Serge Becker (born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

, nightlife and hospitality

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

and

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

. He is known for his irreverent approach to design, adventurous programming of venues, and a multicultural audience. Becker is part of a second wave of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

s, that incorporated nightlife and theatrical elements into their design driven venues. A tightly curated guest list, staff casting, styling, and expert music selection were essential elements to this generation of hospitality operators, in addition to the traditional culinary focus. Becker in particular is known for using vernacular design references and transforming previously “undesirable spaces and locations” with a Cinderella effect. Becker was dubbed a “Cultural Engineer” by

André Balazs André Tomas Balazs (born January 31, 1957) is an American businessman and hotelier. He is president and chief executive officer of André Balazs Properties, a portfolio of hotels across the United States and residences in New York, especially i ...

in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

for his innovative creations and prescient timing.

Biography

Born in Paris in 1961 and raised in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

from age 8. Serge Becker is the son of Ruth Becker, a Swiss Theatre and TV administrator and a Vietnamese Father. He studied graphic design at

Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

from 1977-1982. While studying he worked at night as a DJ at popular local clubs. Together with photographer Pietro Mattioli he selected records at one of Zürich’s early punk evenings, documented in the book ''1977''. In the early 80’s he started to book early New York City rap performers like

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapping , rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major rec ...

, Davey D, and Grandmaster DST to help introduce this burgeoning culture to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Inspired by that raw energy, he moved to

in 1982, where he started a 3-year stint as art director at the art nightclub

AREA Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

. This led to a 15 year long creative partnership with

co-founder Eric Goode. Together they designed and operated seminal

clubs and restaurants, directed music videos, and produced art and photography. In 1998 Becker joined

George C. Wolfe George Costello Wolfe (born September 23, 1954) is an American playwright and director. His accolades include two Tony Awards for directing the play '' Angels in America: Millennium Approaches'' and the musical '' Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'd ...

, Josh Pickard and Paul Salmon to open

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette Str ...

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

. The same year he started the multi-disciplinary design firm Can Resources with architect Derek Sanders and creative director Lisa Ano. The office designed multiple commercial and residential projects including the beloved Flower Box Building in the East Village. In 2000 Ano and Becker also launched the critically acclaimed cult magazine ''List'', a publication presenting all content in list format. It was an instant hit but the magazine and Can Resources both fell victim to the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

crash and

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In 2004 Becker and Sanders joined artists Thomas Sandbichler and Jeff Gompertz to open the multi-media art club Volume in North

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

. The short-lived venue was a trailblazer for the coming development of the neighborhood and set a high standard for innovative immersive cultural programming. In 2005 Becker and Sanders opened the

Mexican restaurant Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agricultural communities, ...

and bar La Esquina which introduced an authentic

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

style menu in a theatrical speakeasy environment. In 2007 Becker joined Simon Hammerstein and Richard Kimmel to open the Neo-Burlesque theatre The Box, and in 2008 Becker went back to his roots to open the Swiss Restaurant “Café Select” with his Swiss friends Oliver Stumm and Dominique Clausen of “A touch of Class” DJ and production team. In 2011 Becker connected with his Joe’s Pub partner Paul Salmon, the brothers Binn and Genc Jakupi and Meriem Soliman to open the

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n concept venue Miss Lily’s. In 2012 Becker ventured to London to open Mexican restaurant La Bodega Negra with local restaurateur Will Ricker and entrepreneur Eddie Spencer Churchill. 2016 brought a career change for Becker as he was appointed creative and artistic director of the New York

Museum of Sex The Museum of Sex, also known as MoSex, is a sex museum located at 233 Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 27th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It opened on October 5, 2002. History Founder Daniel Gluck wanted to start a museum dedicated t ...

by owner Dan Gluck. His extensive brief was to help Gluck expand the museum into a full two building, eight gallery institution, broaden the curatorial scope, and build a robust events program. He was also tasked with helping Gluck conceptualize, curate, design, and build “Superfunland”, a cheeky large-scale immersive “journey into the erotic carnival” that opened in late 2019 to massive crowds and positive reviews.

Nightclubs, Restaurants, Hotels

* 1983-1987

Nightclub * 1988 MK Nightclub with Eric Goode, Jennifer Goode,

, Katie Ford,

Aby Rosen Aby Rosen (born May 16, 1960) is a German and American real estate tycoon living in New York City. He co-founded RFR Holding, which owns a portfolio of 93 properties valued over $15.5 billion in cities including New York, Miami, Las Vegas, and T ...

, Michael Fuchs * 1989 BC Nightclub in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Eric Goode,

, Bret Witke * 1990 Time Café and Fez with Eric Goode, Josh Pickard,

, Michael Fuchs * 1992 Club USA with Eric Goode for

Peter Gatien Peter Gatien (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian club owner and party promoter. He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel. Life and career Gatien w ...

* 1992 Tunnel Nightclub with Eric Goode for

* 1992 The Mercer Hotel master plan co-designers for

* 1994 B Bar & Grill with Eric Goode * 1994 Jones

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

for Sean MacPhearson * 1994 Good Luck Bar for Sean MacPhearson * 1998

with Josh Pickard, Paul Salmon, Kevin Abbott; the seminal, intimate

Downtown Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is the historical birthplace of New York City and for its first 225 years was the ...

venue, presenting US premieres of

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

Antony and the Johnsons Anohni and the Johnsons (previously known as Antony and the Johnsons) is a music ensemble originally based in New York City that presents the work of English singer-songwriter Anohni and her collaborators. The band released its self-titled de ...

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq language, Tamasheq: ; with vowels ; plural of ténéré meaning "desert") is a collective of Tuareg people, Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of southern Algeria and of northern Mali, in the region of Azawad. Considered ...

Šaban Bajramović Šaban Bajramović ( sr-Cyrl, Шабан Бајрамовић, ; ; 16 April 1936 – 8 June 2008), nicknamed Šabi (Шаби), was a Serbian vocalist and recording artist of Arlije Romani ethnicity. He was one of the most internationally critic ...

, among many others. * 2004 Volume Club with Thomas Sandbichler, Jeff Gompertz, Derek Sanders; innovative multi-media culture space responsible for US premieres of

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...

, Franz Ferdinand,

N.E.R.D. N.E.R.D. (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) was an American rock and hip-hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists ...

, Williamsburg Dodge Ball Tournament. * 2004 Lure Fishbar for John McDonald, Josh Pickard, Josh Capon * 2005 La Esquina Restaurant with Derek Sanders, Ily Hümer, Cordell Lochin, James Gersten * 2007 The Box Cabaret Club with Simon Hammerstein, Richard Kimmel, Randy Weiner * 2008 Café Select with Oliver Stumm, Dominique Clausen * 2011 Miss Lily's Soho with Paul Salmon, Binn Jakupi, Genc Jakupi, Meriem Soliman; innovative

n cultural concept including restaurant, organic juice bar, record store, art gallery, radio station. * 2012 Bodega Negra

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with Will Ricker, Eddie Spencer Churchill * 2013 Miss Lily's 7A * 2014 Bodega Negra

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

with Noah Teppenberg and Strategic Group * 2015 Miss Lily's

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

with Varun Khemaney, Khalil Damash * 2018 Alley Cat Amateur Theatre at

Beekman Hotel 5 Beekman Street is a building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is composed of the 10-story, Temple Court Building and Annex (also known as Temple Court) and a connected 51-story, condominium t ...

with

Tom Colicchio Thomas Patrick Colicchio (; born August 15, 1962) is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, whic ...

* 2018 Miss Lily's

Negril Negril is a small, widely dispersed beach resort and town located in Westmoreland and Hanover parishes at the far western part of Jamaica, southwest from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. Westmoreland is the westernmost paris ...

at Skylark Hotel for Paul Salmon * 2019 Bodega Negra

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

with Will Ricker * 2019 Indochine

with Jean Marc Houmard, Varun Khemaney, Khalil Damash * 2021 LMNO Philadelphia with Stephen Starr

Museums and Galleries

* 2009

Swiss Institute New York Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places *Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located in ...

, Design of Sculptural Reading Room * 2013 “AREA: The Exhibition”, Group Show, The Hole Gallery, curated by

Jeffrey Deitch Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)''Los Angeles Times''. born July 9, 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects (1996–2010) and curating groundbreaking exhib ...

and

Glenn O'Brien Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He ...

; Production Design * 2016-2020 Creative and Artistic Director

, New York; Overseeing program, design and execution In collaboration with curator Lissa Rivera and founder Dan Gluck

Exhibitions

* 2016 "Night Fever" New York Disco 1977-1979 The Bill Bernstein Photographs * 2016 "Sex Lives of Animals" * 2017 “Known/ Unknown" Private obsession and hidden desire in Outsider Art * 2017 "NSFW - Female Gaze" * 2017 "Canon" Juan Jose Garboza & Gubo Andrew Mroczek * 2017 "Zana Bayne" Stage Costume Anthology * 2017 "Celestial Bodies" the couples Virtual Reality experience with

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

* 2018 "The Incomplete Araki" Life and death in the work of

Nobuyoshi Araki , professionally known by the mononym , is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. Known primarily for photography that blends eroticism and bondage in a fine art context, he has published over 500 books. Early life and education Araki ...

* 2018 "Leonor Fini" Theatre of Desire 1930-1990 * 2018 "Punk Lust" Raw provocation 1971-1985 * 2019 "Stag" the illicit origins of pornographic film * 2019 "Mariette Pathy Allen" Rites of Passage 1978-2006 * 2019 "James Bidgood" Reveries * 2019 "Superfunland" Journey into the Erotic Carnival

Publications

* 2000 ''List Magazine'' an anthology of lists with co-editor Lisa Ano

Art Direction and Production Design

* 1992 "I’m a frayed knot" (

Gary Indiana Gary Hoisington (July 16, 1950 – October 23, 2024), known as Gary Indiana, was an American writer, actor, artist, and cultural critic. He served as the art critic for the ''Village Voice'' weekly newspaper from 1985 to 1988. Indiana is best k ...

) Rivington Theatre; Production design * 1993 ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'' opera at the Academy; Production design * 2002 "60 Years Capitol Records" campaign; Creative direction

Music Videos and Film Direction

* 1992

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

"Help me I’m in Hell" * 1992

Pinion A pinion is a round gear—usually the smaller of two meshed gears—used in several applications, including drivetrain and rack and pinion systems. Applications Drivetrain Drivetrains usually feature a gear known as the pinion, which may v ...

" * 1993

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

"Alternative Nation" title sequence * 1993 Digital Orgasm "Time to Believe" * 1994

CeCe Peniston Cecilia Veronica "CeCe" Peniston (; born September 6, 1969) is an American singer and former beauty queen. In the early 1990s, she scored five number one hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play. Her signature song " Finally" re ...

"Hit by Love" * 1994 Messiah "I feel Love" * 1994

Terrorvision Terrorvision are an English rock band. They were formed in 1987 (as The Spoilt Bratz) in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and initially disbanded in 2001. The band used Bradford as a base after the name change to Terrorvision in 1991, by which time ...

" Oblivion" * 1998

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

"Unbound" * 2019 "The Origins of the Fair" - A Panoramic History with Lissa Rivera

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Serge Living people American restaurateurs French restaurateurs 1961 births