burlesque theatre The Box, and in 2008, Becker went back to his roots to open the Swiss Restaurant "Café Select" with his Swiss friends Oliver Stumm and Dominique Clausen of "A touch of Class" DJ and production team.

In 2011, Becker connected with his Joe's Pub partner Paul Salmon, the brothers Binn and Genc Jakupi, and Meriem Soliman to open the Jamaican concept venue Miss Lily's.

In 2012, Becker ventured to London to open Mexican restaurant La Bodega Negra with local restaurateur Will Ricker and entrepreneur Eddie Spencer Churchill.

2016 brought a career change for Becker as he was appointed creative and artistic director of the New York Museum of Sex by owner Dan Gluck. His extensive brief was to help Gluck expand the museum into a full two-building, eight-gallery institution, broaden the curatorial scope, and build a robust events program. [4] He was also tasked with helping Gluck conceptualize, curate, design, and build "Superfunland", a cheeky, large-scale immersive "journey into the erotic carnival" that opened in late 2019 to massive crowds and positive reviews.

Nightclubs, restaurants, and hotels

Museums and galleries

Exhibitions

Publications

Art direction and production design

Music videos and film direction

References

  1. ↑ Detrick, Ben (27 July 2011). "At the Twilight of Night Life". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "1977". Edition Patrick Frey. January 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  3. ↑ W. W. D. Staff (9 February 2004). "Turn It Up". WWD. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "Artforum.com". www.artforum.com. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  5. ↑ Giovannini, Joseph (7 April 1988). "More Than a Club: It's Open House". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Jacobs, Andrew (25 October 1998). "Will Everybody Go to Joe's?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  7. ↑ Bruni, Frank (31 August 2005). "A Secret Too Dark to Keep". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Serge Becker". Aleim Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. ↑ McLean, Craig (10 April 2012). "The Manhattan Maestro Bringing Cool to London". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Serge Becker's Miss Lily's Is Going Home to Jamaica". Vanity Fair. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  11. ↑ Lunch, Quiet (11 November 2013). "The Hole |x| ABSOLUT | AREA: The Exhibition". Quiet Lunch. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Greenberger, Alex (16 June 2017). "Museum of Sex Names Serge Becker Creative and Artistic Director". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Breindel, Alexander (20 April 2018). "We Visited The VR Exhibit At The Museum Of Sex: Here's What We Saw, Heard, Touched, and Felt". Resource. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  14. ↑ Farago, Jason (28 February 2018). "A Maverick of Japanese Photography, Bound Tight to Ritual". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  15. ↑ McDermon, Daniel (6 November 2018). "Sex, Surrealism and de Sade: The Forgotten Female Artist Leonor Fini". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "LIST". www.ideanow.online. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
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