NEW YORK, NY.- Last night, Whitney Museum of American Art held its annual Whitney Art Party to celebrate art lovers and supporters of the museum. Sponsored this year by Max Mara, the Art Party is hosted annually by the Whitney Contemporaries, a group of young leaders and arts patrons, who play an active role in fulfilling the Whitney’s critical mission of supporting American art. This was the first Whitney Art Party (and the first patron party of any kind) held at the Whitney’s new home at the acclaimed Renzo Piano building in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Proceeds from ticket sales support the Whitney’s educational initiatives, including the Independent Study Program (ISP), one of the country's leading post-graduate programs in studio art, as well as curatorial and critical studies.

The event began with the preview of Whitney exhibition artists Rachel Rose and Jared Madere. Madere presented a popup of his mobile gallery Bed Stuy Love Affair, which is situated outside the Whitney for two days only. Artists on view include Jake Cruzen, Joseph Geagan, Valerie Keane, and Veit Laurent Kurz.

The evening featured performances by Ignabu and DonChristian, and entertainment from DJ Boody and Harley Viera-Newton.

Attendees included:

Scott Rothkopf (Whitney Chief Curator), Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo (Whitney Trustee), Gina Gershon, Sophie Simmons, Leigh Lezark, Sarah Arison, Chelsea Leyland, Alina Baikova, Andreja Pejic, Tiffany Zabludowicz, Starlite Randall, Jay Johnson, Kipton Cronkite, William T. Georgis, Nouriel Roubini, Gary Graham, Casey Fremont, Rebecca Siegal and Stacey Bendet Eisner with:

ART
Chuck Close, Matthew D. Jackson, Charlotte Kidd, Rhys Gaetano, Adam T. Helms, Zak Kitnick, Robert Molnar, Joseph Geagan, Valerie Keane, Liz Magic Laser, Viet Laurent Kunz, William Villalongo, John Bianchi, Phillip Birch, Talia Chetrit, Jake Cruzen, to name a few.

BENEFIT COMMMITTEE
Whitney Contemporaries and Co-Chairs Patrick McGregor and Adam Abdalla with Maria Giulia Maramotti, Noreen Ahmad, Alex Ahn, Julia Arnhold, Paul Arnhold, Ann Binlot, Alexandra Chemla, Lauren Cochran and Michael Bogorad, Laura de Gunzburg, Emie Diamond, Alexandra Economou, Ellie Edelman, Jennifer and Kevin Fisher, Corinna Freedman, Alexander Hankin, Danielle Hankin, Jack Heller, Anne Huntington, Hilary and Mo Koyfman, Charles L. Moffett, Mallory Neidich, Andrew Oshrin and Michelle Smith, Daisy Prince, Victoria Rogers, Monica and Peter Tessler, Bronson Van Wyck, Marlies Verhoeven, Alissa and Jordan Zachary

HOST COMMITTEE
Michele Abeles, Micaela Erlanger, Mark Guiducci, Heather Hubbs, Jenné Lombardo, Ken Okiishi, Lauren Remington Platt, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Aki Sasamoto, Kristen Joy Watts, Pari Ehsan

Jared Madere (b. 1986), an emerging artist based in New York, is receiving his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Whitney, on view now through January 3, 2016. Madere primarily creates installation-based works featuring disparate materials such as salt, flowers, foodstuffs, and plastic tarps that are assembled and aggregated in a manner that insists on their material connections to society, economics, industry, and human emotion. Madere is also the founder of Bed-Stuy Love Affair, an artist-run gallery focused on emerging art.

Rachel Rose, an emerging artist based in New York and recipient of the 2015 Frieze Art Award, is receiving her first solo exhibition in the United States from October 30, 2015 to February 7, 2016 in the Whitney’s fifth-floor Kaufman Gallery. Rose (b. 1986) is known for her striking video installations that deftly merge moving images and sound with nuanced environments. Using her own footage and found material, Rose addresses the ubiquity of images and how they generate meaning in contemporary society.