Chris Noey and Hank Willis Thomas at Bottega Veneta's new flagship store on the Upper East Side

Chris Noey and Hank Willis Thomas do Bottega Veneta in style

The artist and The Artist Project founder were on fine form at our canapé reception in New York on Tuesday!

"As an artist, I’m interested in trying to bring things we’ve packed away back out for discussion. I’m fascinated with how our history and our understanding of the world shifts, so I think of history as a moving target."

So speaks Hank Willis Thomas in our book The Artist Project which cleverly highlights the inspirations of older, more established artists on newer or upcoming ones.

Hank spoke about this to Chris Noey, series director of The Artist Project at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Senior Advisor for the 150th Anniversary Projects at a salon-style event at Bottega Veneta's impressive flagship store on the Upper East Side on Tuesday evening.

Hank Willis Thomas as featured in our book The Artist Project

Designed by Bottega Veneta creative director Tomas Maier and boasting artworks by Mimmo Rotella and Lucio Fontana the venue was an impressive setting for what turned out to be a fun evening.

Bottega Veneta CEO Gerrit Ruetzel, New Museum curator Karen Wong, independent curator and art advisor Sharon Hurowitz and Sotheby’s Eleonore Dethier were all there, enjoying some fine canapés and conversation.

You can browse some of our stories from The Artist Project book here and buy a copy here. Thanks to everyone who came for making it a great evening. Here's to many more!

The Artist Project: What Artists See When They Look At ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art

120 of the world's most influential contemporary artists discuss the art that inspires them in this lavishly packaged and designed book.

"The Artist Project is the latest step among The Met's recent strides to better integrate contemporary art into its historical pantheon." —Art News

Artists have long been stimulated and motivated by the work of those who came before them - sometimes, centuries before them. Interviews with 120 international contemporary artists discussing works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection that spark their imagination shed new light on art-making, museums, and the creative process. Images of the artworks appear alongside images of the contemporary artists' work, allowing readers to discover a rich web of visual connections that spans cultures and millennia.

Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 305 × 238 mm (12 × 9 3/8 in)
Pages: 272 pp
Illustrations: 405 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714873541

Thomas P. Campbell is the former director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Christopher Noey provides the introduction and was series director of The Artist Project web feature and is currently Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"If you can't get to Fifth Avenue, seeing The Met's epic collection through artists' eyes is a pretty good second-best." —The New Yorker

"As fascinating as it is beautiful. Within its pages 120 artists choose an artwork that sparks their imagination and has significant meaning to them to reveal how they look at art... An engrossing exploration of both the history of art and contemporary practice." —Artist & Illustrators Magazine

"The book has the effect of what it would feel like to be blissfully trapped in the museum's halls with John Baldessari, Roz Chast and Nan Goldin."—The New York Times Online

"From igniting the artist's imagination to the enduring influences, The Artist Project not only draws links between history and contemporary practices, but also gives you rare insight into a museum's collection."—TheCultureTrip.com

"It's a fascinating look at how contemporary artists dialogue with this historical collection, in often surprising pairings!"—Natalie Frank, NY Mag

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York invited a 120 artists to choose a work of art and record their personal thoughts and insights... The book encourages readers to study and reconsider, to look and to look again."—MatureTimes.co.uk

"Sets 100 contemporary artists loose in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to locate works that have a particular resonance for them... The choices made and the commentaries that explain them are endlessly fascinating: here is the voluminous proof of Proust's belief that art multiplies reality, enabling us to see the world from inside someone else's head." —The Observer, New Review