LOOT:MAD About Jewelry 2019
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
On Monday, April 8th, The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) held their opening benefit cocktail, shopping, and awards dinner evening kicking off their nineteenth edition of LOOT: MAD About Jewelry. This is their annual exhibition and sale of one-of-a-kind contemporary jewelry. Honored with the LOOT Awards were jewelry designer and philanthropist Adria de Haume and jewelry and fashion designer Josie Natori, as well as the presentation of the LOOT Acquisition Prize.
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
The evening started with a cocktail reception at the MAD exhibit to meet the artists and to also preview and purchase these one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. Benefit guests received first access to LOOT shopping.
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
LOOT 2019 features fifty-five artists from eighteen countries and territories: Austria (1), Belgium (1), Chile (2), Finland (1), France (2), Germany (6), Italy (2), Korea (5), Poland (1), Portugal (2), Spain (5), Sweden (1), Taiwan (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (3), the United Kingdom (14), the United States (6), and the US Virgin Islands (1). In addition to a diverse range of artistic practices, the jewelry on display encompasses a wide array of materials, from traditional metals to more unconventional media like leather, glass, porcelain, paper, silicone, resin, textiles, wood, horsehair, recycled skateboards, and ultraviolet-reactive nylon.
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
Guests attending included, Mickey Ateyeh, Marika and Neil Bender, Young Yang Chung, Audrey Cohen, as well as, MAD chairman Michele Cohen, Isabelle Harnoncourt Feigen, Carole Bailey French and John French III, Joan and George Hornig, Jacqui Lividini, Marsy Mittlemann, Barbara de Portago, Robi Queen, Peter and Barbara Regna, Tom Roush, MAD Director Chris Scoates, Allyson Tang, chair Emeritus Barbara Tober and her husband Donald Tober, Kay Unger, Harriet Weintraub and Lynn Yaeger.
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
After cocktails guests were escorted upstairs to MAD’s Robert Restaurant for a scrumptious meal of Scottish Salmon and decadent desserts and a short program. New director Chris Scoates welcomes guests and expressed his excitement for his first LOOT. Joan Hornig, herself a former LOOT honoree, graciously introduced her longtime friend and 2019 honoree Adria de Haume. Adria expressed her gratitude in her speech that proclaimed, “Art is the answer to so much that is wrong in the world right now.” Chair Emeritus Barbara Tober took the stage to express her admiration and praise for Josi Natori who answered in a typically short speech, “I am lucky after four decades that I am doing what I love, art.” Marsy Mittlemann announces the winners of the Acquisition Prize, Mariko Kusumoto and Joo Hyung Park. A special thank you went out to sponsor Paolo Costagli who helped make LOOT possible.
PUBLIC EXHIBITION AND SALE HOURS
Tuesday, April 9: 10 am to 6 pm Wednesday, April 10: 10 am to 6 pm Thursday, April 11: 10 am to 9 pm Friday, April 12: 10 am to 6 pm Saturday, April 13: 10 am to 6 pm
Entrance to LOOT is included in the price of Museum admission: $16 general; $14 for seniors; $12 for students; free for MAD members and children under 18 years of age. To purchase tickets online, visit madmuseum.org/visit.
Photos by Jenna Bascom, Annie Watt, BFA
Guggenheim International Gala Pre-Party
On Wednesday, November 14th, the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum hosted a glamorous pre-party to kick off the 2018 Guggenheim International Gala. Made possible by Dior, the annual event supports the museum’s internationally renowned exhibitions as well as its educational and public programming. This year’s Gala honored the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation and philanthropists Dimitris Daskalopoulos and Alice Walton.
In a celebratory precursor to the Gala’s Thursday night benefit dinner, nearly 600 guests filled the emblematic rotunda of the Guggenheim gallery to sip champagne, listen to music, and experience the museum’s featured exhibition: Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future. The collection showcased the Swedish artist’s colorful and abstract imagery which she deemed too radical for the early 20th century artistic sphere, keeping her works private to reserve them for future audiences.
The event in itself was a spectacle of visual culture, from the paintings of the Klint exhibition to the atmospheric purple glow of the Guggenheim spiral which, along with a colorful, interactive photo booth, presented the perfect photo opportunities for stylish celebs, many of whom wore designs by Dior. The evening was lively with beats from DJ AMRIT and featured a powerful performance by R&B singer-songwriter Jorja Smith.
The dinner on November 15 featured a menu by Gunnar Gíslason, Executive Head Chef of Agern, as well as a special performance of the oldest song in the world, the “Hurrian Hymn,” arranged by Nico Muhly and commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
Over $2 million was raised in support of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, advancing a range of internationally acclaimed exhibitions and educational programs, while providing stewardship for the Guggenheim’s modern and contemporary art collection and its building.
Other guests included Maria Grazia Chiuri, Olivia Palermo, Winnie Harlow, Sofia Hublitz, Eleanor Lambert, Rebecca Dayan, Sophie Auster, Zosia Mamet, Gideon Adlon, Janet Montgomery, Anna Baryshnikov, Jon Batiste, A$AP Ferg, Sam Beckerman, Cali Beckerman, Hannah Bronfman, Juana Burga, Jessica Clements, Brendan Fallis, Daniella Garcia, Amalie Gassmann, Kat Graham, GoldLink, Gala Gonzalez, Charlotte Groeneveld, Mckenna Hellam, Anne Huntingon, Makenzie Leigh, Danny Mapes, Selah Marley, Chantal Monaghan, Harley Viera Newton, TK Quann, Cipriana Quann, Rachele Regini, Camille Rowe, Charlotte Sarkozy, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Duckie Thot, Geraldine Viswanathan, Brittany Xavier, Gemma Ward, Nicole Warne, and Tiffany Zabludowicz.
Photos by Guggenheim
About the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The Guggenheim constellation of museums that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has since expanded to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (opened 1997) and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (currently in development). The Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international collaborations that celebrate contemporary art, architecture, and design within and beyond the walls of the museum, including the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative. More information about the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation can be found at guggenheim.org.
Whitney Art Party 2016
Reeling from the post-election slump, NYC finally awoke this week as a series of late-night parties and galas popped up inside New York City’s most beloved institutions of art, like the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim.
On Tuesday night, the Whitney Museum of American Art’s annual Art Party was the place to see and be seen. The Whitney has always been known to be thought provoking and promoting avant garde, and its guest list seems to reflect that. This party is one of the most high-profile, celeb-heavy gatherings with a collective of luminaries from across New York’s iconic creative industries such as fashion, art, and music.
Karlie Kloss, Common, Brandon Maxwell, Micaela Erlanger, and Michael Carl were co-chairs for the evening. Before the party kicked off, the co-chairs hosted a pre-party dinner for over a hundred artists, celebrities, and Whitney supporters including Victor Cruz, Brooke Neidich, Ian Cheng, and Rachel Rose. Following dinner, guests joined the rest of the Art Party downstairs.
Upon entering the Museum, guests were blinded by camera flashes due to the beautiful crowd turning up in their flashiest outfits. A long line led up to the red carpet, as everyone carefully strutted their intricate outfits. The normally modern furnished lobby of the Museum was transformed and adorned with Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling as if something straight out of Stranger Things. Wandering around the floors were two people covered in red paint doing some sort of performance art, with their bare butts exposed to the world as they plotted their way in dance-like form throughout the lobby level. People looked on nervously, as they were unsure whether to take photos because they themselves, would become pornographers.
Entertainment and music was in no short supply as music flowed steadily thanks to DJ Mia Moretti, Lion Babe, and Questlove. Guests also had the opportunity to check out the Whitney’s fall exhibitions including Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art 1905-2016, RED IN VIEW, and Virginia Overton: Winter Garden. Celebrities and Whitney supporters alike made their way around the lobby up to the expansive 5th floor show, the “Dreamlands” video art exhibition. As if the exhibits were not instagrammable enough, Karrueche Tran was seen on the exhibition floor with her stylish Bermuda inspired outfit taking fun selfies with her friends.
Overall, the evening was a grand success, full of champagne glasses clinking and amazing works of art. One of the most amazing parts about the evening was seeing how many young people came out to support the Museum. With the hefty price tag of $500 at the door, these young men and women are probably in line with the millennial mindset of giving back early. With the recent presidential election nearly splitting the country into two sides, it’s good to see that art can always bring people together. Whether you were a Trump or Hillary supporter, you will always be an art supporter. All proceeds from tickets sales will go to support Whitney’s educational initiatives.
Photos courtesy of Neil Rasmus/BFA