Isabella Huffington, 22, showed off her new works on paper at the Ports 1961 boutique to packed crowds in the Meatpacking District on a recent autumn evening. A collection of colorful, textured graphical artwork was hung on walls and easels surrounding an understated fall collection from Ports 1961. Huffington’s art, works on paper made with Sharpie pens, is like looking through a kaleidoscope or a jumble of unassembled puzzle pieces. The work involves intricate prints, but remains super playful.
“My work has evolved so much in the last four years while I’ve been in college,” Isabella says. For the occasion of this show her mother, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, framed the works in oversized gold frames. The experience has been one of growth for mother and daughter. Huffington says her mother, “has no knowledge of art so we’ve been leaning together.”
The “very type A” art history major has embraced art as her passion and will continue with it after she graduates next spring. “I’m from a very tight knit family so I will move back to New York after I graduate,” she explains. The senior had previously had her works exhibited at the William Turner Gallery when she was a senior in high school but “this show at Ports 1961 makes it all seem real.” Best of all, the young prodigy is staying humble in the midst of all this buzz. “I couldn’t be more grateful.”
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