Judy Chicago, Aurora James, and More Dressed Up for the New Museum Spring Gala

The New Museum in downtown New York City is having a busy year. There’s the current Wangechi Mutu exhibition of imaginative and otherworldly mixed media creations, the continued plans for a next-door expansion by architects Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu, and the six-decade retrospective of Judy Chicago premiering in October. The Judy Chicago exhibition will be the iconic artist’s first-ever solo New York show. Art patrons celebrated aptly at the New Museum Spring Gala.

On the topic of her forthcoming New Museum solo show, Judy Chicago told Vogue, “Artistic Director Massimiliano Gioni is doing something that nobody else has ever done. He is not only showing the body of my work, but he is also contextualizing it in the many unknown histories my work draws on, going back to the Middle Ages. It’s totally overwhelming.”

Hosted at Cipriani South Street, the New Museum Spring Gala, honored Judy Chicago and art collector Charlotte Feng Ford. The Beaux-Arts maritime venue was a fitting venue for the gala, two downtown Manhattan institutions joining forces for a fabulous fundraiser. The party started with a cocktail hour DJ’d by April Hunt. Guests spilled out onto the veranda overlooking the FDR Drive highway and Staten Island ferry terminal. Exquisite lilac and yellow floral arrangements were organically positioned throughout the party.

The gala’s dress code was “electric sunset,” a challenge for New Yorkers who comfortably wear black on most occasions. Impressively, they rose to the occasion and dressed loud in color, spanning the full gamut of an evening skyscape. Dresses were in shocking coral and fuschia, sunflower yellow, and every variation of citrus fruit. Attendees opted for a maximalist take on attire, with exaggerated fabrics pleated, gathered, buttoned, pinned, and ruched.

A seated dinner in the cavernous ballroom followed the cocktail party, where bright purple tablecloths laid the foundations for yellow and pink floral centerpieces and colorful custom serviettes inspired by Judy Chicago’s Let It All Hang Out painting. Guests included honorees Chicago and Charlotte Feng Ford, model and activist Bethann Hardison, and writer Kevin Kwan. In keeping with the electric sunset dress code, Jamie Singer Soros wore a bright pink frock, while New Museum Deputy Director Isolde Brielmaier dressed in yellow sequins.

Also in attendance was honorary chair Aurora James, wearing Kenneth Nicholason, and accompanied by the designer. James told Vogue: “The New Museum is such an incredible place to come for inspiration and celebrate the people who are creating new ideas of what the world could look like. It helps us understand and unpack what the world is right now. We only get to wear our only lenses, and art gives us an opportunity to reapproach the same subjects through different contexts. The New Museum lets your mind explore in that way.”

Following dinner and a lively art auction, multimedia artist Samora Pinderhughes and his ensemble, all of whom were wearing custom Liv Mains, sang a stirring performance on the piano. “It means the world to be a part of tonight. As a multidisciplinary artist, the first time that I figured out that I could be a part of the visual art world was a collaboration I did with Simone Leigh at the New Museum. The New Museum, has been a big part of my own realization as an artist,” he told Vogue just before he went on stage.

As the evening sun set on a party-themed electric sunset, New York City’s sunset was ironically overcast, but the New Museum Spring Gala’s energy and fashion remained on theme: electric.