Different Strokes
A Pair of Offbeat Art Auctions
It wasn't necessarily all about baring flesh at the New York Academy of Art's Take Home a Nude auction benefit at Sotheby's last night, but there were plenty of opportunities to appreciate the unclad human body. "Everything is in a nude—form, light, shape, geometry," NYAA president David Kratz pointed out. He forgot to mention pastries. "I've been putting cakes on people's heads recently—meringues, macarons, chocolate," Will Cotton said. A commissioned portrait by Cotton, who painted Katy Perry in the buff for her latest album cover, was one of the evening's auction lots; others included two Herb Ritts photos of torsos and a shot by Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel was one of the evening's sponsors) of his favorite model, Baptiste, by a pool.
Over at the Museum of Arts and Design's MetalBall, where the guiding theme was the element group beloved by rockers and industrialists, both the art and the outfits were harder-plated. Timo Weiland's metallic accent of choice was his blazer's brass buttons. "It's a humble metal," he shrugged. Among the offerings for sale were a copper cuff by House of Waris, a bronze camera replica by Michael Stipe, and a stainless steel sculpture by Richard Meier. Co-host Hannelore Knuts, who had collaborated on a video involving a giant magnet, was modeling a $2,500 hand-studded jean jacket by Christian Joy on the dance floor. "I would like for someone to buy it," she said, "although I'll get a cold going home."
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