Sixteenth Annual Watermill Summer Benefit
Beginning at 6:00 pm
Saturday, July 25th
At the Watermill Center
Beginning at 6:00 pm, the evening will include Bacardi cocktails, a silent auction, performances, art installations, dinner, dancing and a live auction hosted by auctioneer Simon de Pury. 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 flaming.
Benefit artists and residents include the Riverbed Theater (En Tzu Chang, Jam Wu, Shun Chu Chen, Chinen Jung Lin, Yung-Hsien Chen and Chu-Wang Chou) from Taiwan, Sue de Beer and C Ryder Cooley from the US, Yourgos Souremellis and Stephanos Droussiotis from Greece, Yochai Matos from Israel and Sophia Jones from the UK.
The artists will present over 10 installations and performances that will each interpret this year's theme and bring the guests closer to Inferno. Dance music will be spun by celebrated DJs A Touch of Class after the auction by Simon de Pury with a special aerial performance by a Watermill resident artist C Ryder Cooley in the dining tent. Fire performances by Todd Robbins throughout the property will ensure that this will be the hottest evening of the summer.
Honorary Chairs include Marina Abramovic, Pedro Almodovar, Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed, Iman & David Bowie, Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits, Steve Buscemi, Kim Cattrall, Bob Colacello, Alan Cumming, Merce Cunningham, Willem Dafoe, Christophe de Menil, Philippine de Rothschild, Marianne Faithfull, Carrie Fisher, Frank Gehry, Philip Glass, Nan Goldin, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Bianca Jagger, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Koons, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Meier, Jessye Norman, Zac Posen, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Viktor & Rolf, Dita von Teese and Rufus Wainwright
Benefit Chairs include Lisa Anastos, Wallis Annenberg, Susan Baker & Michael Lynch, Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Nathan Bernstein, Giancarla & Luciano Berti, Bettina & Franz Burda, Christine Wächter-Campbell & William I. Campbell, Lisa de Kooning, Adelaide de Menil & Ted Carpenter, Roger Ferris, Barbara Goldsmith, Calvin Klein, Klever Holdings, Dorothy Lichtenstein, The Honorable & Mrs. Earle I. Mack, Lisa & Richard Perry, Katharine & William Rayner, Carla Emil & Rich Silverstein and Leila & Melville Straus
Auction highlights include works by Rita Ackermann, Adel Abdessemed, Kristin Baker, Ross Bleckner, Monica Bonvicini, Kathe Burkhart, Bruce Conner, Peter Dayton, Francesca DiMattio, Sue de Beer, Willem de Kooning, Jan Fabre, Barnaby Furnas, Douglas Gordon, Mary Heilmann, Andreas Hofer, Roni Horn, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, William Kentridge, Martin Kippenberger, Terrence Koh, Oleg Kulik, Joseph LaPiana, Sol Lewitt, Peter Lindbergh, Robert Mapplethorpe Dennis Oppenheim, Enoc Perez, Elizabeth Peyton, Rob Pruitt, Neo Rauch, Amanda Ross-Ho, Mika Rottenberg, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Fred Sandback, Andres Serrano, Gary Simmons, Dirk Skreber, Ena Swansea, Tal R., Sam Taylor-Wood, Bill Viola, Andy Warhol, John Waters, Carrie Mae Weems, Garth Weiser, Robert Wilson.
Tickets start at $1,000. Tables for ten guests start at $10,000. For tickets, Please call (212) 253-7484 x10.
The Byrd Hoffman Watermill Foundation thanks LVMH for their support. Drinks provided by Château Mouton Rothschild, Bacardi, Peroni, and Voss Water.