LACMA Gala to Honour Simone Leigh and Baz Luhrmann

Simone Leigh b. 1967, United States Follow +

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will celebrate artist Simone Leigh and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann at their annual Art+Film Gala, an event that aspires to rival New York’s glamorous Met Gala, on 2 November.

In a statement, LACMA director Michael Govan said, ‘Simone Leigh is one of the most captivating and important voices in contemporary art, brilliantly melding an array of different artistic traditions and centering Black femme subjects in powerful and moving ways.’

Leigh represented the United States at the 59th Venice Biennale. She won the Golden Lion for Best Participant with her presentation in the event’s central exhibition. Her show at LACMA and the California African American Museum (CAAM), Simone Leigh, opened on 26 May and continues through 20 January 2025.

Govan said ‘Baz Luhrmann has crafted an emotional cinematic oeuvre over three decades, driven by his imagination and passion. We are excited to honour him alongside Simone and celebrate their remarkable careers.’

Luhrmann’s movies include Elvis (2022), Moulin Rouge (2001), and Romeo + Juliet (1996), which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, who will co-chair the gala with Eva Chow.

Chow is a fashion designer, ex-wife of restaurateur Michael Chow, soju-slinger, and the impetus behind the gala, which she launched in 2011 to raise money for film-related programming.

Proceeds from the gala go towards exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming that explore the intersection of art and film.

The New York Times notes that Chow has been described as ‘a formidable perfumed steamroller of a woman’ and, more charitably by artist Ed Ruscha, as a ‘forward motion machine’. —[O]

Main image: Baz Luhrmann (left). Courtesy Design Museum.