Installation view of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party, Dia Beacon, Beacon, New York, 2020. © Carl Craig, courtesy of Dia Art Foundation, New York. Photo by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York.
MOCA Board of Trustees President Carolyn Clark Powers and MOCA Trustee Terri Smooke are leading the organization of the event as Co-Chairs of the Advancement Committee. This year’s MOCA Gala is part of a celebratory weekend that will provide attendees the very first viewing of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party, a visceral sonic and somatic experience that evolves with each new iteration.
“MOCA is the artists’ museum. Since its founding over forty years ago, MOCA has always put artists at the center of its mission and programming. The Gala honors our founding spirit of experimentation and our ongoing dedication to nurturing our international and local artistic community here in L.A.,” said Johanna Burton, The Maurice Marciano Director. “It is an absolute pleasure to bring our closest friends and supporters together to celebrate what defines this institution and inspires us to do what we do every day. This year we’re thrilled to come together around Detroit-based DJ Carl Craig and LA-based painter Henry Taylor—two visionary beacons of the kind of unique creative expression that MOCA stands with and for. We are deeply grateful for the support and excitement garnered through our annual Gala that allows us to work alongside such artists to realize their ambitious and challenging exhibitions at our museum.”
On April 15, MOCA will welcome 600 guests from the worlds of art, entertainment, and philanthropy, alongside the many artists and friends that make up the museum’s community. Guests will convene at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA for a cocktail reception followed by a special first view of Carl Craig: Party/After-Party. The night will continue with a delicious dinner and a special musical performance inside MOCA Geffen.
“We hold this spectacular fundraiser to gather, acknowledge, and invigorate the patrons and artists who are at the core of the MOCA family,” said Carolyn Clark Powers, MOCA Board of Trustees President. “I am grateful to my fellow MOCA Trustees and supporters who will make this celebration of the museum another night to remember in what is a long history of unforgettable evenings.”
This year, MOCA is proud to have Tiffany & Co. as the Gala’s Presenting Sponsor. The museum is grateful to have a robust 2023 Gala Host Committee whose members have generously purchased tables in support of the institution. Platinum level Gala Host Committee includes Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Karyn Kohl, Maurice Marciano, Mary Klaus Martin and David Martin, Carolyn Clark Powers, Maria Seferian, Terri and Michael Smooke.
The second annual Gala Dance Party will follow the Gala dinner, featuring DJ Mirko Loko with special guests Carl Craig and Moodymann, food and drinks, and exhibition viewing. Special admission is offered for the Dance Party, with tickets starting at $100 for MOCA members and $150 for the general public. For Gala Dance Party ticket information, please email gala@moca.org.
MOCA Gala guests will be the first to experience MOCA’s presentation of Party/After-Party, which draws on Craig’s 30-year career as an international ambassador of techno, guiding visitors sonically through a club night from the perspective of the DJ. Starting in those moments before the crowd arrives and the DJ spins alone, before reaching its crescendo with the party’s pulsing apex, and finally slipping towards the melancholic embrace of the after-party, the work evokes the collective ecstasy and desolation found only on a club dance floor. Originally commissioned by Dia Art Foundation, Party/After-Party responds directly to the architecture of The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA’s WAREHOUSE space and reclaims the former manufacturing site and police storage facility as a platform for reinvention and radical innovation.
