Last weekend, in an evening of wild and dreamy performances, The Kitchen’s Spring 2019 Gala honored both multidisciplinary artist ANOHNI and the sculptor Robert Gober. Gober became part of the venue's early history when he first performed at The Kitchen in 1980, alongside the choreographer Johanna Boyce in her piece “Out of the Ordinary."
The work of multidisciplinary magician ANOHNI—as a visual artist, a musician (you may remember her early performances under the name “Antony and the Johnsons”), as a kind of lyrical poet—has always felt both otherworldly and deeply emblematic of life on this strange planet. The Gala followed the close of her expansive exhibition LOVE—the show, on view at The Kitchen through May 11, featured sculpture, drawing, painting, and archival video recalling Antony and the Johnsons’ late member Julia Yasuda, who ANOHNI once described as "the sacred heart at the center of my life and work."
The evening began with cocktails, photo-ops with photographer Alice O’Malley, and a dinner designed by Vinegar Hill House’s Jean Adamson. Performances by Gang Gang Dance, Nomi Ruiz, Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner of The National, Mina Tindle, and This is the Kit kept things moving just before the event's after-party, which itself had a sweet list of hosts—Red Bull Arts, Meriem Bennani, Eliza Callahan, Kevin Beasley, Eliza Douglas, beck haberstroh, Eliza Ryan and Eliza Soros—guests like Donald Glover, and DJ sets by Le1f and Total Freedom. See below for images from the warm, vibrant night.
