August 2 2018 | By Nate Freeman for Artsy
The Watermill Center Gala Is the Most Exclusive—and Bizarre—Art Party of the Summer
Above: Miles Greenberg and Nile Harris, Saying Grace, at the Watermill Center. Photo by Neil Rasmus. Courtesy of BFA.
The Hamptons was once a modest artist haven, with Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and others seeking refuge from New York City—instead opting for light reflecting off of inlets and bays, and cheap, ramshackle houses that could be converted into studio space. But, as anyone who has gone out east for a weekend this year quickly figures out, the Hamptons has become less of a creative community, and more a place where political candidates court wealthy donors, hedge-fund managers throw debauched house parties that destroy $20 million homes, and the wealthy residents chair a stream of charity galas.
At least one of those Hamptons charity galas is still something of an artwork itself. Each year, The Watermill Center—a training ground for young artists-in-residence and an exhibition space—hosts a benefit dinner on its 10-acre campus in the wooded hamlet from which it got its name. It keeps the flame of the first artist-settlers in the Hamptons alive by treating the elite guests to dozens of installations and performances scattered through the forests. Last Saturday was the 25th annual gala, and the silver anniversary brought out 1,000 visitors—and raised $2.2 million for the institution—as attendees snaked through the expansive space, discovering work more outré than the last.
Guests entered to see the logo for the benefit’s title, “Time Bomb,” designed by Christopher Knowles—the artist who was discovered by Watermill founder Robert Wilson when he was 14 years old, and was soon helping the artist and avant-garde theater legend with productions such as 1976’s Einstein on the Beach.
Installation view of CocoRosie, Lying Awake: Our Lady of the Flowers, 2018, at the Watermill Center. Photo by Maria Baranova Suzuki. Courtesy of The Watermill Center.
Tassy Thompson, Lys Klår, at the Watermill Center. Photo by Maria Baranova Suzuki. Courtesy of The Watermill Center.
Installation view of Shoplifter. Hrafnihildur Arnardóttir, Lonely, at the Watermill Center. Photo by Maria Baranova Suzuki. Courtesy of The Watermill Center.
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