Bonjour a Miami

Parisian gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin is set to open his first American space with the December 2005 opening of a gallery and guesthouse in Miami.

The 12,000-sq.-ft. gallery, designed by local architect Chad Oppenheim, is a renovation of an existing, two-story, 1959 Miami Modern showroom in the city's Wynwood district.

Perrotin represents a roster of internationally recognized artists including Bernard Frize, Gelatin, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and Paola Pivi and in 1991, Perrotin gave British artist Damien Hirst his first solo show.

For the gallery, the historic warehouse is being converted in to a new exhibition spaces and will also have a veranda, while also preserving original details such as exposed t-beams, a classic, fully mosaic tiled stiar, and a tile façade with exposed structure.

The gallery will serve as an extension of Perrotin's activities in Paris, but also incorporates more social aspects-it is designed to have large viewing rooms where artists, collectors and principals can socialize.

The first chance to do so will be three solo shows of Martin Oppel (an American artist), Bernard Frize (a French artist) and Piotr Uklanski (a Polish artist), which will run from Dec. 1, 2005, through Feb. 4, 2006.

The gallery, however, comprises only the first phase of the project.