The Perfect Loose Denim

When Jordan Huelskamp, Artsy’s Head of Curatorial and founder of Salon—a member-managed co-owned contemporary art collection—has an exhibition recommendation, we listen. Here, the 29-year-old art world innovator shares a retrospective we will not be missing, as well as the West Village restaurant that satisfies her spicy food cravings and the candle that makes her home smell like mint tea. — Maraya

SIGHT

The Toshiko Takaezu Retrospective at the Noguchi Museum: There's a striking Toshiko Takaezu retrospective at the Noguchi Museum through the end of July. The exhibition celebrates a prolific Japanese-American woman master ceramicist whose meditative glazed vessels introduced a new lens to study the origins of Abstract Expressionism in the United States. Her bulbous "closed form" pots, with their calligraphic, lyrical brushstrokes of colored glaze, hold their own against a Joan Mitchell or Robert Motherwell painting. After admiring the Takaezu exhibit, sunbathe in the museum's blissful sculpture garden and bring home an Akari light sculpture, a re-edition of a classic Isamu Noguchi mid-century design available at the museum gift shop.

SOUND

Down the Drain Written and Narrated by Julia Fox: I just finished the audiobook of Julia Fox’s memoir, Down the Drain, which she personally narrated in her hypnotizing, drawling lilt. I’m in awe of Fox, she’s lived what seems like nine lives in just 34 years. Her story follows a classic bildungsroman arc, with a brutally honest voice that manages to make even her most extreme teenage wasteland anecdotes relatable.

TASTE

Semma: I grew up with a ton of spice and heat in my California family kitchen, so I'm always searching for dishes in Manhattan that can satisfy my cravings for a chili bomb. Semma, a Southern Indian restaurant in the West Village, checks every box—by the end of the meal, I'm open-mouth panting with sinuses so clear it's like I just emerged from a sauna. Don't miss the "gunpowder" dosa, which has both earthy and floral spice notes, and wash it all down with a milk punch or three.

SMELL

Black Saffron by Byredo: Right now I'm wearing Byredo's sexy punk-rock-concert-of-a-perfume, Black Saffron. On my skin it smells like leather, ink, cedar wood, and crushed juniper berries. The last time I was in Paris, I stockpiled a handful of Mad et Len's Spirituelle candles, which make my house smell like Moroccan mint tea, and come in hand-hammered minimalist iron tins that I repurpose for odds and ends.

FEEL

The Cool Jean by Still Here: Drawstring and parachute pants are essentials in my closet—I’m blessed with a great backside, but I get easily claustrophobic in tight pants. I just picked up Still Here’s “Cool” jean in a zingy brick red. I sized up so I can get a nice cinch around the waist, with a slight puddle effect as the hem skims the floor.

CURRENTLY COVETING

“I actually don't want to look like a glazed donut.”

–Jordan Huelskamp

LATELY ON COVETEUR

_{All products and services Coveteur recommends are selected by our editorial team unless specifically marked otherwise as "Sponsored." Some of our stories include affiliate links; if you make a purchase by clicking on one of these links, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.}