Luxury Portfolio Vol. 08 Issue 01 - Gary E. Richardson

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JET SET

For us, a favorite portal into an unknown place — its past, present, and future — is the arts. Combining this with our love of unique spaces, we trotted the globe to gather our top locales for “art spotting” around the world, from a snack factory turned modern art space in New York to a warehouse converted into contemporary art center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

ART SPOTTING

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21c Museum Hotels SEVEN U.S. LOCATIONS

Dia:Beacon BEACON, NEW YORK

Founded by art collectors Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, 21c Museum Hotels are an innovative union of hospitality and artistic communities, where you’ll find museum and exhibition spaces within boutique hotels. At their recently opened Oklahoma City location, a former Ford Motor Company assembly plant was converted into a contemporary interpretation of the building’s industrial heritage with 14,000 square feet of exhibition space and luxurious rooms designed by New York-based architecture firm, Deborah Berke Partners. In seven locations across the country, 21c Museum Hotels have featured installations and exhibitions from over 700 contemporary artists, including Chuck Close, Kara Walker and Elmgreen & Dragset. The fast-growing initiative now boasts over 75,000 square feet of exhibition space, with each location focused on site-specific touches that range from wallpaper to large-scale sculpture. Each hotel also places an emphasis on farm-to-table fare that celebrates the area’s culinary identity. Proof on Main, located within the Cincinnati location, was named one of Esquire magazine’s “Best New Restaurants,” while Lockbox, at 21c’s Lexington, Kentucky hotel, has been recognized by Bon Appetit on their list of “10 Best Hotels for Food Lovers.” 21cmuseumhotels.com

Set in a former Nabisco factory built along the Hudson River in 1929, Dia:Beacon presents a collection of art from the 1960s to the present. The building, which was once used to produce the packaging for snacks such as Oreos, Chips Ahoy!, and Ritz Crackers, now stands as a symbol of Beacon’s past as a major industrial and manufacturing city, located about 70 miles north of Manhattan. Working closely with installation artist Robert Irwin, the Dia Art Foundation converted the 300,000-square- foot space into a 21st-century museum that has since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to their permanent collection, Dia:Beacon has regularly hosted internationally recognized exhibitions since opening in 2003 and galvanized the city as a sought-after arts destination drawing visitors from around the world. Past exhibitions include Andy Warhol’s Shadows and Dan Flavin’s series of fluorescent light “monuments to v. Tatlin,” while guests can expect to see works by such artists as Gerhard Richter, Louise Bourgeois, and Sol LeWitt in the permanent collection. If you find yourself in NYC, but unable to make the trip to Beacon, Dia’s Chelsea gallery is an equally impressive place to get your art fix in the city. diaart.org

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