Museum of Contemporary Art Announces “The Art Auction”
CHICAGO, IL.- The Art Auction, the Museum of Contemporary Art‘s (MCA) Chicago’s most important fundraiser, is being held for the first time ever in the galleries of the museum. This year, the auction features works by the most recognized contemporary artists working today, including Olafur Eliasson, Louise Nevelson, Ed Ruscha, Mark Bradford, Kiki Smith, Lari Pittman, Julie Mehretu, Luc Tuymans, William Wegman, Lorna Simpson, and Christopher Wool, along with works by promising emerging artists. The event is co-chaired by Leslie Bluhm and David Helfand, and Liz and Eric Lefkofsky. The event takes place at 6:30 pm on Saturday, October 30, 2010.
Guests may enjoy cocktails while they bid on silent auction artworks hung in the MCA galleries. A creative family-style dinner by Wolfgang Puck Catering takes place in a one-of-a-kind outdoor tented setting where everything is constructed of paper. Heffernan Morgan, the design team for the event, says it will be like “walking into a huge cardboard box for dinner with 500 of your friends, complete with paper floors, corrugated tables and walls, corrugated hanging chandeliers, and paper centerpieces.” The live auction, led by Sotheby’s Oliver Barker, Senior International Specialist, Contemporary, takes place in the tent between dinner courses. Barker is best-known for calling the celebrity-filled (AUCTION) RED to fight AIDS in Africa with Bono and Damien Hirst in 2008. Following dinner and the live auction, guests move back into the museum for a unique light show, dessert, and dancing complete with custom-designed buffets, sexy lounges, and live music from The Marvin Little Band.
- German-born US artist Kiki Smith poses next to her sculpture ‘Messenger I-III’ during the inauguration of an exhibition. EPA/XAVIER BERTRAL
Proceeds from The Art Auction directly support exhibitions and acquisitions for the MCA Collection. Works included in The Art Auction represent a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, prints, and works on paper. Artists at different career points are represented to provide a wide range of price points. Major art donations came from artists and galleries located in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, London, Zurich, and Mumbai.
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