Event Spotlight | The Nancy Hoffman Gallery presents, If These Walls Could Talk: Women of the Chelsea, by Tiffany Shlain

by #LizCampese

"I had no concept of what life at the Chelsea Hotel would be like when we checked in, but I soon realized it was a tremendous stroke of luck to end up there... to dwell in this eccentric and damned hotel provided a sense of security as well as a stellar education." — Patti Smith (Just Kids, 2010), 

The world-famous Hotel Chelsea is a storyteller’s dream. Opened in 1884 and situated at 222 West 23rd Street, the historic landmark is culturally significant; many of the creatives who’ve made New York City an internationally celebrated metropolis had accomplished much of that from within the walls of this iconic institution. Award-winning artist, filmmaker, and storyteller, Tiffany Shlain is a part of this group; not only is she a former resident, she is also a contributor to the hotel’s and city's ongoing narratives.  

If These Walls Could Talk: Women of the Chelsea (2026) by Tiffany Shlain

Presented by the Nancy Hoffman Gallery and opening on October 1, If These Walls Could Talk: Women of the Chelsea, by Tiffany Shlain is a new artwork and installation at the Hotel Chelsea that pays tribute to the female residents throughout its eventful history. The mixed media work features a collage of tree rings adorned with photo cutouts of lips belonging to a selection of women artists — like Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell, Niki de Saint Phalle, Lena Horne, etc. — displayed in a 24”x20” Baroque-style frame.

Shlain's been defaulting to wood since 2022, since her sculpture Dendrofemononlogy: A Feminist History Tree Ring. Given wood's nature — its organic composition and life affirming characteristics — it seems like a fitting channel for exploring Shlain’s interest in people, relationships, and lives. By using it to highlight the lives of the women who have walked the halls of Hotel Chelsea, it’s as if each tree ring corresponds to a year lived — each artwork is a preservation of a person’s creativity in that period of their life.

Tiffany Shlain in front of her work If These Walls Could Talk: Women of the Chelsea (2026)

This is true for Shlain as well. In her early twenties, she rented a room at Hotel Chelsea for less than the going rate and set up shop. “The summer after my junior year at UC Berkeley, I moved to New York to attend an NYU film program, where I learned to use a 16mm Aeroflex camera,” recalls the artist. “After graduating from UCB, I gathered a crew and started making my first feature film, Zoli’s Brain, on 16mm. My idea was to make a surrealist feature film set entirely inside a sculptor’s brain.”

Even though the process took about four years, and the film remains unfinished, living at the hotel helped her connect to the energy left there by other residents. After all, it was home to people like Leonard Cohen, Grace Jones, Germaine Greer, Arthur C. Clarke, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol, and so on. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s a place where art was made, displayed, recorded and broadcast, thus making Hotel Chelsea a creativity launchpad. 

If These Walls Could Talk: Women of the Chelsea has been accepted into the hotel’s permanent collection, making it well positioned to absorb the stories that are yet to come. All in all, a storyteller’s dream. Tiffany Shlain will be giving an artist talk at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery about her work at the reception on October 1st, 5 to 6pm.

Note* This coverage was produced independently by Liz Campese and is featured on ARTpublika through a content partnership.