April 25th, 2023

At Bergdorf Goodman, The New York

The New York, Palm Beach and Newport social sets intersected at Bergdorf Goodman on the evening of Tuesday, April 25th, to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of limited-edition fine art photography titled, PLEASE SIGN IN ALL GUESTS, by Nick Mele. The exhibition, which was on display through August 2023 and is Mele’s first in the New York, showcases his work from throughout the past 20 years that he has been photographing his family and surroundings, showing the evolution of his career and how he came into the craft. The pieces are a flamboyant ode to some of America’s most exclusive resort towns, presenting a dysfunctional, but loveable world beyond the hedge row.

Following a successful showcase at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach and Park House in Dallas, the New York City display is an expansion of the previous exhibitions, with the addition of more personal work, including pieces of Nick with his family that share glimpse into his world, sense of humor and where Mele is coming from as an artist. In addition to photography, the exhibition is accompanied by housewares curated by Mele, a Palm Beach resident, who spends time in Newport, and started his career in New York.

Guests including Martha Stewart, Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo, Cydney Preston and Andrew Mandel, Gillian Miniter, Cara Cara founders Julia Brown and Sasha Martin, Eleanora Kennedy, Celerie Kemble, Elyse Newhouse, Colony Hotel owner Sarah Wetenhall, Stacey Leuliette, Jennifer Yu, Dolce & Gabbana’s Giusi Cannizzaro and Sam Horowitz, Liliana Cavendish, Mark Gilbertson, Amy Hoadley, interior designer Billy Ceglia, and Cece Cord.

Mele grew up in Washington, DC and Newport, Rhode Island, and currently resides in Palm Beach, Florida. Primarily a lifestyle, fashion and interior design photographer, Nick is best known for his whimsical take on luxury and elegance. This new series of photographs marks a shift to a new style of decadent storytelling. Mele’s irreverent take on timeless, all-American glamour is immediately recognizable, but in this series, he moves past the magazine pages, spinning tales of surreal characters in dreamlike domestic spaces.

Documenting a lifestyle at once familiar yet fantastic, Mele’s imagery feels like a fanciful peek into the rarefied spaces of Palm Beach, Newport and more. Viewers are offered a glimpse into improbably beautiful spaces that are normally inaccessible to the public eye. In this series of large-scale archival photographs, some of Palm Beach and Newport’s most storied locales are brought to life through Mele’s wit and theatricality.

NOTABLE ATTENDEES: 

Nick Mele

Molly Mele

Linda Fargo, Bergdorf Goodman SVP Fashion and Store Presentation Director

Cydney Preston, Bergdorf Goodman Executive Buyer, Home, and Decoration

Andrew Mandel, Bergdorf Goodman Vice-President, DMM, Home and Jewelry

Martha Stewart

Gillian Miniter

Julia Brown, Cara Cara Founder

Sasha Martin, Cara Cara Founder

Eleanora Kennedy

Celerie Kemble

Elyse Newhouse

Sarah and Andrew Wetenhall

Stacey Leuliette

Jennifer Yu

Sam Horowitz, Dolce & Gabbana

Giusi Cannizzaro, Dolce & Gabbana

Liliana Cavendish

Mark Gilbertson

Amy Hoadley

Billy Ceglia

Cece Cord

Katie Duckworth-Schachter

Elijah Duckworth-Schachter

Sam Bolton

Julia Workman Brown

Hilary Dick

Jack Lynch, J.McLaughlin

Polly Onet

Dolly Fox

Marissa Murphy Adriaanse

Zach Weiss

Bob Morris

James Reginato

Annie Watts

Mary Hilliard

Lizzi Bickford

Tiffany Issacs

ABOUT NICK MELE

Referred to as “a modern-day Slim Aarons” by Town & Country and Veranda Magazine, Mele has had his photographs featured in a myriad of online and print publications, including The New York Times, The Financial Times, Avenue, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Vogue and Vanity Fair. His commercial clients include brands such as Ralph Lauren, Sam Edelman, J.McLaughlin and Lilly Pulitzer, as well as several high end hotels and interior designers. Mele’s first book, A Newport Summer, was published in May 2022 by Vendome Press.  His second book, Palm Beach Living, was published in February 2023.

For more details please visit http://nickmele.com.

Press Contact: 

MAGRINO PR

T: 212-957-3005

E: nickmele@magrinopr.com

John Rice

Vice President

MAGRINO

352 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10010

212-822-8167

john.rice@magrinopr.com

www.magrinopr.com

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PHOTOS (credit: Madison Voelkel/BFA.com)

Photo on the cover: Nick Mele

Photo on the left: Exhibition Entry

Photos below: 

Dana Simonelli, Stacey Leuliette, Erin Sykes

Dolly Fox, Martin Gregory, Nick Mele and Ron Dodd

Katie Duckworth-Schachter, Elijah Duckworth-Schachter

Linda Fargo and Nick Mele

Lizzi Bickford, Kristen Schonwald Vila, Jennifer Yu, Sam Horowitz

Martha Stewart, Nick and Molly Mele, and children

Martha Stewart

Molly and Nick Mele

Nick Mele and Kristen Schonwald Vila

Nick Mele and Zach Weiss

Nick Mele, Susan Magrino and Linda Fargo

Philip Gorrivan, Bill Ceglia, Nazira Handal, Jack Lynch, Amy Hoadley

Serena Woodward, Benton Bohannon, Julia LeClair, Jared Seligman

Eleanora Kennedy, Sam Horowitz

Giusi Cannizzaro, Sam Horowitz, Sarah Wetenhall, Andrew Wetenhall

Exhibition