Who

A painter and sculptor, Feinstein is also the buxom inspiration behind many of hubby John Currin's paintings.

Backstory

The daughter of a Miami dermatologist, Feinstein took art lessons from her grandmother and had a couple of bit parts on Miami Vice before moving to New York to attend Columbia. She majored in theology and studied art with sculptor Kiki Smith, working as a bartender at Bar Six on the side. In 1994, when she was 23, Feinstein met her future husband John Currin at a group show where she was exhibiting a "gingerbread" house made of Styrofoam in which she wore "little pink panties with a pubic wig hanging out." (For his part, Currin had been brought along by a friend who thought they should meet, since Feinstein looked like the women in his paintings.) Within six months, they were living together and she was sitting for him. But Feinstein also continued to pursue her own art over the years. Longtime friend (and former boss) Marianne Boesky gave Feinstein her first solo show several years ago and continues to represent her to this day.

Of note

Feinstein's artistic style relies on plaster and carved wood and combines Rococo and Baroque flourishes with fairy tale and Disneyesque themes. A typically whimsical Feinstein piece is "Wagenburg," a parade of brightly colored enamel-painted wooden horses with white pompadours. In 2006, Feinstein had a mid-career retrospective at Le Consortium in Dijon, and her eighth solo show opened at the Corvi-Mora gallery in London in May 2007. But her success has always been surrounded by controversy and whispers that she's piggybacking on her husband's reputation, criticism that Feinstein has chalked up to sexism. ("Because I'm married to John, a lot of people can't even see my work for what it is; they just assume that I can't possibly be talented, too.") Her tendency to seek out the spotlight hasn't exactly helped her cause: In 2004, Jürgen Teller photographed her for a Marc Jacobs ad campaign, and she's appeared in Vogue wearing a glittery gown.

Personal

The 5'9" inch blonde lives in SoHo with Currin, their two kids Francis and Hollis, and a tiny black Affenpinscher named Chewy. Feinstein and Currin work from adjacent studios in the meatpacking district.

True story

Feinstein attended a graduate school interview with the head of Yale's sculpture department wearing leg warmers with garters, a skin-tight t-shirt that read "I'm a Satisfier," and a see-through plastic mini-skirt with lacy underwear. She wasn't accepted.

No joke 

She actually has a tattoo on her arm of a vagina with ants crawling out of it.