Many viewers watching Adria Arjona in Hit Man, the sawtoothed Richard Linklater–directed comedy that hit theaters last spring, likely asked themselves the same question: Who is she? As Madison, a newly liberated and increasingly unhinged divorcée looking to create a new life away from her scummy ex-husband, Arjona is indelible. The summer blockbuster Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz’s hotly anticipated directorial debut, saw her embark on a dodgy island retreat alongside a stacked cast that includes Channing Tatum and Alia Shawkat.
“Maybe if I’d done things differently, I’d be a huge movie star already,” she says when Beatrice Loayza asks her about the vixen persona she leans into in Hit Man—the kind of role so often associated with Latina actors. “But from the beginning, I told myself I wouldn’t stick to one genre or type of character. I don’t want to get bored.”
2. Principal Ballerina Isabella Boylston on the Biggest Misconception About Elite Dancers
Former New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay once characterized Isabella Boylston’s dancing as “champagne on the stage.” A principal with American Ballet Theatre in New York since 2014 and part of the corps de ballet in the company since 2007, Boylston has also performed with the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg, the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, and, most recently, with Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico in San Juan. “Nothing compares to performing,” she tells readers, “It's not always fun, but when I am able to find those performances where I'm totally free and in the moment and one with the music and my partner and the story—that's the most fulfilling thing.”
3. The Lost Kitchen’s Erin French Reveals America’s Most Underrated Culinary Destinations
Most restaurants accept reservations over the phone—or at least online. Erin French’s famed farm-to-table restaurant, the Lost Kitchen, takes them only via postcard. This year, the 53-seat establishment received more than 60,000 submissions. Since it opened in French’s tiny hometown of Freedom, Maine, in 2014, the Lost Kitchen has become a more-than-cult favorite, spawning a documentary TV show, an in-person and online shop, three books, and a weekly farmer’s market. French, who grew up working at her father’s diner in Freedom, created the postcard reservation system to save her local post office. Suffice to say, they are keeping busy now.
4. I’m a Finance Bro. What Should I Consume to Feel More Cultured?
In her new column, Delia Cai sketches out a reading diet for a corporate finance drone in search of a more exciting life of the mind. Did you catch Covid again and need recommendations on what shows to binge? Want pointers on how to get cultured while living in a small town? Or maybe you just want to feel a little more impressive and hold your own at that next dinner party?
“A major part of appearing 'cultured' stems from a working degree of confidence with yourself and your whole deal; self-awareness is the foundation of all interesting and well-read people,” Cai explains. “The real secret no one will tell you is that someone with weird taste or an obsession with a random author is going to be far more interesting to talk to at any dinner party than a regular 'cultured' schmoe who’s just marched themselves through a Googled English 101 syllabus.”
Over the last few years, bodily autonomy has experienced a radically different fate onscreen and in the fangs of the American legal system. Roe V. Wade has fallen. “The right to not be pregnant,” as writer Charlotte Shane has called it, is no longer the law of the land. Meanwhile, recent movies like Poor Things and Zola sensationalize the sex industry rather than parse the nuance of the actual labor. Too often, films like these only reference sex work to titillate viewers instead of questioning their relation to the power of spectacle. Shane’s new memoir An Honest Woman, is valuable counterprogramming.
6. Peek Inside TV Journalist Mary Kitchen’s LA Home, Where Frank Stella Communes With Cindy Sherman
Television presenter, entertainment journalist, model, philanthropist: Mary Kitchen is a contemporary Renaissance woman. The New Brunswick, Canada native has added yet another gig: revamping her Caspar Ehmcke-designed, Hollywood Regency-style home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. While Kitchen has long been immersed in art and interiors—she’s overseen the renovation and design of her family's spaces in New York, the Bahamas, Canada, and Malibu—the opportunity to turn Ehmcke’s 1966 property into her dream home presented an irresistible challenge. What sets the house apart is Kitchen’s ever-growing art collection. Assembled with her husband and CULTURED power art advisor Amy Cappellazzo, the trove includes a hanging sculpture by Olafur Eliasson and paintings by Alex Katz and Frank Stella.
7. Behind the Scenes of 3 Starchitect-Designed Homes in the Hamptons
Despite all the aggravation that comes with the Hamptons, this strip of Long Island remains a magnet for architectural experimentation by brave homeowners and daring architects. Those designing homes on Long Island must contend with the legacies of Andrew Geller, Charles Gwathmey, and Philip Johnson—three architects who pushed the envelope and redefined the landscape—alongside the wetland conditions of the peninsula and the myriad needs of the commissioning client. Here, contributing editor Karen Wong lifts the curtain on the creatives behind three 21st-century Hamptons houses that broke new ground.
A peek inside Kim Manocherian’s abode features an expansive and startling mix of sculptures, paintings, and works on paper, including the complete collection of Andy Warhol shoe prints. A trio of puppets sit on couches, a Jeffrey Gibson punching bag hangs from a ceiling, and a selection of sculptures from Urs Fischer to Willie Cole call her terrace overlooking Central Park home. The New York-based arts patron doesn't follow trends. Instead, she keeps sight of art that teeters towards provocation. "I only buy work that I respond to viscerally,” Manocherian explains. With over 600 pieces and counting in her vast collection, she sees no end in sight.
9. Museums Are in Crisis. Sharing Art Is One Leader’s Way Out.
Anne Kraybill has been on a mission to make art a common good since she began her career in museums more than 20 years ago. Earlier this summer, she joined Walton and Ford Foundation President Darren Walker to discuss democratizing art access as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. In an op-ed for CULTURED, she offers a personal prognosis of the state of the museum ecosystem—and explains why resource sharing is an essential part of its future. “Making museums sustainable for the long term requires bridging the divide between museums, communities, and philanthropists of all ages.”
10. 'No Sheep, Only Leaders': Prolific Collector Nancy Magoon Breaks Down the Aspen Art Scene
In Aspen, one of the premier art-viewing institutions might just be the private residence of collector Nancy Magoon. The 9,560 square feet of land is adorned, indoors and out, with everything from postmodern installations to portraits of Magoon by Andy Warhol to prehistoric pottery. The collector, who also maintains an equally art-filled residence in New York, currently serves as a board member of the Aspen Art Museum. “I like artists who represent their generation and give me something to think about,” she says, “I find it thought-provoking when an artist teaches me to look at the world in a different way.”
