A fabulous soiree took place on October 20th at Casa Lever, the swank New York eatery located in Park Avenue's Lever House. Co-hosted by the Whitney's Director, Adam Weinberg, and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, the event was another run-up to the Gala as well as the clincher to the Whitney/AOL relationship. Chuck Close, Doug Starn, Tom Sachs, Gregory Crewdson, Pytor Uklanski, Christo and Andres Serrano were some of the artists who spent the cocktail hour mingling with journalists from Vogue, Artforum, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg News and the Village Voice, among others, while boldface names like Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and Lola Schnabel provided variety and spice to the guest list. Sometimes it seemed like the press outnumbered the artists, but who was counting?
Armstrong provided sound bytes to inquiring reporters, while gallerinas strutted around on 5-inch heels posing for eager photographers. The colorful restaurant, which resembles a kind of elegant space capsule, is adorned with giant blowups of Andy Warhol celebrity portraits, making it an appropriate backdrop for the art/technology hookup.
Guests were having so much fun at the bar that getting them seated took some work. Adam welcomed everyone and thanked AOL for supporting the Gala and the Whitney. Tim, in turn, thanked Adam as well as a host of AOL staff and "partners" that were present - Chuck, for one, who is the face of AOL's Project on Creativity, and Andy Spade for another, whose marketing company, Partners and Spade, is providing creative branding for AOL. Once the speeches were over, guests dug into the shaved artichoke salad and short ribs, and panna cotta for dessert.
Would this event help sell Gala tickets? Maybe. Would it create buzz? Probably. Would it generate press? Absolutely.
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