LUXE FILES
As art, architecture and fashion converge in a project dear to her heart, the Whitney’s Jane Panetta shares her own inspirations.
The Whitney’s Jane Panetta shares the art that makes her eyes sparkle.
IS THERE AN ARTIST WHO HAS BEEN AN ENDURING INFLUENCE? Nan Goldin [7]. I was deeply impacted by seeing her show at the Whitney in 1996 and it really solidified my desire to work in a museum and with artists. I remember being so struck by who she was photographing, how she was photographing them and this idea that tough, difficult yet intimate photographs could be artworks and it really stayed with me.
CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS WHO YOU MOST ADMIRE? Simone Leigh [11], who will represent the US at the 2022 Venice Biennale and is the first black female artist to do so. She has been working for decades but only recently gained much-deserved critical attention and I deeply respect her vision as both an artist and thinker.
DO YOU COLLECT ANYTHING? Art books.
WHAT ARE YOUR FASHION MUST-HAVES? Platform sneakers [15]! I am short but always eager for something comfortable. FRAGRANCE OF CHOICE? Perfumes by Mondo Mondo [4]. BOOKS – WHAT ARE YOU READING NOW – BOTH FICTION AND ART/ DESIGN? Zadie Smith’s essays about the lockdown, Intimations [9], and I’ve just read Lindsay Pollock’s The Girl with the Gallery. MUSIC – WHAT IS ON ROTATION IN THE OFFICE AND AT HOME? I’m a big fan of electronic music but while I’m working I listen to composers Erik Satie or Philip Glass. [8]
BEST DOWNTIME (IF YOU EVER HAVE ANY) PURSUIT? Spending time with my seven-year-old daughter.
WHAT IS YOUR RESTAURANT OF CHOICE? Roman’s [12] in Fort Greene, Brooklyn NYC.
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED TIPPLE? I am a big Aperol spritz [13] fan, especially if it’s warm.
FILMS THAT HAVE INSPIRED YOU? I just rewatched Time [14] by Garrett Bradley, an artist we worked with at the Whitney last year, and found it incredibly moving. It’s an important reminder of the very real issues in the US around mass incarceration but also the ways in which love motivates us to stay focused.
SHOPS AND ONLINE STORES YOU FREQUENT? I love McNally Jackson bookstores and have visited regularly during the pandemic. MAGAZINES YOU READ REGULARLY? I am a devoted fan of The New Yorker [2]. Also various art magazines such as BOMB [1]. TRAVEL – FAVOURITE REGULAR HAUNT AND WHERE IS ON YOUR MUST-SEE LIST? I have been to Italy several times and never tire of it but I’m also eager to return to Egypt [3] where I have only been once but still think of often.
WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY LOOKING FORWARD TO? I’m looking forward to all we are doing at the Whitney around the permanent collection: thinking about its future, how we want to develop it and new ways to surface it in the galleries or elsewhere. It feels like exciting work at a particularly exciting and historic moment.
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THE FIFTH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE MAX MARA ‘WHITNEY’ BAG? The bag is inspired by the facade of our building – designed by architects Renzo Piano Building Workshop. At their very core, both the Whitney [5] and the Max Mara ‘Whitney’ bag [6] possess an experimental spirit based on the work of important American artists such as Florine Stettheimer [10]. Max Mara has been a wonderful partner of the Whitney for nearly a decade, and has supported its events and exhibitions culminating with the ‘Whitney’ bag in 2015 and the great opening of the Museum. whitney.org; maxmara.com