Dior and the Guggenheim Foundation enliven the arts through a series of ongoing solo exhibits launched during the 2021 annual gala.

The Guggenheim International Gala is held annually to commemorate the achievements of the museums under the care of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

The most recent gala, held on Nov. 17, 2021, focused on the works of contemporary artists Etel Adnan, Jennie C. Jones, Cecilia Vicuña and Gillian Wearing in ongoing solo exhibitions.

The gala, supported by fashion house Dior, also honored Phyllis and Bill Mack as "generous philanthropists and invaluable leaders of the Guggenheim Foundation for over 18 years", the Foundation stated on its website.

"After canceling the 2020 gala and weathering such a challenging year, we believe that global support is critical to our recovery and our continued commitment to access and community engagement," it added.

The cherry on top was a performance by New Zealand singer Lorde, who wore two different Dior outfits for the occasion. For her red carpet appearance, she donned a burned peach haute couture gown from Dior's Autumn/Winter 2018 collection that reportedly took 300 hours to create, and then went for an onstage bling with a metallic suit inspired by one of Dior’s Spring/Summer 2022 ready-to-wear items that took 40 hours to finish.

Big names were also among those who attended the gala, including Uma Thurman's daughter Maya Hawke, African-American visual artist Mickalene Thomas, journalist Derek Blasberg and environmental activist Laurie David.

Sparkling soul: New Zealand musician Lorde performs in a Dior-inspired suit at the Guggenheim International Gala 2021 on Nov. 17, 2021. (DIOR GIG 2021/Tiffany Nicholson) (Dior Gig 2021/Tiffany Nicholson)

Honoring artists

The gala turned poignant, as one of its highlighted artists, Etel Adnan, passed away a few days before the event. The Lebanese-American poet, essayist and visual artist died on Nov. 14, 2021 at the age of 96 in Paris, France.

Over her seven-decade-long career, Adnan forged a creative practice that went beyond disciplines and spaces. Growing up in Lebanon before spending several decades in California, she demonstrated an ability to channel Middle Eastern vibes and cultures.

Adnan was most widely known for her book Sitt Marie Rose. Published in 1978 and translated into 10 languages, it is based on the true story of a kidnapping during Lebanon's civil war and is told from the civilian perspective.

On Oct. 8, 2021, she launched the Etel Adnan: Light's New Measure exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Running through Jan. 10, 2022 and organized by Katherine Brinson and Lauren Hinkson, the exhibit displayed the artist's collection of paintings, tapestries and works on paper as a reflection "of her faith in the human spirit and the beauty of the natural world".

Inside look: Visitors view pieces on display in Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks, a retrospective that runs through June 13, 2022 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. (www.guggenheim.org) (Guggenheim.org/Courtesy of the Guggenheim)

Also on display at the Guggenheim until June 13 is Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks, organized by Jennifer Blessing, Nat Trotman, X Zhu-Nowell and Ksenia Soboleva. It features more than 100 photographs, videos, sculptures and paintings by Gillian Wearing, a celebrated British conceptual artist said to "probe the tensions between self and society in an increasingly media-saturated world".

Billed as the first retrospective of Wearing's work in North America, the exhibition surveys the artist's three-decade career from her earliest Polaroids to her latest self-portraits in an exploration of “the performative nature of identity”, according to its curators.

It is also accompanied by a comprehensive monograph while focusing on her work from the last decade, such as a recent series made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another ongoing exhibition by one of the gala’s honored artists is Jennie C. Jones: Dynamics, which runs from Feb. 4 to May 2. Organized by associate curator Lauren Hinkson, the exhibit features works that combine visual and aural experiences in architectural felt and acoustic panels. These “active surfaces”, as Jones describes it, absorb sound and affect the acoustic properties of their environments.

The African-American artist’s pieces pay tribute to “a legacy of radical black sonic practitioners who negotiated the 20^th-century social experience”, according to the museum’s exhibition brief.

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*With additional reporting by Radhiyya Indra in Jakarta

Selected pieces and related resources for all artists are available through the Guggenheim Museum’s Collection Online page.