Part hotel, part restaurant, part wellness sanctuary: Montauk, New York’s Surf Lodge covers all the bases. More than 15 years into its reign as the easternmost tip of Long Island’s buzziest beach retreat, the hotel is keeping things fresh with a new artist-in-residency program featuring Brazilian painter Theo Pinto.
Theo Pinto’s site-specific collaboration with the Surf Lodge is intimately tied to Montauk’s natural environment.
The Brooklyn-based Pinto, who moved to Long Island from Brazil at the age of 16, has exhibited locally with the nomadic Galerie Philia and in far-flung locales including Dubai, Istanbul, and Milan. The focal point of the residency is his series of Skyscape oil paintings, but unique to the Surf Lodge is a 40-foot-long curved lenticular wall that subtly shifts colors as viewers walk around it.
The specialized printing method simulates motion and dimension, creating a unique interplay between light and color. “The work invites viewers to experience the sky as a shared moment,” Pinto tells ELLE DECOR. “[The sky is] a common denominator that unites people across time and space, both physically and cosmically.” The same printing process was used to create a limited-edition surfboard.
Theo Pinto on the beach with his limited-edition surfboard.
On view through Labor Day weekend, the residency is part of a broader effort by founder and creative director—and fellow Brazilian—Jayma Cardoso to reimagine the hotel’s programming, alongside a new restaurant concept, Casa Sereña, as well as an expanded DJ lineup. And it’s not the first time Cardoso has dipped her toe in these cultural waters: Her Artists and Plates dinner series notably featured work by the artists Ai WeiWei and Chloe Wise. Here’s to more where that came from.
Stacia Datskovska, Assistant Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, covers design, decor, and architecture—with an eye towards trends and culture at large. She has previously written for USA Today, the Boston Globe, Teen Vogue, Apartment Therapy, and more.