CAMH becomes a Berlin-inspired nightclub for ‘Secret Underground’ gala
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston hosted a rager April 30 in the Museum District. Or was it Berlin?
The gritty and industrial nightclubs favored by talented German creatives inspired CAMH’s 2022 gala, appropriately dubbed “Secret Underground.” A fleet of black cars pulled around back, behind the museum’s main entrance, all evening long — and truthfully, into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Early on, black-tie collector types spilled onto the sidewalk and were directed down a dark, bulb-lit tunnel toward the party. Later, the tuxedos gave way to mesh shirts, wide brim hats and miniskirts — true clubbing attire.
By night’s end, CAMH’s gala and after-party raised roughly $425,000. Heavy hitters bought enough art to push the bottom line pasted it’s fundraising goal. Young artists and their entourages made it cool.
“Our co-chairs Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl were really responding, not just to our space but also the iconic architecture of the CAMH, which turns 50 this year,” said executive director Hesse McGraw. “They looked to art spaces in Berlin and translated that experience into the gala. The concept of an underground club is unexpected and a little raw. It’s really about giving people an experience of contemporary art and its impact on the city.”
Carrie, dressed in head-to-toe Rick Owens, swanned around the reception-area alcove lined by three walls of silent auction art on one side and a floor-toceiling panel of black fabric on the other. Her husband, Sverre, bid and won of the auction’s most substantial works, “Sonora A260” (2019) by Eduardo Portillo.
The artist explained that his method, stretching and manipulating white canvas over its frame, is simple yet dicey: Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Steven Evans’ neon sign “Gimme Danger” (2016) proved another impulse purchase. Upon her return from the ladies room, Katherine Smith discovered her husband bought the conversation-starting piece for the couple’s home bar.
Nothing opens wallets like a premium spirits selection.
Moët, a gala sponsor, Casamigos, and the occasional espresnever so martini clearly prompted $185,000 worth of auction bids.
McGraw rarely permits red wine into CAMH’s main gallery. On Saturday, he made an exception.
“There’s one NFT work by Eric Calderon, one of the pioneers of this field. His web 3.0 work has become absolutely iconic,” McGraw said. “I’m truly honored to be able to present it.”
Attendees were also privy to an exclusive operatic performance by Los Angeles-based artist and filmmaker Mariah Garnett, whose upcoming exhibition “Mariah Garnett: Dreamed This Gateway” opens at CAMH on June 10.
Garnett invited two friends and fellow California Institute of the Arts alums along for the ride: vocalists Christopher Paul Craig and Breanna Sinclairé, a prominent transgender soprano.
“I was supposed to do a show here in November 2020 and had shown my work before in Texas or the South,” Garnett shared. “I was able to push the show and present a new body of work. Then (CAMH curator) Rebecca Matalon wrote to me with the idea of bringing Breanna out.”
Before the program officially transitioned from gala dinner to dance club, Sverre noted that he and his four co-conspirators — co-chairs Adrian Dueñas and Marcelo Saenz and after-party chair Adel Sadek — were immigrants who now call Houston home.
With that, revelers and party animals descended to CAMH’s “Secret Underground,” where Dueñas and Saenz, owners of BeDESIGN, partnered with Sadek’s team at Ciel Restaurant + Lounge to create, basically, a rave.
More than 175 after-party guests trickled in for DJ Wassu’s late-night set and a special birthday surprise. Sadek’s fiancé, Desiree Jacobs, orchestrated bottle service, confetti, sparklers and cake to ring in his 32nd year.
Austrian artists Richard Hoeck and Paul Renner transformed a VIP space into an intergalactic experience, complete with designer bean bags and french fries, because when in Berlin, do as the club kids do.