I don’t know much about shoes but I know enough to pay attention to a girl’s flats if they feature cat ears and whiskers on them. Alexa Chung keeps it simple at the New Museum. She was spotted right before she hopped on Carsten Höller’s interactive Slide installation. (photo by Xavier Aaronson)
Some dudes get that funny foliage feeling when October rolls around and without warning, they get all dapper on us. Timothée is a graphic designer and was spotted on his way out of the MoMA PS1. (Photo by Xavier Aaronson)
Lolità was spotted at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. When asked what her favorite artwork was, she walked us straight to a wall covered in Georges Braque. When asked what the rest of her day was looking at, she hinted that she was going to rage at some warehouse party outside of Paris where Detroit techno legend Derrick May was expected to spin.
Nevermind laughter; hypnotism is contagious.
The last time I caught myself really struck by another museum-goer was a few months ago, at the MET in New York. There was someone in standing so still in front of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s The Triumph of Marius that I myself was stuck in a competing stupor.
Her motionless concentration was as beautiful as the museum’s own four-corned majesty. Her name was Amanda and she was at the museum doing research for her latest novel.
Months had passed and echoes from our random encounter remained as vivid as ever. To quench our curiosity, we decided to track Amanda down, ask her a few questions about who she really is, in order to trade in our ephemeral hypnosis for a more permanent attraction.
What if you meet someone so dazzling that nothing else mattered. What if, in the midst of your skin-deep hypnosis, you find out that this heart-skipper is a registered nurse, seasoned model for the cheeky ads of American Apparel and a collector of fine rocks and minerals? And what if those fun facts don’t supersede her stop-dead-in-your-tracks looks? Ok, so then what if I told you this terrestrial siren was Tibetan and was once blessed by the one and holy Dalai Lama. What would you say then? Oh yeah, nothing, cuz you’re not used to that whole of a babe setting off your parochial radar. Here Chime is spotted at Gallery1988 taking a break in the middle of a methamphetamine exhibition in celebration of the gripping tv series Breaking Bad.
Anyone whose outfit is inspired by Miss Piggy is good in my book. Here is Alex at the de Appel art centre in Amsterdam, spotted with Allard Van Hoorn’s bulbous “Skies over Snaefell” installation. Alex is a fashion designer and stylist, and grew up frequenting museums all her life. Who could ask for a more stylish babe with brains? (Photo by Kelly Silva)
I didn’t know it would be my dream to sandwich a babe between two works of art until it actually happened. Such an occasion presented itself when meeting fashion illustrator Meagan Morrison at the MET Museum as she was spotted in front of Ellsworth Kelly’s “Blue Panel” painting and behind Joel Shapiro’s untitled, beaming red sculpture. (photo by Xavier Aaronson)
Jacquelyn somehow managed to find herself all alone in the Art Institute of Chicago, discreetly dressed in a cerulean jumpsuit that matches the cumulus tone of Georgia O’Keefe’s “Sky Above Clouds IV.” No mini-skirt cry for oogling attention and with a stand-alone disposition so alluring that I can’t think of a more camouflaged beauty at the museum.
I have never been to a museum in Los Angeles. Part of me was reluctant to admit that but it’s true. And it must be said. Then again I’ve only been to L.A. once, for a weekend, so spare me the chuckles.
Because of this embarrassing fact and my inability to break away from Brooklyn for the past six months, I reached out to one of my favorite West Coast creatives to answer all my burning questions about L.A.’s exceptional art scene. Enter museum junkie and multi-talented ‘demoiselle Claire Cottrell.
As the design editor for Flavorwire, film director and recent owner of the online book stored Book Stand, Claire is a treasure trove of smarts as she navigates through the many facets of L.A.’s artistic community. BATM recently had the opportunity to chat with Claire about what makes L.A. such an undeniable art capital and why we should all book a ticket to LAX, ASAP.
Photo by Andre Neuhues
Chloe is from Kentucky and has some of the most pop-up, hyperlinked style I’ve seen in ages at the Met Museum. Here’s one of our many fun time photos. (photo by Xavier Aaronson)
21, Danish, and flying solo at the Arken Museum. Karen is a graphic designer who caught her own eye (and ours) at one of Frank Thilo installations, part of his “The Phoenix Is Closer Than It Appears” exhibition.
Off we go to Estonia to check out KUMU, the gallery of contemporary art, in the capital city of Tallinn. Featured here is Agnes, a native Estonian, who now lives in Oslo, in full hypnosis, looking straight into one of the one of the many installations part of the ”Speed of Darkness and Other Stories” exhibition, curated by Jaakko Niemelä. Agnes likes to shred through Oslo on her custom-made bicycle and enjoys being loud in the museum when she feels like she and her friends are the only ones there.
