The evening was cloudy, but the stars came out anyway, parading in front of Chris Burden’s “Urban Light” sculpture before heading into the controlled chaos of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 13th Art + Film Gala. The event, co-chaired by Leonardo Di Caprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow, was held in honor of artist Simone Leigh and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann.
It was also the museum’s most successful Art + Film Gala ever, said LACMA Chief Executive Michael Govan, who noted that it had raised $6.4 million.
“I think I know everyone in this room, because we are a family from around the world,” Govan said during his opening remarks as guests, including Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively, Laura Dern, Viola Davis, Andrew Garfield and Sarah Paulson, sat down to a dinner of makgeolli jeung-pyeon, japchae and grand cru galbi-jjim created by chef David Shim from Cote, the country’s only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse.
LACMA’s Michael Govan with honoree Simone Leigh.
(Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for LACMA)
Earlier in the evening, while cocktails and small bites were being passed around, Govan said it was rare to be able to honor an artist at the same time as the museum was staging a retrospective of the artist’s work, as was the case with Leigh, whose show features two decades of work in ceramic, bronze, video and installation in a co-presentation with the California African American Museum.
The musician capping the evening, Charli XCX, was chosen before she made Vice President Kamala Harris “brat.”
“The idea in the beginning was to put two different worlds together, and then you mix two constituencies, and people meet people they didn’t know before,” Govan said of the impetus for the event, which also attracts architects, designers and other creatives.
Kim Kardashian at LACMA’s Art + Film Gala.
(Billy Farrell / BFA.com )
Govan introduced two young artist brothers, Kohshin and Delfin Finley, sons of Ron Finley, who is also known as the Gangsta Gardener.
“There’s no more creative family in Los Angeles than this amazing family,” Govan said, adding that Kohshin’s work was part of LACMA’s “Black American Portraits” exhibition a few years ago.
“This is a beautiful evening to celebrate art film and culture,” Kohshin Finley said. “It’s so rare to have other genres together in one room.”
Added Delfin: “Everybody tries to keep everything separate, but there are really so many commonalities.”
The darkened shape of the LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries could be seen rising in the background among the various party tents.
“This is not its moment,” said Govan. “It’s kind of finished but it’s not, plus we have Simone and Baz, and it’s about them.”
Despite being mentioned and thanked multiple times during the dinner, DiCaprio kept a low profile with a bodyguard who blocked unwanted conversations. The night was not about DiCaprio, one of his handlers said.
Gala co-chair Leonardo DiCaprio, left, with honoree Baz Luhrmann.
(Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for LACMA)
The night was about Leigh and Luhrmann — the former introduced by Chow and author, lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson, and the latter by Anna Wintour.
“I accept this honor for all the Black women who are odd,” said Leigh, noting her past as an unusual, creative, curious person — a mother who found her way to art because it was the only thing she could imagine doing.