Whitehot Magazine
"The Best Art In The World"
by Paul Laster
'Tis the season for giving—and getting—and at Whitehot we think the best gift is the gift of art. Buying art for friends and family, however, can be a bit tricky. Unless you truly understand the recipient’s taste, your gift may end up in the back of a closet. A way to bypass that dilemma is to buy objects designed by artists that are both fun and functional.
For our holiday wish list, we scoured museum stores, gallery shops, and design sites for a lively mix of stocking stuffers—both big and small. Picture a penthouse studio with sweeping views in the center of a city. Furnish it with Jim Lambie’s whimsical flip flop table, a set of Damien Hirst deck chairs, and a few of Takashi Murakami’s flower cushions.
Decorate the table with Sanford Biggers’ luminous smile, KAWS’ companion figure Jeff Koons’ peace symbol plates, and Marilyn Minter’s water bottles on Nir Hod’s coasters. Throw some of John Baldessari’s beach towels over the deck chairs and give your guests Michelle Lopez’ band-aid rings and put a couple of Wim Delvoye’s action dolls on the floor to keep them busy.
Lastly, buy yourself Ryan McGinness’ to-do list calendar and start planning those 2013 parties in your newly decorated pad.
Paul Laster is a writer, editor, curator, artist and lecturer. He’s a contributing editor at ArtAsiaPacific and Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art and writer for Time Out New York, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Galerie Magazine, Sculpture, Art & Object, Cultured, Architectural Digest, Garage, Surface, Ocula, Observer, ArtPulse, Conceptual Fine Arts and Glasstire. He was the founding editor of Artkrush, started The Daily Beast’s art section, and was art editor of Russell Simmons’ OneWorld Magazine, as well as a curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, now MoMA PS1.
view all articles from this author