“Noguchi’s Okinawa Woodpecker from the Exotic Bird Series” by Frank Stella, 1977. (Photo by Andrew Bui.)
When Stars opened late last year in the East Village, I couldn’t help but notice the Frank Stella lithograph/screenprint on the wall. Art collectors often wait years to get access to work by the late minimalist artist, and there stood one such piece in the wine bar, looking cozy and nonchalant.
Chase Sinzer, owner of Stars, has two pieces by Stella on loan, through his friend, the artist’s son Patrick Stella. Sinzer was close with the family, and a private memorial for Frank was hosted in the backyard of his restaurant Claud after the artist died in 2024 at 87. The younger Stella is a wine-lover, and founder of WineCredit, a platform that offers loans with fine wines used as collateral. He is also a regular at Claud, and overheard Sinzer speaking conceptually about his idea for a wine bar, which he was thinking of calling Stars.
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