The Hamptons has increasingly been associated with fine contemporary art, and during a trio of charity benefits, exhibitions and art auctions played a big role. The LongHouse Reserve gala offered an extensive silent auction with works by Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl and Cindy Sherman, and Oscar Molina, a Southampton-based artist whose sculptures are hauntingly poignant. At the Parrish Art Museum gala, three visionary artists—Sanford Biggers, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Nina Yankowitz—were honored along with Sean Scully, whose retrospective exhibition opened in June. And Guild Hall Gala, which always launches a high wattage shows—last year, Julian Schnabel, and previously, Swiss-born Ugo Rondinone—featured two artists, Mary Heilmann and Joel Mesler.
PARRISH ART MUSEUM’S MIDSUMMER GALA
The kickoff cocktail party of the Parrish Art Museum Midsummer Gala, themed “Echoes of the Cosmos,” was held on the grassy grand lawn that fronts the museum, instead of its usual site on the wrap-around terrace lining the impressive Herzog & de Meuron designed structure. This year the cocktail party, the gala dinner, and the afterparty all took place on one evening instead of split nights, Friday being the Midsummer Dance Party—attracting the junior philanthropists for a 9PM cocktail party with performances, multiple food stations, and dancing—and Saturday, the formal dinner under the eaves of the museum’s terrace.
As guests arrived at the cocktail party and descended the long ramp from the Parrish’s front terrace leading to the meadow, they encountered a curious sight: a Ferrari, an Aston Martin and a Bugatti. These limited-edition works of drivable art, made by Hedley Studios in Oxfordshire, England, were recreations of iconic vintage cars. Like artworks, they were signed and numbered, and expensive, priced from $70,000. Built at 66–85% scale with zero-emission electric propulsion systems, they were also drivable. Periodically during the cocktail hour dancers from Parsons Dance did short acrobatic numbers in the middle of the crowd and around the drivable artworks.
Guests mingled around the cars and at the several bars, which were serving Casa Dragones Tequila cocktails. Bold name artists circulated on the meadow including Eric Fischl, April Gornik, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Sheree Hovsepian, Rashid Johnson, Pat Seir, and Sean Scully, whose current Parrish exhibition featured five decades of his “supergrids” as well as early works called “The Albee Barn, Montauk,” created in the Hamptons in the summer of 1982.
As the sun set, artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Collider exhibition was screened against the museum’s terrace façade. Created by hundreds of small LED spotlights, a curtain of light swooped along the terrace. The work described as “cosmic radiation arrives from outer space, originating from stars and black holes” with the subatomic particles detected with a Geiger Counter—metaphorically, transforming the museum into a cloud chamber.
Three visionary artists, Sanford Biggers, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Nina Yankowitz, all exhibiting currently at the Parrish, were honored during the dinner. The Afterglow Dance Party brought another wave of guests coming for the desserts and dancing to DJ Inflyt’s music. The gala attracted 720 guests and raised $1.4 million in support of the museum’s exhibitions, education initiatives, and inclusive programming.
THE LONGHOUSE RESERVE GALA
With sculpture-strewn pathways showcasing sixty outdoor artworks by Buckminster Fuller, Yoko Ono, Toshiko Takaezu, and Willem de Kooning from its permanent collection, Longhouse Reserve threw its 25th anniversary gala, themed “Luminosity,” on its spectacular 16-acre sculpture garden and nature sanctuary.
Always enchanting, the Luminosity gala was especially momentous with its new president Louis Bradbury introduced at the dinner. “Tonight is our most successful benefit ever,” he said, noting the event was sold out with 100% board participation before the invitations were even sent out. “Daffodils, cherry blossoms, and azaleas in spring; lush green of summer; brilliant autumn leaves; spectacular snowdrops and witch hazel in winter. Tonight, we come together in gratitude for all of it.”
During the cocktail hour, held in the former Larsen residence overlooking a lily pond with its Dale Chihuly sculptures, a silent auction featured over a hundred paintings and sculptures created by living and deceased artists: Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, Ugo Rondinone, Betty Parsons, Kenny Scharf, and Andy Warhol. Guests sipped rosé and sauvignon blanc from Wölffer Estate Vineyard and Macari Vineyard, the local wineries that were among the drink sponsors of the event.
A not-so-silent auction took place during the dinner held in an enormous white tent on the lawn with a British-accented auctioneer offering lot after lot. A highlight was an announcement that Peter Olsen, 35-year domestic partner of Jack Lenor Larsen, founder of Longhouse Reserve who passed in December 2020, was named Director Emeritus of Longhouse Reserve for life.
A sneak peek video—moderated by Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker, who attended the dinner—showed what is to come “at the house that Jack built.” LongHouse has been invited to join the National Register of Historic Places. It is presently working with the Cultural Landscape Foundation to document the property’s history in hopes of achieving landmark status.
THE GUILD HALL GALA
Held at Guild Hall in East Hampton, the gala always kicks off with a viewing of the newly opened exhibition, and this year two artists were featured. Mary Heilmann showcased her “Water Way,” comprising 40 works inspired by her living in close proximity to water, done in various mediums—paper, ceramics, and paintings—all created from the 1980s until the present. And Joel Mesler, an artist, collector, and former art dealer, created an installation, “Miles of Smiles,” which combined his office and an exhibition space with works by a select groups of his artist contemporaries.
Mesler was there in “his office” sitting at large desk. As guests entered, he flipped open the desktop to reveal a bed inside, all made up with sheets, blanket and pillow. The installation was autobiographical with self-deprecating humor as was his exhibit of his artist contemporaries, which appeared like a massive collage on one wall.
The cocktail party held at the lovely, restored courtyard and garden at Guild Hall drew a lively artsy crowd along with the many Guild Hall regular benefactors. After the dinner held in a large white tent on the property, another group of guests arrived at 9PM for the after party with dancing until midnight. Attracting 350 guests, the Summer Gala raised over $1 million for the institution’s museum, theater and learning programs.
TRIVIA NIGHT AT SWIFTY’S
The Hamptons has a new must-attend social event on Sunday nights in the summer season, which runs through September. Emulating its sister hotel, the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Swifty’s Trivia Night at the Hedges Inn in East Hampton has already become an institution similar to Monday nights at the Colony. (Sarah and Andrew Wetenhall own both hotels).
Trivia night starts at 5PM. People reserve their seating for teams ranging in size from two to eight for this cocktailing blood sport. It’s highly competitive and Quizmaster-in-Chief, Paul A. Johnson, who owns Think Inc, a trivia company that gives 30 trivia games a week on Long Island’s East End, is a professional and tailors each trivia night to his audience.
I made my way to Swifty’s on Sunday night to attend the 10th installment of Trivia Night and was seated with my sophisticated, well-read friend. Johnson announced that there was a doggie prize for the team that finished last. My friend and I felt that our team “Baroness”—everybody had to name their team—had encyclopedic knowledge in so many areas.
The Quizmaster prepares eight rounds of questions in different categories. What I didn’t calculate was that some categories were not in my wheelhouse, for instance, golf. Then came a round with a page of artworks to determine if they were “flipped” and “not flipped.” We had to guess if in the painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood the man with the pitchfork was on the right or the left. Or in the Sistine Chapel in Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco, “The Creation of Adam” whether Adam was on the right or left side as he reached toward God.
In another tricky round, listening to taped sound bites, we had to identify the decade of an historic event or cultural happening. Of course, Walter Cronkite announcement of JFK’s assassination to a shocked nation on the CBS News was in the 60’s. But some of the younger players were not so sure, yet they were quick to respond to which decade when hearing Taylor Swift’s voice clip.
The game was stimulating and fun, if a bit disappointing, when team “Baroness” took last place and the doggie prize, a canvas bag full of elite dog treats. We surrendered our prize to the next table where a young woman heard me say, “I have no dog, I am a cat person.” She pleadingly held up a photo of her dog and I handed over the pooch merch. Fortunately, the delicious charcuterie and cheeseboard and strong spicy tequila cocktails dulled the pain.