Inside a Dinner Celebrating All Things Andy Warhol

Monday night, artists, muses, and tastemakers toasted the Andy Warhol Museum. The city’s lights twinkled and a winter wind blew as guests gathered at the Bryant Park Grill to celebrate the storied Pittsburgh institution.

In true Factory-style, the party attracted a dizzying array of personalities from entertainment legend Billy Porter to contemporary artist Kaws to rapper A$AP Ferg. Society fixtures, curators, and collectsors mingled among the talented cohort. Patrick McMullan, fête photographer extraordinaire, flashed his camera around the electric room. Among his subjects were former Warhol party-pals Bob Colacello and Vincent Fremont, who outlived many in their milieu to become custodians of Warhol’s legacy. 

To kick off the festivities, a live auction by Sotheby’s featuring the work of contemporary artists including Daniel Arsham, Kim Gordon, Nona Faustine, Kambui Olujimi, Pacifico Silano, Naama Tsabar, and Kennedy Yanko. As the wine poured, bidders rushed to raise their paddles in a feverish attempt to acquire the pieces. The highest-selling lot was a sumptuous sculpture by Yanko, who dazzled the gala crowd in a black and scarlet blaze dress. 

The dinner also marked the opening of Andy Warhol: Revelation at The Brooklyn Museum; in attendance was museum director Anne Pasternak, who held court with artists throughout the evening, as well as Carmen Hermo, one of the museum’s curators. 

The appetite and reverence of the pop artist remain extremely high. In addition to the upcoming Brooklyn exhibition, Fotografiska recently highlighted Warhol’s polaroids. Yesterday, at what may be the divorce auction of a century, the artist featured significantly in the Macklowe collectsion. Perhaps fittingly for a sale allegedly born from adultery, “Nine Marilyns” (1962) was pitted against “16 Jackies,” fetching a combined $81.1 million. 

Beyond aesthetic or economic considerations, Warhol’s greater legacy of transgression and self-expression resonated in the conversations that continued late into the night. 

Shimmering in his silver ensemble, Porter leaned against the bar and discussed his latest project with relish. 

“I directed my first feature film this summer,” Porter said. “It is a coming of age story, a Rom-Com, populated by what the world looks like today. So we are following a Black, Trans high school senior and she falls in love. It’s about a Trans joy. We’re telling a different story. We’re telling an inspirational story, an aspirational story, and it is time.”

Warhol, who expressed his queer identity in an age when same-sex activity was illegal in the United States, would be smiling at the work of Porter and many artists who create fearlessly.