The Stars of the 2012 LA Antiques Art + Design Show Opening Gala

Author:Lindsey Shook

In years past, the LA Antiques Art + Design show gala by PS Arts was the sort of place you might rub elbows with the likes of Nick Lachey, or, if you were lucky, fight with Heidi Klum over a dusty first-edition. But Wednesday night’s soiree, which marked LACMA’s first time helming the event, had a decidedly different, US Weekly–free flavor.

Sure, there were celebrities, but they were of the industry sort: designers including Martin Lawrence Bullard, Ken Fulk and an electric blue bootie–clad Kelly Wearstler (no, they’re not pictured, but trust us, those babies were so marvelously saturated they made the cast of Avatar look pale). And yes, there was a Glee character in attendance for good measure, actress Charlotte Ross (aka Quinn Fabray’s mom), and while she may not always be the most capable single parent on TV, she sure does know how to decorate a fictional house.

No it was not about red carpet moments, being that there was no red carpet; instead it was about suit vests and red-letter shoppers: Even Katy Perry’s stylist Johnny Wujek was upstaged by a voluminously-coiffed 20^th century dealer from Mexico with an immaculately styled poodle (overheard too many times to count: “Who is that poodle man?”).

The talking point on everyone’s lips was Niels Hvass’ “Newspaper” chair and stool, a sculptural lounge chair made of stacked glued and carved newspaper that was installed in guest of honor Joel Chen’s JF Chen Gallery booth. We dared Chen’s wife Margaret, dazzling in an emerald green satin cocktail frock, to take the stiff-looking art recliner for a test drive, and she confirmed it to be surprisingly comfortable and good for one’s posture. Mystery solved. Which left the biggest question of the night to be posed by a particularly dashing waiter who offered us a brownie platter, and invited us to guess which one was laced with pot. The sign of a good party, if ever there was one.

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