An Evening with William Eggleston at Aperture's Fall Benefit
“I’ve never felt the need to enhance the world in my pictures, because the world is spectacular enough as it is.” —William Eggleston
On October 24, Aperture Foundation’s benefit, “Dear Bill,” honored William Eggleston for his contribution to photography and his lifelong passion for music. Though his name is synonymous with the acceptance of color photography by the art world, William Eggleston is also a virtuoso piano player, and his work has appeared on several album covers. In Aperture magazine’s fall issue, “Sounds,” John Jeremiah Sullivan profiles Eggleston, who, looking at one of his photographs, muses, “either everything works or nothing works”—simple as that. Eggleston’s most recent book, the ten-volume Democratic Forest (2015), contains more than ten thousand photographs and is the basis for Eggleston’s first exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery, opening Thursday, October 27.
Eggleston’s prolific career was the focus of Aperture’s annual benefit, which drew more than six hundred guests and raised approximately $650,000 in support of its publications, public programming, and educational initiatives. The event was cohosted by David Byrne, Sb Cooper and RL Besson, Jeff Garlin, Sondra Gilman Gonzalez-Falla and Celso Gonzalez-Falla, Elizabeth and William Kahane, Cathy Kaplan, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Nion McEvoy, Jessica Nagle, and David Zwirner. Over the preceding weekend, the benefit festivities kicked off with a series of exclusive events: visits with photographers Adam Fuss, Richard Phibbs, and Richard Mosse, a cocktail party at Aperture’s Chelsea gallery, a private visit to Yale’s photography collection, and a reception at Steinway Hall.
Taking a cue from vinyl album covers, the Paddle8-sponsored silent auction included square, twelve-by-twelve-inch prints. Thirty-two artists, including Stephen Shore, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Alex Webb, and Penelope Umbrico, contributed prints, all of which sold. Sara Friedlander, Vice President and Head of Evening Sale at Christie’s, presided over the live auction, which featured a commission by Doug and Mike Starn, as well as photographs by Bruce Davidson, Zanele Muholi, and Juergen Teller.
A slideshow of photographs from The Democratic Forest set the stage for live music performances directed by Pat Irwin. Musical performers included Alessio Bax, Bettye LaVette, Weyes Blood, and Lafayette Harris. Chances with Wolves closed with an upbeat DJ set.
Additional party photos are available on patrickmcmullan.com.
Click here to make a donation to Aperture’s Annual Fund.
The 2016 Aperture Foundation Benefit Party and Auction was generously supported by: Christie’s, Foto Care, ropeadope, Steinway & Sons, Emily Thompson Flowers, Espolòn Tequila, Fine Art Frameworks, Ilford, LTI Lightside, and Paddle8.
Benefit Committee
Sponsors
Sb Cooper and RL Besson
Judy and Leonard Lauder
Leaders
Elaine Goldman and John Benis
Sondra Gilman Gonzalez-Falla and Celso Gonzalez-Falla
Elizabeth and William Kahane
Cathy M. Kaplan and Renwick D. Martin
Anne Stark Locher and Kurt Locher
Nion McEvoy
Scott Mead
Melissa and James O’Shaughnessy
Malú Alvarez
Ann Ames
Rita Anthoine
agnès b.
Peter Barbur and Tim Doody
Dawoud Bey
Allan Chapin and Anna Rachminov
Cheim & Read
Kate Cordsen
Fine Art Frameworks
Randi and Bob Fisher
Arthur Fleischer, Jr.
Foto Care Ltd.
Annette Y. Friedland
Barbara J. Goodbody
Elizabeth Grover
Agnes Gund
Hermès Foundation
Darius Himes, Christie’s
Michael Hoeh
Lynne and Harold Honickman
Ingram Content Group
Darlene Kaplan
Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg
Susana Torruella Leval and Pierre N. Leval
David Levy and Amanda Bowman
Peter and Susan MacGill
Merideth W. McGregor and Kevin Flach
Patrick McMullan
Joel Meyerowitz
Jessica Nagle and Roland Hartley-Urquhart
Helen W. Nitkin
Lori Perlow
Sarah Gore Reeves and Enrique Norten
Ropeadope Records
Mara and Ricky Sandler
Thomas R. Schiff
Frederick M. R. Smith
David Solo
Steinway & Sons
Michael Ward Stout, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
Elizabeth Stribling and Guy Robinson
D. Severn Taylor and J. Scott Switzer
Willard Taylor and Virginia Davies
John C. Williams
Whit Williams
David Zwirner
Additional support from:
Renee Preisler Barasch
Andrew Craven and Rodger Hicks
Jean Karotkin
Kasper
Emily-Jane Kirwan, Marian Goodman Gallery
Philippe Laumont
Mark and Elizabeth Levine
Jack Lueders-Booth
Lauren and Michael Marrus
Jessica May
Sarah McNear and Ian Wardropper
Mauricio Morato
Yancey Richardson
Christine Traina
Tanya Wells
