Though food is the centerpiece here, there is indeed art, and each piece at Oberon plays into the general ethos of the space. The Los Angeles-based artist Ian Cheng created Shrine Oberon, a panoramic LED screen that illuminates the backdrop of the bar. The interactive work uses AI to feed off the ever-changing population of diners and features a character Cheng calls the “shrinekeeper,” a “curious alien who enjoys people watching.” The shrinekeeper greets bar patrons, gives them nicknames, will learn to recognize regulars, plays games of chess alone and with guests, and accepts tips that manifest into permanent flora or small totems within the microcosm of the work. Over time, the work will become an evolving portrait of Oberon visitors.
“I was struck by the enclosed architecture of the Oberon, with no outside lighting, but womb-like, and convivial, like the bar in Star Wars,” Cheng says. “It inspired wanting to make a creature, an alien, who would greet and recognize regulars, and hold a memory of them.”
The New York-based artist and designer Minjae Kim, whose furniture and interiors blend sculptural forms with traditional Korean woodworking techniques, created the bar tabletops, dining booths, and two-top tables in tones that complement the cork interior. He also designed a series of amorphous quilted fiberglass pendant lights that add a touch of warmth throughout the space.
“The focus of this project was to integrate with the architecture. I wanted to deliver something quiet that would serve the overall experience,” Kim says. “The negative space was the main component I responded to. I wanted the architecture to transfer to the tables and fixtures into something they can touch.”
This isn’t the first arts institution-adjacent restaurant for the Oberon Group, which has also helmed other cultural projects in New York City like the café at BRIC House, Clara at the New-York Historical Society, and the Metrograph Commissary. Building on that experience, managing partner Henry Rich says, “The idea was to create a restaurant for the downtown New York art world and that includes many communities—artists, galleries, collectors, and visitors. The process is really about understanding the community and creating a restaurant that serves its social, aesthetic, and civic needs.”