The Art of Parties

Not yet a member of the international art world’s notorious party scene? Axel Mörner gives you a taste of what you’ve been missing, but don’t get your hopes up – few are worthy of mingling with these legendary revellers

When trying to find out who’s responsible for the best parties, the answer is simple: artists are the ones who know how to make the most fun. Since the earliest days of civilization, people have gotten together to live it up. If you want a swell pastime, look no further than the art world, where you’ll surely meet intelligent, talented, radical and open-minded people who like to indulge in various stimulating experiences and appreciate anything hedonistic.

 

 

During the 18th and 19th centuries, artists always knew how to have a good time in the easiest possible way. Lots of cheap booze and a great deal of happy hangers-on, including rich patrons and prestige-seeking members of the nouveau riche, were guaranteed to spice things up and create many a memorable night. In the 1920s, Picasso and his colleagues frequented Café de la Rotonde in Paris, which hosted an ongoing feast and a continuous exhibition of the work traded by the poor artists for food and drink. Flush with charisma and self-confidence, Picasso’s presence challenged the other artists as he grabbed the best girls and made the best contacts with important patrons such as Gertrude Stein. Only in the art world can one be utterly bold and the crowd will love it.

 

 

For the art-party circuit, the 20th century devolved into a downward spiral of excessive drinking and outrageous behaviour that ended with Jackson Pollock’s fatal car crash in 1956. A real shift in attitude came in the 1960s, when artists became fed up with the middle-class values and the perverted macho attitude of the abstract-expressionists, and they started to create their own scene. Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York City spearheaded this movement, with his entourage of gays, drag queens and good-lookers infiltrating New York’s most elite parties. They also created their own events with a mix of every ingredient necessary: drugs, celebrities and The Factory’s own house band, The Velvet Underground. Warhol’s guest lists were intentionally diverse, including everyone from millionaires to male prostitutes – anybody interesting was included. Warhol managed to stay ahead in the party zone all the way until his death in 1987. His protegé Jean-Michel Basquiat died the next year from a heroin overdose, breaking the spell of the 1980s wealthy, indulgent lifestyle – apart from the smack, Basquiat was also fond of Château Latour and blonde women. The wealthier the artists became, the more boring they got, because in order to create the ideal party, someone quite crazy, resourceful and also hungry for life is required.

 

Luckily, during the 1990s, the British art world suddenly became enlivened by the arrival of a new breed of cocky, wildly talented artists: the YBA (Young British Artists). One of them was Damien Hirst who, years before he became the multimillion-dollar enterprise that he is now, was quite a crazy head, taking drugs, drinking heavily and always placing himself in the middle of the action. He could be found accompanied by his then-partner Maia, holding court at Maxwell’s, a Berlin restaurant, where he would gift the owners with several spot paintings in exchange for tolerating his antics. Hirst also created a huge party scene at The Groucho Club in Soho, London, making headlines with his hooligan attitude, as well as at a pool hall in downtown Manhattan, where he cut a magnetic figure, taunting his fans with gruesome jokes and boasting about his superior talents. He liked the nightlife so much that he opened his own bar and restaurant called Pharmacy in west London’s Notting Hill, which closed within six years, its glamorous clientele having long moved on. Even so, Hirst had the last laugh, making a huge profit from selling all the artworks and paraphernalia from the place at Sotheby’s.

 

 

During this time, an increase of art fairs in Europe and the United States was taking place, and with these came the urge to party. The official events were always calm affairs, albeit with bikini-clad babes on roller skates serving up baby bottles of champagne with straws. It was the afterparties and unofficial gatherings hosted by the younger gallerists that were the places to be. The snazzy art crowd and imported DJs could bring a rundown restaurant in Basel or an industrial warehouse in Köln alive with their techno parties.

 

 

The real big time for the art-party scene came along when the offspring of the Art Basel show launched in Miami Beach in 2002. At first it seemed a bit peculiar to combine high-end contemporary art with the beach, but the event surpassed all expectations. Suddenly there was a new place for the major collectors to gather and relax at the same time. Miami is known as a partier’s paradise, so almost immediately there was a big turnout of movie stars, rockers and über-famous art stars such as Murakami, Koons and Cattelan – followed, naturally, by hordes of wannabes and others hoping to get a peek of the famous ones. Soon, the whole circus around Art Basel Miami grew out of hand, with the art playing second fiddle to the celebrities, and the party scene becoming an industry in itself, generating substantial sums of money.

Art Basel’s only other real competitor is the Venice Biennial, which takes place every other year and attracts the entire art world for five days of round-the-clock events, openings and, of course, parties. It’s especially cozy in the romantic water taxis that glide around the canals with their glitzy passengers on board.

 

 

As the crowds grow for these celebrations of art, they become increasingly segregated. The VIPs prefer to be undisturbed by the masses while having their time in the limelight, but here the gap between the typical partygoer and the celeb is narrow and so one may get lucky and bump into Brad Pitt, Pharrell or Pamela Anderson when venturing through Basel Miami or at the Bauer Hotel in Venice, which gets jam-packed with members of art’s elite – including Dasha Zhukova, Marina Abramovic, the exalted Missoni family and the billionaire collector François Pinault – having a great time regardless of the sometimes-problematic crowds.

The real challenge is to get into the VIP game – the inner circle, the fast lane. In order to do that you must be an exhibitor, an artist or even a sponsor, and it helps tremendously if you happen to be talented, rich and handsome. Failing that, you could try an old trick and pretend you’re a journalist, but that will only get you in halfway. You had better start planning now! And don’t forget to dress up; these party people are dead serious about fashion.

 

Upcoming Events

Frieze London: 15th-18th October 2014

Art Basel Miami Beach: 4th-7th December 2014

The Armory Show, New York: 5th-8th March 2015

Art Basel Hong Kong: 15th-17th March 2015

Art Basel: 18th-20th June 2015

La Biennale di Venezia 56th International Art Exhibition: 9th May-22nd November 2015

Credits:

Words by Axel Mörner

Posted in Art.