Mirabelle Marden's London

New Yorker Mirabelle Marden is downtown art aristocracy and a radar for the zeitgeist. The daughter of abstract painter Brice Marden, she co-founded (with fellow Sarah Lawrence College alum Melissa Bent) The Rivington Arms, the now-shuttered gallery that played a major part in catapulting Dash Snow, Hanna Liden and Lansing-Dreiden, among others, onto the international art scene in the mid-2000s. She is now focused full-time on her own photography. Although Marden may be in her element in NYC, she seems almost as at home across the pond, having lived periodically in London for years. “I come to London a couple of times a year to see friends I’ve had since I was a teenager,” she explains. “What’s cool is there’s always somewhere different to go.” While preparing for her current photo exhibit as part of Bendable Poseable at Brown Gallery, London, she struck some poses for her pal, photographer Leigh Johnson (who showed several times at The Rivington Arms) on Hampstead Heath and around town. So where are Marden's secret hang-outs in the Queen's city? NOWNESS got the reveal.

Golborne Road’s antique shops and cafes—Kokon to Zai, Lisboa Patisserie and Les Couilles Du Chien—are great for a stroll.

I loved going to the Courtauld Institute of Art when I was younger. It’s so intimate and something that you would never get in New York.

Every time I'm in London, I make a pilgrimage to Tate Modern followed by Borough Market.

In October, after a Frieze party, I discovered Efes, a great pool hall in Dalston (near the Arcola theatre).

One of the highlights of this visit was seeing my old friends in the band The Big Pink live at The Forum in Kentish Town.

Gaz's Rockin’ Blues at the St Moritz Club in Soho never gets old for dancing.

The Rivington Grill in Shoreditch is the best place for a drink after a gallery opening in the east. It’s currently filled with artworks by Tracey Emin, Gillian Wearing and Peter Doig.