If the New Museum is in the business of building futures, then last night proved that a good future calls for a very good party.
Under a wash of purple and blue lights at Cipriani South Street, guests––including CULTURED Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrelson; art critic Jerry Saltz; artists Joan Jonas, Salman Toor, and Marilyn Minter; curator and writer Legacy Russell; composer Phillip Glass; and architect and CULT100 honoree Shohei Shigematsu––kicked off the evening with cocktails and the lush sounds of DJ April Hunt. The orange-cloaked tables blooming with delicate pink flowers and purple orchids were a fitting ode to spring and new beginnings, which is especially poignant for a museum preparing to inaugurate an expanded new home this fall.
Dinner began with arugula salad accompanied by a crisp Gavi di Gavi and continued with branzino al forno nestled alongside golden roasted potatoes and asparagus. Dessert—a rich chocolate soufflé with Chantilly cream and a vanilla crème meringue cake—was served as guests took in remarks from arts patron Jamie Singer Soros, gala chair Patricia Blanchet, and New Museum Director Lisa Phillips.
A spellbinding performance by Laurie Anderson—a downtown icon and longtime friend of honoree Paula Cooper—ushered the room into a tribute to the legendary gallerist, whose pioneering spirit has helped define contemporary art in New York for more than 60 years. Tributes from the New Museum Artistic Director and CULT100 honoree Massimiliano Gioni and collector James-Keith Brown further underscored Cooper’s enduring impact on both the downtown museum and the art world writ large.
Eventually, the evening crescendoed with a lively auction led by Phyllis Kao featuring works by artists Francesco Clemente, Alex Katz, Christian Marclay, and Sol LeWitt, and editions by Judy Chicago and Wangechi Mutu. The funds will help the museum inaugurate its renovated campus, which opens to the public with more than double the exhibition space this fall.
