There are a lot of museum galas this time of year – all fabulous, all great causes, all of that – but there’s nothing like the LACMA Art + Film Gala.
Walking into the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Saturday night, Kenny Scharf (in red sunglasses) next to Queen Latifah, as Dustin Hoffman sidled up to the bar when Emma Roberts was leaving, right as Alex Israel, who was peeling off from Finneas, and then went to fetch a drink with Gaia Repossi. Kaia Gerber and her mother Cindy Crawford posed next to Chris Burden’s Urban Light as LACMA CEO Michael Govan walked in with Marc Glimcher. Lorde was speaking with the artist Emma McIntyre, and then the singer went to say hello to Troye Sivan, and Disney CEO Bob Iger went to take his seat next to David Geffen.
This mix of celebrity and art royalty aside, the gala is a bellwether for the world-conquering ambitions of LACMA, and raised a record-breaking $6.8 million to centralize film in the museum’s programming, and fund its mission at large. LACMA has long wanted to go toe-to-toe with its East Coast counterparts—namely the Metropolitan Museum of Art—and now it has a showstopper of a building, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, set to open in April of next year. And LACMA, with this gala, has real showbiz leverage, the support of Hollywood power players. Just look at the host committee, comprised of co-chairs Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio, who were joined by Gucci Artistic Director Demna and Gucci President and CEO Francesca Bellettini.
But Demna is perhaps is most telling. One of the most influential and controversial fashion designers in the last decade, he reimagined the idea of zeitgeist while at Balenciaga. The Pinault family—who also own Christie’s, and CAA—moved him to Gucci, which is a genius move on a lot of levels but, for our specific purposes here, quite wonderful for this particular event. Demna really likes hanging out with artists. At one point, sculptor and photographer Paul Pfeiffer went over to say hello, and Demna cupped his hands over his heart and said to Pfeiffer: “I love your work.”
Demna told me he’s restoring a historic architecturally significant home in Los Angeles to live in. He’s also been homing in on the conceptual ideal of Hollywood to situate the narrative of the new Gucci. In lieu of a runway show, he commissioned Spike Jones and Halina Reijn to make The Tiger, a short film starring Demi Moore, Edward Norton, Ed Harris, Elliot Page, Keke Palmer, Alia Shawkat, Julianne Nicholson, Heather Lawless, Ronny Chieng, Kendall Jenner and Alex Consani. The result brought the characters from his “La Famiglia” collection to life.
And then, to ice that cake, Demna hosted the biggest art museum gala in Tinseltown. It honored Mary Corse, as legendary of the West Coast light and space artists as you can get. James Turrell introduced her—he referred to her as one of his heroes, along with Rothko and Georgia O’Keeffe.
And Ryan Coogler, the other honoree of the evening, gave a speech praising gala chair DiCaprio’s performance in One Battle After Another—DiCaprio was in the audience, sitting with Iger, nodding and smiling. And then Coogler was reflecting on his first trip to LACMA—his first trip to any museum on his own volition—and the faith that studio executives such as Iger and David Zaslav had in his work.
Then it was time for the guest performer, something the LACMA gala does quite well. Past guests include Elton John in 2022, and last year, Charli xcx was riding high on the Brat summer vibes when she rushed the stage. This year Doja Cat cranked out the hits as tuxedoed gentlemen distributed espresso martinis. It might have been the caffeine and the sugar, but everyone loved it.
And there was another reason to celebrate. At one point, a rapturous swell of cheers and napkin-twirling lit up the room. The Dodgers had just won the World Series in extra innings. LACMA is about to open its new building. Los Angeles is winning.
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