ArtHamptons Encourages Us To Calmly Go Wild

Go HERE for more photos from this event.

My town has an annual art show. It's always the Saturday before Mother's day, and always teeming with recalcitrant fathers and grubby, fudge-stained children. The scene at ArtHamptons, when I visited it Saturday night, was of a somewhat different nature; not teeming, but milling, with copious amounts of Thomas Pink button downs and Elie Tahari brocade shifts. The art too, was of another calibre, one not within reach of a month's saved allowance.

More photos and story below:

Matisse, Motherwall, Warhol, Koons, Picasso....over 1,000 in all, from galleries national and international. The most expensive (that I spotted) was an Ivan Albright for 650K, though, bulbous and garishly colored, it certainly wasn't my favorite. In addition to paintings, there were some great photographs (including a number of Warhol's), and both abstract and classical sculptures.

The space itself -4 immense white tents, with a VIP lounge in the fourth, was large enough to contain all the pieces, but not so vast as to seem endless, or intimidating. The VIP lounge looked like the Redbull loft on Thompson, all low white couches and high white tables, and both the food -LI duck, hearts of palm and heirloom vegetable salad, tea sandwiches from Nick and Toni's, and the drinks, from Southampton Publick House and Martha Clara Vineyards, were delicious in addition to being eco-chic.

On my way to finagle a second Bloody Marty (like a bloody mary, but spicer, with cilantro and yellow tomatoes), I ran into Nova Mihai Popa, mastermind behind the legendary Ark Project, and Gideon Stein, who's just opened up a locals-only gallery in Bridgehampton. Certainly, the crowd at ArtHamptons was, on the whole, a bit more, er, seasoned than that which has populated Saturday evenings past, but it was no less enjoyable, and educational to boot. Stay tuned for my interview with Gideon!