“I was a kid that should’ve been born in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. I always came from a different mindset and have made the compromise with the contemporary world I come from into what I aspire to see,” explains Justin Giunta, the prolific multi-media artist— painter, interior and lighting designer, perhaps best known for his accessories line, Subversive Jewelry. With the surroundings of the tall, dark-haired designer as a testament to his distinct aesthetic— packing his Chelsea apartment with rare antique trinkets and décor— the designer is in fact, in a world (and time period) all his own.

His work, he says, “parallel[s] the dichotomy between a Baroque era of craftsmanship— where everything, as insignificant as the edge of a chair or piece of wood, was detailed, and done by human hands with no sense of digital or mass reproduction— with the contemporary gaze of modernism, minimalism, and production.” And in keeping with this fundamental facet in his jewelry collections, Giunta works with found elements— vintage baubles, crystals, and trinkets from around the world— to create unique pieces with a timeless character: “People keep their jewelry forever, while fashion may come and go. These can have just as much resilience and luminosity through the ages.”

With such integrity behind his jewelry, it’s no wonder the intellectual and highly-accomplished CFDA-nominated designer, who also earned the Ecco Domani Fashion Fund’s best accessories designer of 2008, not only collaborated with Target to create a limited-edition capsule collection this year, but also his latest collection for Subversive, called “Topography,” which reflects his world travels.

Despite the fact that the designer’s philosophy doesn’t easily allow for placing him on a conventional timeline or map, Giunta has hometown roots— in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To find out more about the genesis of his influences and talent, psychoPEDIA joined Giunta to discuss his invaluable formative experiences there:

What’s the most unique thing about Pittsburgh?
No matter where you go, you’ll find people who are either fans of the Steelers, have lived in Pittsburgh, or know people in Pittsburgh. We call it the center of the universe.

Do people have any misconceptions about the city?
Everyone knows about it from the industrial age. And through the ‘70s, when that industry was still there, there was a black cloud over Pittsburgh— [people thought] the air was so thick with soot, it would turn your clothes black. You’d be breathing ash and soot and all the buildings were stained black. It’s not that way anymore. It’s very clean and settled.

Did the industrial atmosphere have a lot to do with your aesthetic outlook?
The perfect backdrop of Pittsburgh is a rusted piece of steel or a smokestack. It’s a subliminal aesthetic reference point I have rather than something that’s new. The industry had already died when I was growing up there, but I [always] remembered being right up next to these old factories.

What about Pittsburgh did help to shape your artistic talents?
I’ve always known I was going to be an artist. I took classes since I was a kid doing fine-art-related things, and when I was in high school, started interning for the Mendelson Gallery. I’d go there after school and started long-standing friendships with an older group of people who owned design and fashion stores, art galleries, and they were all very supportive of me ever since I was a teenager.

Were there local cultural offerings you took advantage of?
The Warhol Museum had a lot of programs and was a wealth of contemporary art. All the robber barons who have major estates and philanthropic efforts in New York made their money in Pittsburgh first, so, there’s also an offshoot of that philanthropy in the Frick Collection at the Carnegie Museum. Being rooted in art history, it was great to have world-class masterpieces in my hometown.

Have you made any artistic contributions back to Pittsburgh?
A friend I’ve known since I was 3 years old purchased a firehouse from the 19th century and commissioned me to design the interior. The concept was making an aesthetically beautiful space, because Pittsburgh is laden with sports bars and flat-screen TVs. The Firehouse Lounge is in the cultural district, called the Strip District, where all the ethnic produce is represented on this one street. They wholesale to restaurants throughout the city but also have a retail market on Saturdays. There are Iranian spices, Italian food, all sorts of raw goods. It’s somewhere I went to growing up, so it’s interesting to have designed this space right on the strip— my own personal landmark in Pittsburgh, which has been really successful over the last five years.

What about the space has your personal aesthetic touch?
Similarly to the way I approach jewelry, we used the things that were there. We took the dividers [from the firehouse's former office space] and recycled the materials. The bar back was a found school desk. It was interesting to take things in and around Pittsburgh— cut them up, paint them, change them— to make them contemporary and put them in this place. Being able to re-invent something that’s already there, it keeps the world safe from more junk and actually has more structural and aesthetic integrity.

How would you give someone the ultimate Pittsburgh experience?
We’d drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel— the only tunnel in the United States that opens up onto a bridge– which opens to the Point, the intersection of the three rivers of Pittsburgh and the downtown area cityscape. Then we’d drive up to the university area, called Shadyside, where Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are. To introduce someone to the old steel scene, you’d go up the river. For the coolest galleries and shops, I’d go to Shadyside. There are also some beautiful houses from when the robber barons lived in Shadyside— the opulence once in Pittsburgh. We’d go to the Warhol Museum, the largest museum dedicated to one artist in the world, and at night, to the Fire House Lounge, where I get a discount.

~Leann Peterson


See more of Pittsburgh with Justin’s personal recommendations:

Weisshouse, “A cool conceptual design shop, like the ‘Moss’ of Pittsburgh. I sold my chandeliers there and these Russian dolls that I made.”
Washington Antiques Fair, Falconi Field; “They have the main sprawl where everyone comes, an endless field of great antique stuff.”
Breadworks, “The Italian bread in Pittsburgh is so good, especially at Breadworks. They have these breadsticks with fennel and carroway seeds that are just soft and good. It’s my favorite food– everyone knows.”


First, second, and third photos by Leann Peterson