Ubersexual Art for Palette?

This guest blog is by Erin over at at The Kitchenette

It’s a term that has been tossed around in the news lately describing confident but passionate men such as Bono and Barack Obama. Unlike the metro, the ubersexual is more sensual and not at all self-conscious: he doesn't need other people to tell him he's sexy, he knows it. As advertising giant JWT described in their recent article naming the “Top Ten Ubersexuals,” ubers have better things to do than “plan their errands around which shop windows offer the best reflection.”

And what does all this have to do with the recently opened fine arts exhibit at Palette restaurant in the Madison Hotel? It wants to be ubersexual so bad: passionate about causes and principles and artists like Ellsworth Kelly and Robert Rauschenberg, both featured in the exhibit. But the décor defines metrosexual dead-on: mostly passionate about itself.

The exhibit on the walls of Palette in the Madison Hotel near the McPherson Square Metro station showcases pieces from the Ralls Collection, a privately owned modern art gallery in Georgetown. Maybe you’d recognize the fire engine red, metallic sculpture shaped like a backwards seven out front of the Ralls? The uber-modern gallery donated several pieces by artists including: Philip Guston, Ellsworth Kelly, Malcolm Morley, Robert Rauschenberg, Dorthea Rockburne, James Rosenquist and Richard Serra.

Most resemble splatter paint, but they do faultlessly match the restaurant’s chic space. The interior design of Palette is sophisticated with black-trimmed, crème-colored chairs, and noticeably swank with frosted seafoam green glass and light fixtures hanging over the bar. Although Palette does get points for combining haute art with haute cuisine, a rarity in DC, it seems to reach for something it’s not. The uberhaute design clashes with the colonial-styled Madison Hotel built back in1963.

Perhaps the hotel was suffering a mid-life crisis and Palette was the answer? Like an obvious face-lift, the Madison tried so hard to look younger when Palette opened back in January 2004. At the restaurant’s unveiling, head chef Charlie Hansji served caramelized tomatoes with black olive ice cream. Within a month, he was replaced. Palette’s rocky start demonstrates the metrosexual notion of trying to be hip without remembering to be timeless and comfortable. People thought the chef was almost mocking fusion cooking with his peculiar combinations. Tom Sietsema gave the Palette just one star when he first reviewed the restaurant last year.

Ubers confidently make the right decision no matter what others think. They exude poise and an uncompromising style, whereas metros deliberately reach for aloofness. Metros memorize the variations of olives and flaunt their Venti Starbucks soy mochas ostentatiously. Metros cannot think for themselves, which makes it easy to value brands over brains. Palette is stylish yes, but it still seems to be searching for an identity within the timeless Madison.

(1155 15th Street, NW, 202.587.2700) http://www.palettedc.com/contact.htm