The Winter Season
Met Costume Institute, Dior, Chanel, Charles James, Hope Luncheon, Jane Pauley, Miami Art Week, Libbie Mugrabi, Basquiat, Linjie Deng, David Datuna & Cattelan
Wonder Woman 1984
Gal Gadot reprises her role as Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 1984, which you can watch on HBO Max. Unfortunately, this is a mediocre sequel to the terrific original. Gadot, who shines despite the disappointing story, admits, “There aren’t enough good roles for strong women. Most of the female characters you see in films today are the ‘poor heartbroken girl.
Bridgerton on Netflix:
The bingeable TV show has a diverse cast, including a Meghan Markle-inspired character who marries the King and becomes Queen of England. Phoebe Dynevor stars as the “diamond of the social season” in London during 1800s. Dynevor said of her role, “Her life was to find a husband. We look at that now as independent women and think ‘Wow, that’s crazy that that was all she could get from life.’”
Met Costume Institute: About Time
Vogue Editor and Met Costume Institute’s Gala Chair Anna Wintour and the Metropolitan Museum cancelled their flashy Met Gala because of the pandemic. The benefit would have been co-chaired by Emma Stone, Lin Manuel-Miranda, and Meryl Streep. The exhibition titled About Time: Fashion and Duration coincides with the Met’s 150th anniversary. The show depicts a disrupted timeline of fashion, from 1870 (when the museum was founded) to the present day, using flashbacks and fast-forwards to draw surprising comparisons. To reiterate this sentiment, legendary writer Virginia Woolf presides as the ghost narrator of the exhibition with quotations from Orlando: A Biography, her time-travelling saga. The excerpts are read aloud by Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep; composer Philip Glass’s score for the film The Hours serves as the soundtrack. Andrew Bolton, the Curator in Charge explained, “Fashion is indelibly connected to time. It not only reflects the spirit of the times but also changes and develops with the times.” Max Hollein, Director of The Met, elaborated, “The result is a show that presents a nuanced continuum of fashion over the Museum’s 150-year history.” The delay gave Bolton an extra six months to re-curate the show, particularly so as to use a social justice-inspired lens, acknowledging the movements of this past summer and displaying the most up-to-date pieces.
60 Minutes of Fashion
The Met’s stunning exhibit is presented in two rooms, one round like a clock, the other a mirrored-infinity room. Each minute of the “60 Minutes of Fashion” is delineated with an illuminated tick mark, and is paired with a garment duo: one represents the linear nature of fashion, the other its cyclical patterns. Yet, although the garments represent different times, the shape, motif, material, pattern, technique or decoration in each pair echo one another, just as how the past co-exists with the present. Nearly all the pieces in the exhibition are black, with a bit of white for punctuation, to emphasize the changes in silhouette. The notable exception lies in the show’s finale, where Viktor & Rolf’s white dress of spring/summer 2020 haute couture, surrounding by shining swatches of what appears to be fabric, mirrors the future of fashion: community, collaboration, and sustainability. Among the 125 fashions featured in the exhibition are designers Dior, Chanel, Charles James, Alexander McQueen, Zandra Rhodes, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves-Saint-Laurent, Miuccia Prada, and Marc Jacobs. The exhibition is open until February 7, 2021. The time-ticketed, socially-distant show only allows 50 people in the space at a time. Guests have included Hamish Bowles, Libbie Mugrabi, Peter Thomas Roth, Dr. Marie Hayag, and artist Linjie Deng. The exhibition, made possible by Louis Vuitton and supported by Condé Nast, represents — quite literally — the fabric of time. www.metmuseum.org/150
Hope Luncheon: The Value of Talk Therapy
Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), a non-profit founded by Audrey Gruss dedicated to advancing the understanding and treatment of depression, held its 14th Annual HOPE luncheon. CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley and actress Taraji P. Henson, both mental health advocates, accepted the Hope Award for Depression Advocacy and the Community Ambassador of Hope Award, respectively. Pauley has been open about her battle with bipolar disorder since her diagnosis and has used her platform to remind those with their own battles that they are not alone. She confessed, “I can’t say having bipolar disorder has been a blessing, but having an advocacy role has been.” Henson, the Empire and Hidden Figures star, recently launched a campaign to offer free virtual therapy services for African Americans unable to afford it during the COVID-19 outbreak. She said, “The more we speak about depression, the more light we shine on it.” Chuck Scarborough of NBC News was the Master of Ceremonies. The seminar focused on “The Value of Talk Therapy, Especially Now.” “The COVID pandemic has underscored the urgency of our mission to better understand and treat depression. Over 100 million Americans now report symptoms of depression and anxiety,” said Chair Audrey Gruss. Dr. Jonathan Javitch, a scientist on the HDRF Task Force, also revealed the non-profit’s upcoming clinical trial for a new category of anti-depressants. Audrey also launched her new perfume Hope Night at Bergdorf Goodman with proceeds going to HDRF. hopefordepression.org
Miami Art Week
Art collector Libbie Mugrabi launched her new brand “Libbie” during art week at the Faena Hotel. She said, “I’m starting a brand where it’s all about healing. It’s about art, the art of fashion, and the art of beauty.” Mugrabi also showed works by her favorite artists, including Basquiat and emerging artist Linjie Deng at her event at the Faena. Deng’s Yin-Yang calligraphy piece consists of one set of mutually opposing and coexisting words: Freedom & Hope. Deng said, “The canvas is the New York Times from the 2020 COVID and the election news cycles. I chose the word pairing because this duo evokes some diametric approaches to today’s relevant issues.” Libbie said of the piece, titled Freedom & Hope, “That’s exactly what I need in my life right now.” linjiedeng.com
Box of Lives
David Datuna, the Smithsonian-recognized New York-based artist who made headlines last year for eating Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s $120k banana at Art Basel, is displaying his latest collection, Box of Lives, virtually in NYC. The new show is inspired by the hopefulness of the COVID-19 vaccine after so many months of global suffering, exploring the range of human emotions associated with the pandemic and the recent distribution of the vaccine. The work is sculpted from multi-colored syringes; the pieces focus on the convergence of art and social consciousness. “Just a bit over a year ago, during my Hungry Artist performance, I said that art is all about the fun it brings to our lives. As 2020 drew to a close, I wanted to focus on the other aspect of art: it’s all about hope, and hope is the key tool for survival in these challenging times. We fear syringes, but we also fear death — and now the syringe is the ultimate expression of hope.” This is not the first time Datuna used his art to bring attention to the work of the pharmaceutical industry. In 2016, Datuna presented Gilead Sciences Inc. with a Life Award in recognition of the pharma giant’s work in fighting Hepatitis C in Georgia. https://www.daviddatuna.com
Surgeons of Hope
Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff chaired the Surgeons of Hope virtual gala. The New York-based charity helps children with congenital heart disease. The funds are used to train local pediatric cardiac teams to aid impoverished children in Latin America. surgeonsofhope.org