What’s Happening: Sotheby’s taps Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, the brains behind viral art-world meme page @jerrygogosian, to curate a sale of up-and-coming artists determined by Instagram’s algorithm.

The Download: Five years ago, artist and curator Hilde Lynn Helphenstein contracted a disease that left her bedridden for a year. Still eager to engage the art world, she created the Instagram account @jerrygogosian—a portmanteau of New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz and mega-gallerist Larry Gagosian—to post extremely niche memes that only devoted art-world insiders could hope to understand. (A running gag: Zoe and Chloe, the account’s mascot “gallerinas.”) It took off, and @jerrygogosian has since amassed 113,000 followers and become one of the industry’s most biting critics and beloved shitposters. Even staffers from Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, and Pace Gallery follow along, seemingly in on the joke.

Helphenstein’s rising profile piqued the interest of Sotheby’s, which tapped her to curate a sale of work by emerging artists recommended to her by Instagram’s Explore tab. Called “Suggested Followers: How the Algorithm Is Always Right” (Sept. 24–Oct. 3), the sale offers a direct look at how Instagram’s mysterious algorithm influences taste. “Because I’m followed by pretty much every gallery, major institution, and big collector, when I go to my ‘suggested’ or Explore pages, Instagram shows me people who are going to be rising stars,” she tells W. From there, she decided to approach artists recommended to her directly by the algorithm.

The sale features work by 20 such artists, including Ronan Day-Lewis, Sarah Thibault, Gigi Rose Gray, and Avery Wheless (pictured). Most are indeed up-and-comers, though one critic pointed out how Marc Quinn, who has enjoyed solo exhibitions at Tate Britain and the Venice Biennale, seems misplaced, but much of his work over the past few years also reflects on Instagram. Ranging in price from $11,500 to $250,000, the pieces will be available for purchase on Sotheby’s Buy Now platform.

Some may argue the Sotheby’s sale is a sign of Helphenstein selling out or satire “dying forever,” but it also reflects shifting power dynamics in how we approach criticism. @jerrygogosian is just one of several accounts gaining steam as an emerging generation of digital-savvy aesthetes gravitate toward quick-hit memes instead of overblown essays penned by seemingly out-of-touch critics. Architecture has Dank Lloyd Wright, Ryan Scavnicky, and McMansion Hell. Design has furniture dealer Herman Wakefield. Fashion has polarizing watchdog Diet Prada, the industry’s “most feared Instagram account” and a content platform in its own right.

What unifies the accounts is an incisive focus on pressing issues like labor exploitation, overconsumption, poor design, and the proliferation of knockoffs within their respective industries—and starting conversations about changing the status quo. It turns out dank memes are the preferred mode of communication. “They pull from a shared visual language and can make sense even if you don’t exactly understand the context,” Alana Hope Levinson writes for Dwell. “Though the primary mode of memes and shitposts is visual humor, the function is often critique—whether it’s gently ribbing famous architects or eviscerating unfair labor practices.”

Creating biting memes seems to be what Helphenstein does best—and there’s demand to bring her witty approach to new mediums. Beyond simply amassing a six-figure following, she started attending prestigious art fairs around the world and writing about her experiences for a mailing list that charges subscribers $5 a month, which pays her bills. She’s also in the process of securing her own TV show with support from Pace Gallery president Marc Glimcher. Her ultimate aspiration? “I want to be the female Anthony Bourdain of the art world.”

In Their Own Words: “Instagram is by far the number-one tool for exploring the emerging art world,” Helphenstein said in a statement. “From an artist’s professional infancy to their meteoric success, the algorithm is notified that you’re interested in a certain type of artist or style of work, then the AI does the work for you.”

Surface Says: Memes are a deceptively simple vessel to communicate complex ideas, so remember to not take everything at face value. As Jason Okundaye wrote in a critique of queer influencer activists, “what should be used as a jumping off point for learning about an issue ends up being the final word for many.” Instagram is an incredible tool for both discovering new artists and becoming acquainted with complex issues, but real change happens when you dig deeper—and this more often than not happens off the platform.

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here.

Reach the design world every morning. Find out more about advertising in the Design Dispatch.

A lounge in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport is showing off a retro makeover with references to some of the city’s famous landmarks. French design agency Chzon is behind the new look, which includes archways inspired by the Arc de Triomphe, green metal chairs like the ones found in local parks, and a fountain modeled after the water feature in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Artist studio Les Simonnet fashioned amorphous, floor-to-ceiling white sculptures that double as benches for passengers in Terminal 2G. Fitted out with tubular furniture recalling the 1960s and ‘70s, travelers watching planes land and take off outside the window will also be treated to a view of a mural on perforated sheets whose geometric forms channel the work of French painter Sonia Delaunay. Playful and comforting, the space is a welcome, ahem, departure from the typical airport environment.

When: Until Feb. 5

Where: Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis

What: With influences ranging from Italian Baroque architecture to West African bronze making, Barbara Chase Riboud developed a highly original visual language across her seven-decade career in which she produced bronze artworks that pushed the material to its limits. Her first solo exhibition in more than 40 years traces the Philadelphia-born artist’s evolution by showcasing 50 sculptures alongside a selection of her globally acclaimed poetry, offering unprecedented insight into her meditations on form, monument, and memory.

Our weekly roundup of the internet’s most preposterous headlines, from the outrageous to the outright bizarre.

Donald Trump’s Super PAC Raised Just $40 in August in Sign of Weakness [Financial Times]

Beyond Meat COO Suspended for Biting Man’s Nose After College Football Game [Bloomberg]

American Tourist Fined $455 for Eating Gelato, Drinking Beer on Steps of Roman Fountain [Food & Wine]

Truck Believed to Be Full of Sex Toys Overturns on Oklahoma I-40 Highway [New York Post]

Welcome to Your Airbnb, the Cleaning Fees Are $143 and You’ll Still Have to Wash the Linens [The Wall Street Journal]

Meet the Men Paying Six Figures to Get Taller—by Having Their Legs Broken [GQ]

FDA Warns Against Using NyQuil As a Chicken Marinade [Huffington Post]

Trail of Slime Leads German Customs to Bags of Giant Snails [Associated Press]

Two years after Covid-19 took hold, employees are still fiercely resisting the C-suite’s demand to return to the pre-pandemic norm, no longer feeling beholden to outdated habits. Not everyone is pining for the ways of the Before Times—many firms have gone fully remote, with office occupancy in San Francisco at 22 percent and Manhattan’s double that, with those numbers expected to rise. The latter city is grappling with a massive budget shortfall in business and property taxes for that reason, and commercial real estate owners are clamoring for tenants in a competitive market.

To lure them back, some real estate owners are seeking newfangled methods. Mirroring a time-honored tactic of luxury retailers and boutique hotels, commercial developers are infusing their spaces with beguiling fragrances in an effort to make antiseptic office buildings feel more comforting. It’s a strategy the hospitality industry knows well—these days it’s not uncommon for a hotel to develop its own distinct scent profile.

Ornare, well-established in the design market with a decades-long tradition of craftsmanship, brings legacy in architecture, design, and décor to customized luxury built-in furnishings. Specializing in utility and craft to outfit luxury residences, the brand is based on high standards, state-of-the-art technology, and quality.

Surface Says: With its Salone del Mobile debut, numerous designer collaborations, and reach across global epicenters of culture, Ornare’s status as a leader in built-in furnishings is a no-brainer.

Here’s a handy guide for when you appear on a home renovation TV show.

This photo series shows the individuality of the Nakagin Tower’s capsules.

Mid-century architects and designers had an affinity for making children’s books.

Notice how restaurant reservation culture has spiraled out of control?