MOCA’s 36th Gala Presented by Louis Vuitton Raises Over $3 Million

The MOCA 36th Gala, presented by Louis Vuitton, honored artist John Baldessari following his return as an artist trustee last year at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on May 30, 2015. The annual star-studded gala raised over $3 million to support the museum’s operations. The anniversary gala drew more than 770 international guests from the worlds of art, design, architecture, fashion, film, and music including Dita Von Teese, Patricia Arquette, Gia Coppola, Wolfgang Puck and special guest performer Janelle Monáe who brought the house down with her unique psychedelic-soul and R&B sound.

A California native, Baldessari is one of the most influential American artists working today. In his collages and mixed- media installations, Baldessari reworks film stills, documentary photographs, and paintings, as well as images and text from mass media and advertising. Throughout these works and continuing today, Baldessari’s interest in language, both written and visual, raises questions about the nature of communication.

During the Gala, attendees also viewed the recent exhibition, William Pope.L: Trinket, by artist William Pope.L, an essential figure in the development of performance and body art since the 1970s. The MOCA Gala, which is the museum’s largest annual fundraising event, continues the museum’s recent fundraising success in raising the value of MOCA’s endowment to over $100 million.