The New Pace Gallery Was Teeming With Artists at Last Night’s Opening Party

While New York City’s fashion crowd was in the midst of fashion week’s final night, the art set was gearing up for one of the buzziest events of the fall art calendar: Pace Gallery’s new flagship opening party at 540 West 25th Street in Chelsea. Arne and Milly Glimcher founded Pace Gallery 60 years ago and were on-site to welcome collectsors, celebrities, and artists from around the world to the gallery’s new home. The space did not disappoint, and neither did the surprise concert by the Who.

The eight-story gallery premiered a series of inaugural exhibitions, including a survey of Alexander Calder’s drawings and mobiles, Loie Hollowell’s gestational self-portraits, David Hockney’s new panel paintings of his Normandy home, Fred Wilson’s enormous chandeliers, and Peter Hujar’s black-and-white photography. The breadth of work across the colossal 75,000-square-foot gallery is astonishing. Aside from the sheer scale of the space, it’s also diverse in design. Each floor feels different and shows artists’ work uniquely. There is an outdoor sculpture garden, galleries with high ceilings flooded with light, and smaller intimate rooms. Artist Adam Pendleton, who has upcoming shows at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and Pace Gallery in Seoul told Vogue, “It’s impressive. The perceptions of the space and what they can do will change as different artists hang different exhibitions and projects. That’s what will bring the different spaces to life.” Fellow Pace artist Loie Hollowell, whose show spans the second floor of the gallery, added, “The building is insane. I love that they aren’t doing a massive open space gallery because I could never show in a space like that. I appreciate that they gave me so much space.”

Pace Gallery’s opening bash was a multifloor sensory experience, encompassing an art gallery, a performance-art space, a Champagne bar, and a concert venue all in one. The multidimensional vibes were intended per Pace President and CEO Marc Glimcher, who spoke with Vogue about the new gallery and its mission of inclusivity of both artists and patrons. “You need to build a different kind of gallery that engages everybody. If you’re going to support your artists, you need an amplifier.” Glimcher and wife Fairfax Dorn (founder of Ballroom Marfa) welcomed guests like Maria Sharapova, Julian Schnabel, Luke Wilson, JR, Rashid Johnson, Willem Dafoe, and Chuck Close to the opening extravaganza.

The new Pace Gallery is expected to further inject foot traffic and tourism into Manhattan’s Lower West Side, alongside attractions like the High Line, the Whitney, Hudson Yards, other Chelsea galleries, and the impending Pier 55. Upcoming shows include Mary Corse, Li Songsong, Lynda Benglis, Arlene Shechet, Jean Dubuffet, Isamu Noguchi, and Robert Ryman. For the opening party, Pace went all out. Culinary experiences included a Moroccan mint-tea stand, a BBQ station, an ice cream stand, a Japanese snack bar, and confetti cake, not to mention flowing wine and Champagne. Questlove took to the stage to DJ a set for the dancing attendees, followed by a thrilling rock and roll surprise concert by none other than the Who. The crowd went wild at the sight of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and crew as they performed hit singles like “The Kids Are Alright” and “Pinball Wizard.” The Who also released their new album cover art by Peter Blake last night, in conjunction with the announcement that Pace Gallery made a donation to Townshend and Daltrey’s organization Teen Cancer America.

After the Who brought down the house, guests dispersed throughout Pace to continue exploring the exhibitions. As if the night couldn’t get any more epic, Graham Reynolds arrived on stage in a four-person jazz band, enthralling the crowd and getting even the most reticent of the dressed-all-in-black-art-fan on her feet. It was quite a night.