Modern Love
Written By Tom Roston
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Think contemporary art is lost on toddlers? That's a matter of perspective.
You could say Cheo, 2 1/2, is being raised by MoMA and Dada. Dad Mike Worthington is a painter and works in the music business, and mom Patty Lie is a designer of CD box sets and clothes; together they've converted a former elevator repair warehouse in Brooklyn into a playful space where art's not just something to stick in a frame.
"A lot of the things we've done are part of trying to make a space that could have felt cold seem more friendly," Patty says. "And we wanted the place to be interactive, so we tried to fill it with ideas that would let people participate, ask questions, be curious."
Cheo may not be ready for art theory, but like most toddlers, he's a natural surrealist, fascinated with everyday objects like the wire hangers in the giant living-room mobile. Willy Guhl loop rockers may be high design (not to mention high expense), but Cheo loves them because they make great tunnels. "It's funny that we started out with this art-school sensibility," Patty says, "and ended up with a place kids love."
But it also makes sense. "Artists are always trying to go back to the way they used to think about things as children," Patty says. "That's why when you look at Jackson Pollock, a lot of people say, "Oh, a 5-year-old could do that.'"
