Beginning at 6pm, the evening will include Bacardi cocktails, a silent auction, performances, art installations, dinner and live auction hosted by auctioneer Simon de Pury, and dancing. This gala brings together the worlds of theater, art, fashion, design and society for an evening that is as stimulating and edgy as it is fun. The dress code this year is decadent chic.

 

German artist Jonathan Meese will create a spectacular installation inside the Watermill Center's main building, transforming Robert Wilson's pure design into a fantastic, ever changing assemblage of cult, kitsch, and historical relics. He will also perform at the Benefit.

 

Jonathan Meese’s installation will be open to the public from

July 31 through August 10 every Thursday to Sunday from 5-7 pm.

 

Honorary Chairs

Marina Abramovic, Bernard Arnault, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ross Bleckner, Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits, Chuck Close, Bob Colacello, Alan Cumming, Merce Cunningham, Philippine de Rothschild, Marianne Faithfull, Carrie Fisher, Renée Fleming, Philip Glass, Nan Goldin, Zaha Hadid, Jenny Holzer, Iman & David Bowie, Donna Karan, Harvey Keitel, Calvin Klein, Jeff Koons, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Meier, Jessye Norman, Isabella Rossellini, Diane von Furstenberg, Dita von Teese, Rufus Wainwright, Roger Waters, Dianne Wiest.

 

 

Benefit Chairs

Lisa Anastos, Wallis Annenberg, Susan Baker & Michael Lynch, Kelly Behun & Jay Sugarman, Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Nathan Bernstein, Giancarla & Luciano Berti, Lea Carpenter Brokaw, Henry Buhl, Janna Bullock, Christine Wächter-Campbell & William I.

Campbell, Jean-Paul Claverie, Paula Cooper & Jack Macrae, Lisa de Kooning, Eileen & Richard Ekstract, Roger Ferris, Barbara Goldsmith, Gary Hattem, Anne Hearst McInerney & Jay McInerney, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Louise T. Blouin MacBain, Alison Mazzola, Julie & Bruce Menin, Maynard Monrow, Montblanc, Greg Moyer, Leslie Negley, Brooke & Daniel Neidich, Gabriella Maione & Joël Ornstein, Glenn Oakley, Maren Otto, Marsha & Jeffrey Perelman, Lisa & Richard Perry, Maria Pessino, Tatiana & Campion Platt, Rolex,  Leila & Melville Straus, Xounts.

 

Auction highlights include works by Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Hope Atherton, Miguel Barcelo, Matthew Barney, Janet Cardiff, Willem de Kooning, Torben Giehler, Antony Gormley, Mona Hatoum, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Oleg Kulik, Jonathan Meese, James Nares, Philippe Parreno, Enoc Perez, Neo Rauch, Thomas Ruff, Hedi Slimane, Spencer Tunick, Carrie Mae Weems, Robert Wilson, Maaria Wirkkala, Gao Xing Jian, Lisa Yuskavage. 

  

Tickets start at $1,000. Tables for ten guests start at $10,000.

Please call 212.253.7484 ext 10 for tickets and information.

 

About Watermill

The Watermill Center was founded in 1992 by theater and visual artist Robert Wilson to foster research into the arts of the stage, to provide young and emerging artists with a unique environment for creation and exploration in theater and all its related art forms, and to develop a strong global network transcending age, experience, social, religious and cultural backgrounds.

 

Watermill supports projects that reflect the approach of its founder Robert Wilson: mixing and integrating different genres and art forms, breaking with traditional forms of representation, developing democratic and cross-cultural approaches. Watermill is about living and working together, about creating your own environment and sharing this experience with others.  Watermill houses the archives of its founder and his extensive art collection for research, study and inspiration.

Watermill offers a wide range of programs and activities throughout the year. For the well-known International Summer Program, Robert Wilson invites about 80 artists, young as well as established, for workshops developing his work. From September to June, Watermill provides space and time for 12 to 15 artists’ residencies selected by a high-profile committee of practitioners in the arts and humanities. The residencies are complemented by educational programs with schools and other institutions, public events such as open rehearsals and lectures, tours of the building and grounds, and seminars and symposia.

The Byrd Hoffman Watermill Foundation thanks LVMH for their support.

 

Drinks provided by Château Mouton Rothschild, Bacardi, Peroni, and Voss Water.