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July 30, 2010
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This story was published on Jul. 30, 2010

On Monday night, on a quiet stretch of Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, the Los Angeles art
world found itself immersed in a strange evening of participatory environments, food, and music, all
in an effort to raise money for the Pasadena-based public art non-profit West of Rome.

Although the organization has been around since 2005, they finally reached non-profit status last
year, prompting the initial planning of this, their first gala benefit. The planning came on the heels
of putting the final touches on the organization's current Baby Ikki/Burning Man-themed Mike
Kelley/Michael Smith exhibition -- which opened in New York last fall and in Los Angeles in May
-- and from that show, inspiration struck. As WoR founder Emi Fontana put it, "I like things that
evolve organically, so it only made sense that our first benefit would emerge from collaboration
between a community of artists."

And what a community of artists it was on Monday night. At the door to the event, guests were
handed embroidered baby bibs by former Deitch Projects artist Matt Greene, dressed in drag and
calling himself Melissa. Upon en-bibbing, one could opt to go towards the main hall to imbibe or to
side spaces to interact with infant-themed environs.

In the main hall, performance artist Stanya Kahn dressed in costume and wielded a megaphone,
which she used to scream out the names of incoming guests. And yes, in answer to the question you
were thinking, many people tried to escape her, only to be called out even more actively.

For the more willing particpants, the performance rooms incorporated pieces featuring tarot card
readings, adult babies and furries. Actually, the entire benefit was filled with furries. They
wandered the main hall of the Farley building, dancing and interacting with each other and with the
guests, whose reactions ranged from frightened to amused.

The food was designed by the Los Angeles chef Suzanne Goin, who presented a menu that ranged
from baby food (mung bean puree, corn chowder) to the adult (many meats) to after-dinner drinks
served in glass baby bottles, nipple and all.

Amidst the eating, the drinking, and attendees' attempts to scamper away from a man dressed as a
gorilla who kept sitting on people's lap, there was music from Jim Shaw, a drum circle involving
Baby Ikki and buckets of mud, and a final performance from psychadelic '70s Los Angeles cult
band Ya Ho Wha 13. The evening's attractions might have felt a bit incongruous, but, as Fontana
tells it, the babies, furries, and pysch rock were all carefully selected to capture the L.A. art world.
"Los Angeles is a complex city, much more complex than people think, and to understand it, we
also need to respect the history of art here," Fontana said. "We need to meld contemporary work
with the evolution of the city and its art."

It's a mission that they continued to fulfill on Monday, but lest that make it seem didactic, it was,
after all, a party, a party where Jeffrey Deitch and Paul McCarthy stood in the same narrow hall,
everyone in name-embroidered bibs, observing a room full of frollicking furries.

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