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OCCUPATION Art adviser
HOME BASE New York City
HER STORY Contemporary-art consultant Kim Heirston, 40, spends one week out of every month in Europe, scouring galleries, fairs, and auctions for exciting new work. One of her proudest moments (besides the time she persuaded a client to buy a Damien Hirst formaldehyde sculpture that's now worth 10 times the purchase price) was "discovering" Swiss multimedia artist Ugo Rondinone, in a Zurich gallery several years ago.
HOTEL HIGHS "I'm a Gemini, so I like hotels to have both old-world charm and modern sex appeal. The Berkeley in London has a beautiful, tiny pool and a sexy, fun bar. At the Saxon in Johannesburg, every room opens onto a reflecting pool or a koi pond. And I once spent Christmas at the Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur—the courtyard was strung with lights. "
INTO AFRICA Five years ago, Heirston took a monthlong trip to South Africa, to bear witness to a nation still making the transition from apartheid. "People would come up to me off the street and ask what I thought of their country. They were fascinated with who I might be; they'd say, 'Are you a movie star?' In their minds, I had to be someone special, because they weren't used to seeing a well-dressed, well-appointed black person hanging out with white travel partners."
EXHALE "Whenever I have downtime, I try to take a trip that alters my consciousness. It's cleansing to get into a new culture, and it puts everything else that I do in high relief. India is my absolute, hands-down favorite country. My first time there, I took an intensive group tour of the south: every day for three weeks we just visited Hindu temples, sometimes climbing hundreds of steps to reach them. It was a rigorous trip physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Being there always feels like a life-changing experience."
—Jaime Gross
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