Nan Swid's New Project

Nan Swid hardly needs to add to her résumé: The mother of three and grandmother of six served almost two decades as co-founder and co-president of Swid Powell, a company that produced household objects designed by architecture greats such as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Richard Meier.

But the lithe yoga devotee (who declines to disclose her age though public records have her at 66) isn’t one for resting on her laurels. “I’m not a sitter,” she explains, “I’m a very high-energy person.”

To wit, Swid’s first art show, “revelations in paper,” opens Wednesday at CDS gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Swid, who earned a fine arts degree from Ohio State University, insists her new career isn’t unlike her first. “I may have gone in another direction [with Swid Powell],” she says, “but I was always involved in aesthetics.”

The collection features a series of sleek collages in muted shades of grey, cream and peach, for which Swid wrangled myriad materials, including yellowed pages of antique novels and swatches of tablecloth from her eldest daughter’s wedding.

“I’ve always just loved paper and stationary and monograms,” says Swid of her chosen medium. “I’m not of the e-mail age.”


“Revelations in paper,” Sept. 17-Oct. 18; CDS Gallery, 76 East 79th Street; 212-772-9555