Few occasions inspire people to spend loads of cash more than Valentine’s Day, so partnering the holiday with its most color-coordinated charity was a natural fit for Sotheby’s. The auction house and its Upper East Side building, along with Bono, artist Damien Hirst, and the Gagosian Gallery, played host to Project (RED) last week to raise money and awareness for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Queen Noor, Martha Stewart, Michael Stipe, Russell Simmons, and Christy Turlington were among the estimated 800 guests who helped raise more than $40 million by bidding on works from artists including Hirst, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami. The auction’s record-breaking gross makes it the most significant charity auction of contemporary art in history.Sotheby’s knew that the sale had to be accompanied by a fittingly grand party to draw as much attention to the cause as possible. So in November it reached out to Avidov Adler Studio to decorate the gallery space for the post-sale reception. Adler suffered no lack of inspiration with the charity, holiday, and artwork all hinging on the color red, so they chose to interpret the idea with inventive uses of light.
“We captured the theme of love and the color red with giant installations of hearts and lights,” said Caroline Wolfe, vice president at Avidov Adler. “There was an enormous heart-shaped chandelier—10 feet wide—that held 140,000 red lights, a freestanding heart covered in blinking lights, and everywhere you could see hearts inside parentheses as an ode to the organization.” Frost Lighting provided custom washes of red for both the interior and exterior of the building.
To the surprise of many guests, Adler’s installations were also something of an interactive exhibit. “The lights we used were all magnetic,” Wolfe said. “People were plucking them off the hearts like cherries from a tree and placing them wherever they would stick. They were climbing on each other’s shoulders to get at them, and by the end of the night, none of them were where they had started.” It took a performance by Bono, who joined house band the Hours for a small acoustic set, to finally distract the attendees.
The humanitarian spirit of the (RED) auction extended well beyond the money raised for AIDS. All of the materials Avidov Adler Studios used in its design will be recycled through UsedEventStuff.com and Materials for the Arts.
Queen Noor, Martha Stewart, Michael Stipe, Russell Simmons, and Christy Turlington were among the estimated 800 guests who helped raise more than $40 million by bidding on works from artists including Hirst, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami. The auction’s record-breaking gross makes it the most significant charity auction of contemporary art in history.Sotheby’s knew that the sale had to be accompanied by a fittingly grand party to draw as much attention to the cause as possible. So in November it reached out to Avidov Adler Studio to decorate the gallery space for the post-sale reception. Adler suffered no lack of inspiration with the charity, holiday, and artwork all hinging on the color red, so they chose to interpret the idea with inventive uses of light.
“We captured the theme of love and the color red with giant installations of hearts and lights,” said Caroline Wolfe, vice president at Avidov Adler. “There was an enormous heart-shaped chandelier—10 feet wide—that held 140,000 red lights, a freestanding heart covered in blinking lights, and everywhere you could see hearts inside parentheses as an ode to the organization.” Frost Lighting provided custom washes of red for both the interior and exterior of the building.
To the surprise of many guests, Adler’s installations were also something of an interactive exhibit. “The lights we used were all magnetic,” Wolfe said. “People were plucking them off the hearts like cherries from a tree and placing them wherever they would stick. They were climbing on each other’s shoulders to get at them, and by the end of the night, none of them were where they had started.” It took a performance by Bono, who joined house band the Hours for a small acoustic set, to finally distract the attendees.
The humanitarian spirit of the (RED) auction extended well beyond the money raised for AIDS. All of the materials Avidov Adler Studios used in its design will be recycled through UsedEventStuff.com and Materials for the Arts.
The exterior of Sotheby's for the (RED) auction
Photo: Robert Bloom/Frost Lighting
Frost Lighting washed the exterior of Sotheby's with red light.
Photo: Robert Bloom/Frost Lighting
The design team created a custom, heart-shaped chandelier for the night, which matched the name of the event and brought to mind Valentine's Day.
Photo: Nobu Otsu
A freestanding heart-shaped stand blinked with lights.
Photo: Courtesy of Avidov Adler Studio
Hearts appeared as decorative touches on installations.
Photo: Courtesy of Avidov Adler Studio
The band the Hours performed from a stage washed with blue and purple lighting.
Photo: Courtesy of Avidov Adler Studio
Selling contemporary works from artists such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Takashi Murakami, the auction raised $42.58 million for the Global Fund.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
