2016 Art+Film LACMA Gala, LA
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| 2016 Art+Film LACMA Gala on October 29, 2016 | Photo: Getty Images for LACMA |
Affair: 2016 Art+Film LACMA Gala
When: Saturday, October 29, 2016
Hot Spot: LACMA, Los Angeles, CA
Deets: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) hosted its sixth annual Art+Film Gala on Saturday, October 29, 2016, honoring pioneering Light and Space artist Robert Irwin and Academy Award–winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow. Co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the evening brought together more than 550 distinguished guests from the art, film, fashion, and entertainment industries, among others. The evening raised more than $3.6 million, with proceeds supporting LACMA’s film initiatives and future exhibitions, acquisitions, and programming. The 2016 Art+Film Gala was made possible through the generous support of Gucci, with Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele as Gala Host Committee Chair.
Eva Chow, co-chair of the Art+Film Gala, said, “This year we honor two legends. Robert Irwin is a Los Angeles icon whose captivating work surrounds us here at LACMA and inspires people all around the world. He's been, and continues to be, a profound influence on so many artists of our time. I’m also proud to celebrate Kathryn Bigelow, another artist who creates unforgettable work. It’s beside the point to think of her as a great woman filmmaker. She’s a great filmmaker, period.” Chow added, “This memorable evening would not have been possible without the ongoing support of Gucci, our partner since the inception of this event. We are deeply grateful for their collaboration.”
“Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio are two of LACMA's greatest advocates for our art and film initiative. Over the last six years, they have been wholeheartedly committed to our explorations into the art of film, and we are incredibly grateful for their leadership,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “We are lucky to have a chance to honor Bob and Kathryn's artistic achievements. Vision and perception are at the core of Bob's pioneering art practice; Kathryn's films are visceral, painterly, and powerfully relevant. I am personally thrilled to celebrate both of their contributions to the world of art and film."
The Art+Film Gala began at Chris Burden’s Urban Light on Wilshire Boulevard, with red- carpet arrivals of art world and entertainment luminaries, fashion icons, and renowned artists. Guests then moved to a cocktail reception in LACMA’s BP Grand Entrance. During the cocktail hour guests previewed a special clip of Kathryn Bigelow’s latest virtual reality short film, The Protectors, produced by Here Be Dragons. After cocktails, guests proceeded to the Art+Film pavilion, overlooking Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass. Guests were seated for a special dinner prepared by Patina’s Joachim Splichal. Champagne for the evening was generously provided by Laurent-Perrier.
Michael Govan and Eva Chow welcomed the crowd, and further into the evening,
Michael Govan presented the tribute to Robert Irwin. The presentation was accompanied by a short film written and directed by filmmaker Lisanne Skyler called A Few Things about Robert Irwin. Lawrence Weiner presented an on-camera tribute to Kathryn Bigelow followed by a special film produced by Kees van Dijkhuizen and Annapurna Pictures.
Following the presentations, Gwyneth Paltrow introduced BØRNS, who gave a dynamic performance that culminated in gala guests dancing to “10,000 Emerald Pools,” a cover of the iconic “Benny and the Jets,” and “Electric Love.”
Artists who attended the 2016 Art+Film Gala include honoree Robert Irwin, 2014 Art+Film honoree Barbara Kruger, 2012 Art+Film honoree Ed Ruscha, Doug Aitken, Walead Beshty, Louise Bonnet, Petra Collins, Thomas Demand and Nana Bahlmann, Sam and Erin Falls, Michael Heizer, Julian Hoeber, Thomas Houseago, Miranda July, Glenn Kaino, Jeff and Justine Koons, Andrea Longacre-White, T. Kelly Mason, Rodney McMillian, Catherine Opie and Julie Burleigh, Ana Prvacki, Ry Rocklen, Analia Saban, Adam Silverman, Joe Sola, Ricky Swallow and Lesley Vance, Wolfgang Tillmans, Kerry Tribe and Mungo Thomson, Jennifer West, and Jonas Wood and Shio Kusaka.
The entertainment and fashion worlds were represented by honoree Kathryn Bigelow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gucci President and CEO Marco Bizzarri, Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele, performer BØRNS, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Dan Caten, Dean Caten, Asia Chow, China Chow, Bradley Cooper, Gia Coppola, James Corden and Julia Carey, Laura Dern, Jacqui Getty, Melanie Griffith, Hyo Joo Han, Salma Hayek Pinault and François-Henri Pinault, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Yusuke Iseya, Yun Kee Jeong, Donna Karan, Sang Woo Kwon, Brie Larson, Byung Hun Lee, J Yong Lee, Soo Hyuk Lee, Makenzie Leigh, Courtney Love, Demi Moore, Hari Nef, Fumi Nikaido, Ashley Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bo Gum Park, Psy, Rain, A$AP Rocky, Liberty Ross and Jimmy Iovine, Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego, Reid Scott, In Young Seo, Jaden Smith, Jennifer Tilly, Kate Upton and Justin Verlander, and Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. Other notable guests include Los Angeles Councilman David Ryu.
Wearing Gucci to the event were Eva Chow, Robert Irwin, Kathryn Bigelow, Michael Govan and Katherine Ross, Alessandra Ambrosio, BØRNS, Asia Chow, Petra Collins, Bradley Cooper, James Corden, Gia Coppola, Jacqui Getty, Salma Hayek Pinault, Rosie Huntington- Whiteley, Byung Hun Lee, Rhee Min Jung, Hyo Joo Han, Yusuke Iseya, Brie Larson, Makenzie Leigh, Courtney Love, Demi Moore, Hari Nef, Fumi Nikaido, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bo Gum Park, A$AP Rocky, Zoe Saldana, Ko So Young, SooYoung, and Jaden Smith.
2016 ART+FILM HONOREES
About Robert Irwin
Southern California artist Robert Irwin was born in Long Beach, California in 1928 and spent significant time in Los Angeles where he became one of the pioneers of the L.A.-based “Light and Space” movement in the 1960s. For more than six decades, Robert Irwin has explored perception as the fundamental issue of art. Irwin, through a continual breaking down of the frame, came to regard the role of art as “conditional,” or something that works in and responds to the specific surrounding world of experience.
Irwin has conceived more than 55 site-conditional projects since 1975, ranging from the architectural and grounds design of Dia: Beacon (completed in 2003) to the lush Central Garden for the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California (completed in 2005). At LACMA, Irwin began working on the Primal Palm Garden in 2010. This evolving installation is comprised of over a hundred palms, cycads, and tree ferns and includes rare and ancient plant species. Irwin’s use of “primal” varieties is a nod to the nearby La Brea Tar Pits and its ice age discoveries. Currently, the palm tree trunks and its surroundings are documented through 60 photographs by Philipp Scholz Ritterman, which are on view in the lobby area just inside the entrance to the Ahmanson Building.
LACMA has collected the work of Robert Irwin since the early 1960s and has consistently displayed the artist’s seminal works at the museum. In 2015, the museum acquired Irwin’s Miracle Mile, a site-specific installation currently on view in BCAM. Miracle Mile reconsiders the properties of light, material, and color and responds to both Wilshire Boulevard (the storied thoroughfare it faces) and Primal Palm Garden. In July 2016, Irwin debuted a new work, his largest–scale work to date, for the Chinati Foundation’s permanent collection. Additionally, a major survey of the artist’s work is on view at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change (April 7–September 5, 2016), is the first exhibition devoted to Irwin’s work from 1960s and marks the first U.S. museum survey outside of California since 1977.
About Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow is an artist of singular talent. As a film director/producer, she has crafted a body of work that challenges genre norms and offers viscerally stunning portraits of characters and conflicts resonant to contemporary culture.
Two-time Oscar winner Bigelow is currently in production on her Untitled Detroit Project, a crime drama which explores systemic racism in urban Detroit and is set against the backdrop of the city’s devastating riots that took place over five haunting summer days in 1967. The film is set to be released in 2017, which marks the 50th anniversary of the riots.
Bigelow previously directed and produced the critically acclaimed, multi-Oscar- nominated Zero Dark Thirty. In 2010, The Hurt Locker earned her two Oscars, for Best Picture and Best Director. Chronicling an unseen side of the Iraq war while revealing the soul-numbing rigors of the modern battlefield, the film was hailed by Time’s Richard Corliss as “a near perfect movie,” and deemed “a classic of fear, tension and bravery which will still be studied twenty years from now,” by The New Yorker’s David Denby.
Originally trained as a painter, Bigelow graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and was invited to study at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. She then entered the graduate film program at Columbia University, where she earned her master’s degree. In 2011, MoMA honored Bigelow’s work in both film and the visual arts with a showcase and exhibition entitled Crafting Genre: Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow supports many environmental and animal welfare charities, in addition to the EOD Memorial Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and the Naval Special Warfare Family Foundation. She also recently created the Public Service Announcement Last Days, which was awarded The Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award in 2015 for Outstanding Short Film. The award cited the "impactful story-telling to call critical attention to the link between terrorism and the ivory trade and its dire consequences for elephants.”
Bigelow will continue to shed light on the dangers of the ivory trade in The Protectors, a virtual reality short film co-created with Imraan Ismail for National Geographic. The project will expose the dangerous and grueling reality faced by rangers protecting African elephants from ivory poachers.
Southern California artist Robert Irwin was born in Long Beach, California in 1928 and spent significant time in Los Angeles where he became one of the pioneers of the L.A.-based “Light and Space” movement in the 1960s. For more than six decades, Robert Irwin has explored perception as the fundamental issue of art. Irwin, through a continual breaking down of the frame, came to regard the role of art as “conditional,” or something that works in and responds to the specific surrounding world of experience.
Irwin has conceived more than 55 site-conditional projects since 1975, ranging from the architectural and grounds design of Dia: Beacon (completed in 2003) to the lush Central Garden for the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California (completed in 2005). At LACMA, Irwin began working on the Primal Palm Garden in 2010. This evolving installation is comprised of over a hundred palms, cycads, and tree ferns and includes rare and ancient plant species. Irwin’s use of “primal” varieties is a nod to the nearby La Brea Tar Pits and its ice age discoveries. Currently, the palm tree trunks and its surroundings are documented through 60 photographs by Philipp Scholz Ritterman, which are on view in the lobby area just inside the entrance to the Ahmanson Building.
LACMA has collected the work of Robert Irwin since the early 1960s and has consistently displayed the artist’s seminal works at the museum. In 2015, the museum acquired Irwin’s Miracle Mile, a site-specific installation currently on view in BCAM. Miracle Mile reconsiders the properties of light, material, and color and responds to both Wilshire Boulevard (the storied thoroughfare it faces) and Primal Palm Garden. In July 2016, Irwin debuted a new work, his largest–scale work to date, for the Chinati Foundation’s permanent collection. Additionally, a major survey of the artist’s work is on view at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change (April 7–September 5, 2016), is the first exhibition devoted to Irwin’s work from 1960s and marks the first U.S. museum survey outside of California since 1977.
About Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow is an artist of singular talent. As a film director/producer, she has crafted a body of work that challenges genre norms and offers viscerally stunning portraits of characters and conflicts resonant to contemporary culture.
Two-time Oscar winner Bigelow is currently in production on her Untitled Detroit Project, a crime drama which explores systemic racism in urban Detroit and is set against the backdrop of the city’s devastating riots that took place over five haunting summer days in 1967. The film is set to be released in 2017, which marks the 50th anniversary of the riots.
Bigelow previously directed and produced the critically acclaimed, multi-Oscar- nominated Zero Dark Thirty. In 2010, The Hurt Locker earned her two Oscars, for Best Picture and Best Director. Chronicling an unseen side of the Iraq war while revealing the soul-numbing rigors of the modern battlefield, the film was hailed by Time’s Richard Corliss as “a near perfect movie,” and deemed “a classic of fear, tension and bravery which will still be studied twenty years from now,” by The New Yorker’s David Denby.
Originally trained as a painter, Bigelow graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and was invited to study at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. She then entered the graduate film program at Columbia University, where she earned her master’s degree. In 2011, MoMA honored Bigelow’s work in both film and the visual arts with a showcase and exhibition entitled Crafting Genre: Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow supports many environmental and animal welfare charities, in addition to the EOD Memorial Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and the Naval Special Warfare Family Foundation. She also recently created the Public Service Announcement Last Days, which was awarded The Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award in 2015 for Outstanding Short Film. The award cited the "impactful story-telling to call critical attention to the link between terrorism and the ivory trade and its dire consequences for elephants.”
Bigelow will continue to shed light on the dangers of the ivory trade in The Protectors, a virtual reality short film co-created with Imraan Ismail for National Geographic. The project will expose the dangerous and grueling reality faced by rangers protecting African elephants from ivory poachers.
Spotted: Robert Irwin, Kathryn Bigelow, Eva Chow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alessandra Ambrosio, BØRNS, Asia Chow, Petra Collins, Bradley Cooper, James Corden, Gia Coppola, Jacqui Getty, Salma Hayek Pinault, Rosie Huntington- Whiteley, Byung Hun Lee, Rhee Min Jung, Hyo Joo Han, Yusuke Iseya, Brie Larson, Makenzie Leigh, Courtney Love, Demi Moore, Hari Nef, Fumi Nikaido, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bo Gum Park, A$AP Rocky, Zoe Saldana, Ko So Young, SooYoung, and Jaden Smith.
Hint For The Average Socialite: Individual tickets for the 2016 Art+Film Gala start at $5,000. For more information about tickets and table sales, contact Michelle Mountain at artandfilm@lacma.org or 323 932-5878.
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