Kathleen Bartels
I hope that’s not your dog.
It’s great, isn’t it? It’s a 2003 sculpture by Huang Yong Ping called Amerigo Vespucci. It’s actually named after an Italian who documented the discovery of America. The outline of the urine is a sketch of the U.S.
Is this your regular look?
I tend to dress professionally every day, with maybe a little bit of an interesting or creative bent. Being the director of an art gallery, people have an expectation that I’ll be creative in the clothes that I wear. This suit is by Teenflo, and I got it at Wear Else. It’s one of my favourite stores; they have a mix of styles and the staff there is wonderful. You can call ahead and say, “I’m looking for this sort of thing,” and, by the time you get there, they have everything pulled. I have a very busy life and I don’t have much time to go shopping.
Do you always dress in black?
Black is one of the art colours for sure. I think it looks hip and no matter where you go, if you wear black, it always looks sophisticated and cool. I wear a lot of it but I’m trying to expand and introduce some more colour.
Where’d you get the funky bracelet?
It’s from a Paris company called Metal Pointu’s that makes stuff out of recycled pewter and silver. I got it at the gallery shop. I buy pretty much all my jewellery there – it’s my big weakness.
Are you surrounded by starving artists dressed in rags?
Not at all. The art market has changed dramatically and even young artists are making a considerable amount of money. I don’t think that starving artist bohemian thing is necessarily true today.
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