“This is the 15th event,” said Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), when he addressed the fashionable crowd seated for dinner at LACMA’s Art + Film Gala presented by Gucci on Saturday, Nov. 7. “Same tent; different buildings around it.”
Earlier in the night, more than 600 guests from the art, film, fashion and entertainment worlds mingled over bites and drinks (wines by JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery and signature cocktails by Tequila Don Julio) after arriving and posing for photos in front of LACMA’s iconic Urban Light installation. Guests donning Gucci included Kering Chairman François-Henri Pinault, Gucci President and CEO Francesca Bellettini, Gucci Artistic Director Demna, Alix Earle, Amber Valletta, Andrew Garfield, Candice Swanepoel, Emily Ratajkowski, Homer Gere, Kim Kardashian, Monica Barbaro, Parker Posey, Quenlin Blackwell, Rachel Kushner, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sarah Paulson, Sienna Miller, Soo Joo Park, Timothée Chalamet and Viola Davis.
Other notables present included Al Pacino, Anderson .Paak, Anthony Ramos, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ashley Park, Benito Skinner, Brittany Snow, Chloe Kim, Emma Watson, Gia Coppola, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joel Edgerton, Julia Garner, Kevin Connolly, Kylie Jenner, Larry Gagosian, Malin Åkerman, Michael Urie, Monica Lewinsky, Nicole Kidman, Odessa A’zion, Olivia Munn, Orlando Bloom, Ottessa Moshfegh, Paris Hilton, Quinta Brunson and Sofia Vergara.
And guests from the art world and the city included Alex Israel, Alexandra Prager, Ann Philbin, Antwaun Sargent, Calida Rawles, Cameron Shaw, Catherine Opie, Charles Gaines, Christina Quarles, Darren Walker, Delfin Finley, Diana Thater, Ed Ruscha, Efsun Erkılıç, Gerald Rawles, Harmonia Rosales, Helen Pashgian, Holly J. Mitchell, Honor Titus, Jacqueline Humphries, James Goldstein, Jonas Wood, Katy Yaroslavsky, Kenny Scharf, Kohshin Finley, Kulapat Yantrasast, Katherine Ross, Laura Friedman, Lindsey Horvath, Lori Bettison-Varga, Mert Alas, Mickalene Thomas, Paul Pfeiffer, Refik Anadol, Ron Finley, Sarah Rosalena, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, T Kelly Mason, Thelma Golden, Walter Timoshuk and Zoë Ryan.
“Tonight we’re honoring two artists whose work can alter our perception of the visual world and transport us to the worlds of imagination: Vija Celmins, whose work we have long collected and exhibited at LACMA — she lives in New York, but we claimed her for L.A. — creates sublimely beautiful images that seem to open up infinite space within a small surface,” Govan continued. “And Denis Villeneuve is renowned for his building of stunning, immersive worlds. His mastery of atmosphere and narrative make his films not just beautiful but powerfully emotional.”
He then spoke to the museum’s new developments: “It’s been an unforgettable year at LACMA,” Govan said. “Again, same tent but everything around it — you’ve seen the little building we built, the David Geffen Galleries. It was a 20-year project. We can have applause for that! Our trustees are all here,” he said of Allison Berg, Carter Reum, Dominic Ng, Florence Sloan, Jeff Yabuki, Dr. Rebecka Belldegrun, Susan Hess, Thelma Golden, Victoria Jackson and Wendy Stark Morrissey, who helped achieve this.
Govan added, “It’s a new beginning for LACMA — and there’s so much more to come. There’s more public art coming. Just last week, we debuted Shio Kusaka’s “Beam.” Which is a sculpture — it’s like a flying saucer and a beam of light. So Carter Reum, our trustee, and his wife, Paris Hilton, made that possible. And in the coming months, we have more to come. Next up will be a video projection on Wilshire Boulevard by Diana Thater, and more after that. In just a few weeks, we’ll have [our] first test films and screenings in the new Steve Tisch theater.”
Govan then recognized longtime presenting sponsor Gucci — “Demna, thanks for living in Los Angeles!” he said of the artistic director — partner Audi, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Eva Chow, who’ve co-chaired the gala for 15 years. “You are a creative and beautiful leader of culture and style,” he said of Chow, recalling the inception of the event 16 years ago and crediting her for getting Gucci on board.
“This event is our greatest fundraiser, but its our greatest friend-raiser,” he said, adding, “and thanks to all of you, we’ve raised almost $7 million dollars.” The record-breaking sum will help support LACMA’s film initiatives that explore the intersection of art and film, as well as the museum’s exhibitions, acquisitions and educational programming.
Then Govan introduced Chow — an art lover and former fashion designer, who recently founded KHEE Soju and splits her time between L.A. and Seoul, South Korea. “I met Michael and Katherine Govan around 2005,” she said, recalling when Govan first joined the museum as director and inspired her to join the board. She then flashed back to the very beginning, when Govan approached her to create a fundraiser for LACMA.
“I knew that to bring that vision to life, I needed someone extraordinary by my side,” she said of DiCaprio, who agreed to join her as co-chair. She then got Gucci to participate. “And then came our very first gala in 2011. … Our first honorees were Clint Eastwood and artist John Baldessari. And then there was the performance: I asked Stevie Wonder to perform for our first gala.” Chow added, “That evening set the tone for everything that followed.”
Chow then made a surprising announcement: “After 15 wonderful years, this will be my final year serving as co-chair of the Art + Film Gala,” said Chow. “To have started with an idea and to see it grow into one of Los Angeles’ most-celebrated traditions has been one of the great privileges of my life. I hope this gala will continue to grow and inspire future generations, bringing together the world of art and film for many years to come.”
Following a two-course dinner of Panzanella salad and port-braised short rib, the presentations continued. Frist, writer Rachel Kushner paid tribute to Celmins, an immigrant from Latvia and visual artist known for her realistic paintings and drawings of nature, such as ocean waves, desert floors, night skies and rocks. Celmins has held solo exhibitions at museums including LACMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
“Her work has an immediate allure — and also, a time-based withholding. It has taken me many years to absorb the deeper lessons,” Kushner said, discussing the many dimensions of her work with rocks. “Celmins has navigated war and its destruction, expulsion; [as] an immigrant in Indiana [who] later came to California, to this city, [and] discovered the ocean, the desert, the night, the heavens,” she continued. “She developed an intensity of focus and a restraint in her choice of subjects and materials, resulting in works that have an austere and tender melancholy and mystery.”
Upon accepting, Celmins — who made humorous quips in the preceding video — said, “It’s a pleasure to be here … you guys are just crazy party people!” She also spoke to Los Angeles’ impact on her: “I had never lived next to the ocean and I had never seen the land — of course, I wanted to be an abstract painter — but it crept into my work. So California had a really big influence on me,” Celmins said.
Actress and producer Nicole Kidman honored French-Canadian Oscar-nominated director, screenwriter and producer Villeneuve. Recalling a commercial she shot about six years for AMC Theatres, Kidman noted the reason she did it was to bring people back to cinemas to see films from the likes of Villeneuve. “The truth is, I’ve never really met Denis,” she admitted. “I’ve met him on some red carpets … and one time, I said ‘hi’ in a crowded room at an Armani store. And yet somehow, I feel like I know the deepest parts of him. Because that is what extraordinary filmmakers do: They reveal themselves to us through their work.”
Kidman continued: “I saw Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario, Blade Runner, Arrival and of course, the Dune movies, and I feel like that transcends anything that needs an introduction. Because his films explore the great mysteries of our existence: Time, memory, identity, destiny. The things we cannot explain and the possibility that there is something that we do not understand, that we will never understand. And I just love his movies.”
When Villeneuve, whose film Dune: Part Three debuts Dec. 18, took the stage, he recalled a vivid memory of an extraordinary moment from a film set in an opera house — in which a woman was consumed by grief — that always stayed with him. “The film was Birth, directed by Jonathan Glazer, and the actress was Nicole Kidman,” he said of the 2004 film.
“LACMA has already given me so much. Museums have always been a superfood for me,” Villeneuve said. “Every time I walk into one, I feel like a vampire. I suck in the energy from the walls, and one way or another, it ends up in one of my films.” He recalled how when he was preparing Arrival, he didn’t yet know how to direct it — and then he walked into the James Turrell light and space installation at LACMA. He had an epiphany: “I know how to direct this film now,” he said. “And Arrival in many ways is an homage to this afternoon spent at LACMA.”
The Quebec native recalled his early love of cinema — and how he relied on the power of images before he could understand English. When he was 12, his friends were reading about hockey. “And all I cared was about Steven Spielberg,” he said. “He became my hero. Steven is the reason I’m standing here … and then came James Cameron.” He also referenced friends whose work inspired him, including Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu.
To Villeneuve, the process of filmmaking is more important than the result: “When everything aligns, the high is incomparable,” he said. “A pure, deep joy.” He called out legends he’s worked with, like Hans Zimmer, Josh Grode and Mary Parent, as well as “genius actors” like Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya and “my dear Timothée [Chalamet], my dear Paul Atreides, who explored the deep desert for me through three movies.”
He ended by revealing the actor who will next play James Bond … almost. “And I will stop right now because Amy Pascal is about to have a heart attack!” Villeneuve joked.
After the program, Govan invited guests back outside for passed desserts and the performance. Taking the stage, Paris Hilton introduced the evening’s musical guest, Blackpink member and New Zealand and South Korean singer Rosé.
The lively artist belted her new single New Trick, her hit Number One Girl (at Chow’s request) and a cover of The Killers’ Read My Mind. She closed with her award-winning song APT, which got everyone dancing.
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