The New York Times 'home & garden' section has an article on the "cheap" LES loft conversion/decoration by and for a Ms. Christine Y. Kim who they describe as "an up and coming cultural 'it' girl", she is also an assistant curator at The Studio Museum;based on the article I can't decide if I want to make fun of this lady or date her.
Ms. Kim, we learn from the times "stood out among the whitewashed walls and brown paper floor covering in her oversize hoop earrings and an orange T-shirt printed with 'Homies East L.A.,' a rapper riff on the Hermès Paris logo". Her style is described by Paula Cooper director Steven Henry as having "...a freshness and confidence in her living style" (which sound suspiciously like a generic phrase from just about any gallery press release for an underwhelming show). Still she sounds adorable and the pictures of her place are stunning, def. a good place to catch breakfast in bed.
"So where's my beef," you ask? Mostly in the whole premise that the apartment and the furnishings there-in are some how price effective, the article is accompanied by a side bar titled "A Curator's Eye for Bargains," which we should all know is oxymoronic in its very conception. One listed piece- a $3K Mies van der Rohe day bed, perhaps a deal but considering that it is priced higher than my net-worth....
Bonus:A discussion of how, as a curator at The Studio Museum Ms. Kim is not allowed to accept gifts of artwork, lest the ability to raise the value of a particular artist with, I don't know, a solo show perhaps prove too tempting a possibility. To be honest, that just seems silly as fuck to me. I know the art world is shady and people do things for personal gain all the time (much like the rest of the world) so why cover it up under a BS cloak of ethical rules? Furthermore I personally would rather curators who are personally invested in art, who like things so much they must support the artists... That’s just me.
And to The Times, a note:
"[Ms. Kim,] Always the carefully studied rebel, wore the skirt with a ripped 'I Love New York' T-shirt."