MELISSA BENT CO-DIRECTOR AND CO-OWNER, RIVINGTON ARMS GALLERY

Melissa Bent & Mirabelle Marden photographed at Rivington Arms Gallery, NYC, on July 31, 2008
Posse: Keith Riley, artist, Lansing-Dreiden; Leigh Ledare, artist; Amy Greenspon, gallerist; Sahra Motalebi, musician/artist;Max Farago, photographer; Marguerite Wade, set designer and art director, Wade & Strauss; Mirabelle Marden, co-director and co-owner, Rivington Arms gallery; Jaclyn Hodes, stylist

Where were you born? In the provincial, but charming city of Boston. Where did you meet these people? Marguerite and I met in high school; we went to a zany alternative school-within-a-school. I met Mirabelle during the first week of college at Sarah Lawrence. On the first day of school during our second year, Mirabelle spied Jaclyn reading The Face on the steps of her dorm. Jaclyn and I have the same birthday, and the three of us are Scorpios. Mirabelle lived that year in a house with Sahra, who had transferred from Simon’s Rock: she fit right in. When Mirabelle and I opened the gallery, Keith was part of our first show; Lansing-Dreiden had their fourth solo show with us in November. Max annoyed me into a friendship by hanging out at the gallery all summer our first year, pontificating outrageous show ideas that never materialized. Amy I met through the art world, which permeates most aspects of my life. What do you all have in common? There is a wonderful and inspiring intensity among us all and a continued support of one another’s ideas and projects. Where do you hang out in New York? Galleries and gallery after-parties; Maysles Cinema in Harlem. Where do you dine? Pylos, Omen, Blue Ribbon, and Mi Cucina. What’s your favorite thing about the city? The people in it.

From left: Keith wears Jeans Diesel Leigh wears Shoes Converse Amy wears Dress Marni Shoes Chanel Sahra wears Jacket Kai Kühne Shoes Devi Kroell Max wears Shirt Giorgio Armani Jeans Levi’s Shoes Opening Ceremony Melissa wears Dress Viktor & Rolf Hat Granville Millinery Company Shoes Yves Saint Laurent Marguerite wears Dress Acne Shoes Pierre Hardy Bracelet (on right arm) Marni Mirabelle wears Shirt and bow tie Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers Jeans Current/Elliot Jaclyn wears Dress Comme des Garçons Shoes Opening Ceremony

Styling Avena Gallagher Makeup Sandrine Van Slee (Art Department) Hair Wesley O’Meara for Kérastase Paris (The Wall Group) Photo assistant Kiko Buxó Stylist assistants Dena Jackson and Peju Famojure Prop styling Peter Klein Production Foxmoth Productions Post production Primary Photographic