Baroque Revival Brings Heavy Dimensional Relief to New York Art and Design
A modern revival of Baroque aesthetics is transforming interiors and paintings in New York, focusing on intricate carvings, gilded frames, and dramatic embellishments. Unlike the original seventeenth-century Baroque, this movement aims for depth and visual impact, merging historical elements with contemporary design. Recent critiques emphasize the use of richer textures and jewel tones, departing from minimalist styles. Jody Guralnick's show, As Close As Breath, at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, running from September 10 to October 28, 2026, showcases this trend through paintings that delve into ecological networks with heavily textured surfaces. This revival also reinstates the significance of ornate frames, bridging the gap between art and architecture, and reflects a yearning for tactile engagement in our digital world.
Key facts
- A contemporary Baroque revival is visible in New York interiors and painting in 2026
- The trend favors carved detail, gilded frames, theatrical interiors and layered ornament over strict minimalism
- The original Baroque period is broadly associated with European art and architecture from the seventeenth through the mid-eighteenth centuries
- The later Baroque Revival occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
- Jody Guralnick's As Close As Breath is on view at Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York from September 10 through October 28, 2026
- Guralnick's acrylic impasto paintings depict microscopic ecological networks including mosses, lichens, molds and fungal mycelium
- Guralnick has described the fungal structures she observes as baroque
- Recent 2026 design commentary describes the frame as increasingly considered alongside the artwork rather than added afterward
Entities
Artists
- Jody Guralnick
Institutions
- Nancy Hoffman Gallery
- New York Art Life
Locations
- New York
- United States