The Art of Traveling Light: See How Three of the Art World’s Most Stylish Jet-Setters Pack for Their Summer Holidays

In the last weeks of August,
before the busy fall season returns, the art world gets ready for
its final and longest round of summer vacations. With this in mind,
artnet News decided to reach out to three of the industry’s coolest
women—photographer Sophie Elgort; The Wing’s resident art curator,
Lolita Cros; and Gagosian’s art liaison, Sarah Hoover—for advice on
a topic that can make or break even the most glamorous of
adventures: How do you pack?

From investing in a must-have
prop for overnight flights to sending toiletries on ahead to your
destination, these women shared their tried-and-true tricks for
getting where they need to go in style—along with some exciting
summer art highlights and travel plans.  

Sarah Hoover, Art Liaison at
Gagosian Gallery

Tell me about your summer so far. How’s it going and where
have you been?

So far, so good!
It’s short, as usual. I haven’t
traveled a ton this season since I did a lot of travel in the
spring. So I was trying to stay “as put” as possible this
season.

I was in Japan for a month in
April—my husband [Tom Sachs] is an artist, and he had an exhibition
at the Tokyo Opera City Gallery and was also shooting a film, so we
were there for quite awhile with my little kid. It took us about a
month to get over the jet lag—and then I had to go to Art Basel.
Then I went to Paris to open a show of Ellen Gallagher’s work at
Gagosian. Then I came back to New York for two weeks, and flew back
to Paris in July for couture week, for Chanel. Then I went to Aspen
for my mom’s birthday—I missed ArtCrush by a few days, but I kind
of appreciated missing ArtCrush—and now I’m going with my family to
California through Labor Day, just to relax and swim in the
water. 

How do you like to pack?

I’m really psychotically
organized about my clothes. In my normal life, I pick out all my
outfits on Sundays and I write them out—even down to the
accessories and underwear, sometimes. It can be
excessive. But if a bra strap shows, it ruins the whole
thing and I need to start all over again.

When I travel, I do the exact
same thing. I go in my closet, and I stand there, and I pull out
everything that I think I might want to wear, and then I put
together the outfits. I’ll package them in these cloth Chanel bags
that you can see in my photo. If you buy something from Chanel,
they give you those. Once I bought a dress from them, and they gave
me like 20 of them. I was like, “Thank you, kind sir!”

I also love the Paravel packing
cubes. I do one for my workout clothes and underwear, one for hair
accessories, one for socks. I hate when stuff gets messed up when
you travel and you have to pay to get it all dry-cleaned again, so
if I need to, I use tissue paper as well to pack. The important
thing to me is the autonomous packing bag. When I get to the place
I’m going, I unpack right away. Also, if I’m going away for a long
time, I usually Amazon Prime my toiletries to my destination so
that I don’t have to carry them because they take up so much
room. 

What are some things you always have to have with you? Your
non-negotiables, regardless of where you’re going. 

On the plane itself, I need to
have some sort of lip balm because my idea of hell is being stuck
in a dry climate without it. I also have to have dental floss—I’m
an oral hygiene addict. And a book, of course, is essential, so
that you can completely zone out.

In my suitcase, I always bring
workout clothes, my bikini, and a passport—I don’t care if I’m in
literally Des Moines. You might meet some rich lady who thinks
you’re fun and says, “Come on my yacht!,” and you don’t have a
bikini or a passport. You’re an idiot. I hate bringing heels in the
summer, so I always bring some really pretty flats, and black
liquid eyeliner from Stila. It’s the best. 

What does packing for your son entail?

My husband customizes a lot of
my son’s clothes and makes some of them, too. He kind of has a
uniform, so I just usually bring versions of that. Tom made a line
for Nike; the shoes are called Mars Yards, and when my baby was
born, Nike gave us a lifetime supply of baby ones, which don’t
officially exist. They just made them for him. So when we travel,
my family travels in matching outfits. We all wear Mars Yard
sneakers and customized matching tracksuits. Even my nanny wears
it. We all travel as a crew. We’ve gotten a lot of stares in
airports.

I send diapers and swim diapers
to the hotel ahead of time. You can make anything a toy for a kid
that age, too. He never has an iPad at home—ever—but I do bring one
with kid stuff on it for the plane, because I don’t want the rest
of the world to hate me, and it’s such a treat for him. That’s sort
of it. He’s obsessed with airplanes, too, which really
helps.  

Packing for a child definitely
takes more organization and you have to think a little bit more. I
try and pack for him a day before we go and I pack for myself the
night before. I used to never check a bag—I used to go to Fashion
Week with a carry-on. I was an absolute professional. And now
there’s so much more stuff because of him. 

What’s the best art you’ve seen this summer?

The best show I’ve seen all year
actually is “Reframing the Black Model” at the Musee d’Orsay. It’s
unbelievable. It’s so relevant, and a wonderful exhibition. It
began here at the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia, and it’s
obviously expanded in Paris and has Manet’s Olympia and so
many other historical paintings that made me feel really sorrowful.
It’s really poignant because it’s about all of the black figures
that are and were so important in art history, whose names we don’t
even know. They were overlooked even though they were so important
to decades of work. It was just amazing, really beautiful and
moving. I saw it twice.

I saw the Sally Mann exhibit at
Jeu de Paume, which was also so very beautiful. She took these
incredibly haunting photographs of scenes from Civil War
battlegrounds. And of course Ellen Gallagher at Gagosian, which I
worked on, was great. She is remarkable. I think we’re probably all
thinking a lot about race right now, as we should be, and those
three shows all deal with race in direct and indirect
ways. 

Number one packing tip?

Be realistic. The thing that you
don’t wear in New York, you’re not going to wear in Paris or
whatever. And be comfortable—you don’t have to bring the six-inch
heels. 

Lolita Cros, Curator at the
Wing

What does summer look like for you? Where are you
going?

Summertime is full of familial
obligations. They’re always good ones, but usually my opportunity
to discover a new place is in April or May. At the end of July—I
actually time it to the village fete—I spend time with my family in
the South of France in a little medieval village called
Puisserguier. It’s the most beautiful place. It’s in the middle of
the vineyards, and we go there and eat lots of good, grilled food,
and beautiful tomatoes, and drink beer with the local
villagers.

Then usually I have a week back
in New York, between this vacation and the next, with my
boyfriend’s family in Harbour Island in the Bahamas. That’s a
little more relaxing. We stay at Ocean View, which is a beautiful
hotel that he’s been going to for years. We usually spend a week
there.

When I’m back, this summer, I’ll
be in New York for 24 hours, and then I’m flying out to London to
do a studio-visit marathon for the opening of the Wing London. I’ll
be visiting a lot of artists, a lot of galleries, and checking out
the scene there. There are many artists I already work with in
London, so I’m excited to either meet them in person or see their
studios, because I’ve never seen their spaces. So it’s all very
exciting—but super rushed, going from vacation mode to insane
art-marathon mode.  

How do you pack for all this? 

I’m more-or-less organized, but
I need to start making a punch list of all of the items that have
to make it into my bag. There’s always one I forget. I’m not a
checked bag sort of person—I haven’t checked a bag in years. In
that way, I can be an under-packer. I’m a big under-packer of
t-shirts—I always tend to run out—but I’m an overpacker of
underwear. And shoes. 

For the South of France, I
basically just wear two outfits the entire time. It’s a lot of
shirts, a pair of running shoes in case I feel like working out at
some point, lots of shorts, and comfy clothes. I always, no matter
where I go, bring one fancy-ish outfit. My mom is the queen of
buying dresses that are impossible to get wrinkled. I have a lot of
those I inherited from her.

For Harbour Island, a lot of my
friends like to go there at the same time as us, so I pack colorful
things for going out, for dancing… lots of nice shoes! I need to go
to the Repetto store this evening to buy a new pair because the
ones that I have have holes everywhere. I prep more outfits for
Harbour, because it’s fun to try out fun things for a beautiful,
tropical setting with your boyfriend and friends.

London will be a lot of suits,
pants, shirts that I’ll need to iron as soon as I get there. I
anticipate a lot of small rainstorms, of course, so I’m planning
for that. I’ll pack probably one pair of heels for London in case
there’s a dinner that’s happening or I go out with an
artist. 

What do you wear while you travel, and what do you bring on
the plane?

I’m not someone who wears
sweatpants when I travel. I like to look somewhat decent on the
plane. I think Europeans are raised that way, sort of
sweatpants-averse. I have my unique linen pants, which are the best
travel pants, and some comfy shirts that I don’t need a bra
for. 

I have a new obsession, which I
advise everyone to get for their plane rides: an inflatable foot
rest. You don’t realize that, when you’re trying to fall asleep on
the plane, the thing that you’re lacking is just something to put
your feet up on, like an ottoman. It’s made a huge difference. You
just feel like you’re sleeping horizontally rather than at a hard
angle. That thing is a life saver. I used to just use a bag and
then I invested in this $20 footstool, and now I can’t live without
it.  

What art have you seen this summer that you’re excited
about?

Outside of seeing my family, the
second most important part of my trip to France is flying to Arles
for the Les Rencontres d’Arles photo festival. I stay at the Nord
Pinus hotel while I’m there. My favorite exhibition this year was
Mohamed Bourouissa’s showing at the Monoprix [the French chain
store].

I’ve been running around so much
for the Wing—where all the artworks are on sale—and making sure
that pieces get safely to the homes of their clients, but I still
have to go see the Whitney Biennial before it closes and MoMA PS1’s
“MOOD: Studio Museum Artists in Residence 2018-19.” Two of the Wing
artists have work there now: Allison Janae Hamilton and Tschabalala
Self. I’ve been working with Tschabalala since 2012—I’m so amazed
by her career and the way she’s developed her practice. It’s also
incredible to see so many other artists who are equally good, but
who haven’t yet gotten that little kick. And she’s a really big
supporter of younger artists, so it’s pretty amazing to talk to
her. There’s actually a
talk that I did with her that I uploaded on my YouTube channel,
which is one of the favorite talks I’ve done. She’s super honest
about her career, and the art world in general.

And then in terms of other art
projects, I am trying to do more events and curated studio visits
for collectors and smaller groups of people, which I want to put
online so everyone can have a peek. I’m looking forward to the next
“Studio Visit of the Month” as they’re called. It’s a series I do
for the Wing on social media, featuring the spaces of Wing
artists—which hopefully will happen in the fall at some point, when
I lock down the time. 

Sophie Elgort,
Photographer

Where are you off to and how has your summer been so
far?

We’re going for a week to
northern Wisconsin to visit my husband’s family. They have a cabin
there, and it’s a particularly unique and special place because it
sort of goes back generations. There’s something like 12 cabins,
all in the same area—it’s like a camp, and there’s a cafeteria and
when the bell rings, you go down to have your meals. There’s
water-skiing and tennis; they have different activities and games
you can play; people organize poker nights. There’s a square dance
and outdoor picnics. It’s like this crazy week-long getaway
tradition we all partake in, and it’s pretty unplugged because the
service is terrible up there. It’s one thing to talk about
disconnecting, and another to really do it because you’re sort of
forced to, which is nice. You get to really escape.

That’s our main vacation. Other
than that, we spend most weekends with my family in Southampton. I
went to Chicago for the first time ever a few weeks ago for a
wedding, too. It’s one of those places I couldn’t believe I hadn’t
visited before. It was a really hot weekend, so we ended up going
to Ohio Street Beach, which interestingly exists in the middle of
the city. It was amazing to be able to walk from the city streets
right into the water.  

Walk me through your packing routine. 

I wish I were the sort of person
who packed well in advance. My dad leaves his suitcase out a week
before he has to go somewhere and starts putting things in
gradually, which is such a good idea. I always end up packing at
midnight with a 6 a.m. departure, and by the time we have to go,
I’m still rushing to finish.

But as disorganized as I am
about the process, I’m not someone who can just throw things in a
bag. Everything needs to have its proper place. I try to bring
exactly what I need and maybe a few extra pieces. I try to pack in
outfits, so I know what I’m going to wear when. And since we had
our daughter, there’s a lot more stuff. I never used to check a
bag. Now I’ll often pack one very large suitcase, and my husband
and I will each take a side. He likes to put Stella’s stuff in with
ours, in the middle, and I get why that makes sense but I just
don’t like to mix it. We’re basically trying to figure out how to
remain organized with all her things now.  

As a fairly new parent, do you feel like you underestimated
what it’s like to travel with a child?

Yeah. I’m pretty good about
doing it, because it’s nice to continue to have the experiences,
but I definitely didn’t realize how much work it is. You don’t get
to relax on the plane, or really do anything that you want to do.
Even if they’re behaving well, it’s this constant squirming and
need for entertainment and making sure they don’t dive into the
seat of the person next to you or crawl down the aisle. Because
she’s under 2, she doesn’t need her own seat yet and it’s getting a
little crazy. I keep telling myself it’s all good, it’s all
temporary. [laughs] 

What are some things you always bring along with you?

I always bring a robe. And it’s
usually a big fluffy one—I just think it’s great to have for
lounging around in in your room. I always bring dry shampoo.
Especially after a long flight, it helps to give your hair a little
body. I get a travel-size version. I also always bring my
cameras—usually one digital and one film camera, with an extra roll
of film. I like to bring sheet masks on the plane and eye patches
so I can hydrate as I’m going. Air travel can be very drying. I
bring snacks with me, too, like Kind bars. I also always bring
sock-slippers—you know, the ones with the grippy things at the
bottom. 

What art highlights have you seen during your summer travels
so far?

I made it to the Museum of
Contemporary Art when I was in Chicago, which was great. I went to
see the Virgil Abloh show and ended up getting there right when the
MCA opened, so I got to go through the entire museum, which was
cool. Brendan Fernandez has a dance-based installation there which
was interesting, because he’s doing something for the Whitney
Biennial that my brother’s girlfriend, Violetta, dances in. We saw
that earlier in the summer.

I was also at the opening of the
Pierre Cardin exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, which was really
cool. For a bachelorette party, we went up to Storm King for the
day, and I hadn’t gone there in about four years—it’s such a
beautiful way to spend the day.

Staley-Wise Gallery in Soho
carries some of my work, and they have an exhibit for Joel Gray,
who is actually the guy who plays the Master of Ceremonies
in Cabaret. He takes these beautiful pictures of flowers
on his iPhone, and blows them up—life-size, so that they almost
look like paintings. So I recently saw that when I was in the
gallery showing some of my new work.

Funnily enough, in northern
Wisconsin, where I’m going for this camp, every year they ask an
artist to do a show. So I have a show going on there right now.
They hung a bunch of work for me back in June, which I shipped them
out from New York. While we’re there, we’ll have a little reception
for it, too. I made the theme of the exhibit “Summer”—it’s a
combination of personal and commissioned work, all things that felt
like summer to me.

The post The Art of Traveling Light: See How Three of the
Art World’s Most Stylish Jet-Setters Pack for Their Summer
Holidays appeared first on artnet News.