Karl-Anthony Towns, Jordyn WoodsJason Crowley/BFA.com
Every couple has their shared language, and for Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods, that language happens to be art. Earlier this week, a mix of familiar faces from the worlds of art and entertainment gathered at Sotheby’s Breuer building for a special dinner to mark the latest edition of its Contemporary Curated auction, compiled this season by six-time NBA all-star Towns and model and entrepreneur Woods.
The just-married couple’s selection for the biannual sale—which engages high-profile guest curators from creative fields outside the traditional art world circuit—will feature ten pieces hand-chosen according to their individual tastes and personal connections to the artists themselves, who include George Condo, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, Alma Thomas, John Chamberlain, and Rashid Johnson.
The couple noted that while Woods worked intensively on the selection, due to a certain time crunch this summer (“He had this little thing called the NBA finals,” the model quipped to Vogue about her husband’s rather pressing commitments), the collection represents both of their affinities and influences on one another’s perceptions of art. Towns noted that their respective backgrounds played a role in their vision, with his East Coast upbringing emphasizing giants like Basquiat and Warhol, while Woods’s proximity to Los Angeles, and learning from her multimedia artist brother Joshua, encouraged her love of art from a young age. Both Towns and Woods remain open to works by emerging and smaller artists, as well. “We really inspire each other because we both are okay taking a chance on going outside of the box,” the New York Knicks center told Vogue.
Serendipitous connections to the works truly abounded for the couple, especially to Condo’s I Want My Brain Back (2020). The artist, who was present at their wedding, earlier this year created a one-of-one trading card with Towns’s portrait for the sports memorabilia brand Topps. Towns similarly shares a friendship with Johnson, whose work was the first piece he acquired for his personal collection. That said, the athlete also harbors a special admiration for the two Lichtenstein pieces—an artist whose style Woods studied in depth while in school—joking that he’s dangerously close to purchasing one for himself. “They make me want to start spending money!” Towns said to Vogue with a grin.
