Six-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and entrepreneur and model Jordyn Woods will curate the latest edition of Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction, bringing their shared perspective as collectors to the biannual sale. The couple has assembled a selection of 10 works by postwar and contemporary artists including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, both associated with Pop Art; Helen Frankenthaler, Alma Thomas, and Sam Gilliam, all linked to the Washington Color School; and George Condo, John Chamberlain, Ed Ruscha, and Rashid Johnson. The live auction takes place at Sotheby’s New York on October 7th, with the exhibition on view from October 2nd.
“Art holds memories and tells stories,” Towns and Woods said in a joint statement. “Each work in this sale resonated with us for a different reason, and together they reflect the people, places, and experiences that continue to shape our perspective as collectors.” The pair described their approach as collecting “based on connection,” citing artists, memories, cultural influences, and moments from their travels as touchstones for the selection. The curated sale spans painting, sculpture, and works on paper and explores themes of identity, perception, and transformation.
Several works carry personal significance. Towns considers Condo’s I Want My Brain Back (2020) a reflection of “how much I was losing myself” during 2020, a particularly difficult year for the athlete. He noted that Condo has “become a great friend of ours.” Warhol’s Flowers (1964), from the collection of architect Robert A.M. Stern, reminds Woods “of family, of remembrance, and of the garden we hope to create one day.” Ruscha’s Cities of the Globe (1980) evokes Los Angeles, where the couple met. The selection also includes Johnson’s Anxious Man (1980) and Lichtenstein’s Interior with Painting of Nude (Study) (1997), which comes directly from the collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein.
“Every work in this selection was chosen with intention,” said Haleigh Stoddard, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Curated, in a statement. “Together, Karl and Jordyn have assembled an edit that reflects their individual perspectives, shared interests, and the artists they are most passionate about.”
Since 2013, Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auctions have invited tastemakers from music, business, fashion, film, and sports to select works reflecting their personal tastes. Past curators have included Victoria Beckham, Robert Pattinson, Kevin Love, Karlie Kloss, Kelly Rowland, Oprah Winfrey, Cynthia Erivo, and Rich Paul. Pattinson’s 2022 edit, for instance, mixed six works by established figures such as Richard Serra and Willem de Kooning, a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, with rising artists including Genieve Figgis and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Towns, who joined the New York Knicks in 2024 and helped lead the franchise to its first championship since 1973 this past June, also serves as Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association. Woods, whom he married in August, is the founder of the lifestyle brand Woods by Jordyn and Chief Creative Director of Glosslab. The couple’s ties to the museum world extend beyond the auction house, too. Their friendship with Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum director Mariët Westermann began during the museum’s Rashid Johnson exhibition and deepened after the Knicks’ championship run, when the Guggenheim briefly displayed the good-luck handbag Woods designed and carried throughout the playoffs.
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