Participant After Dark: Vaginal Davis x Rick Owens t-shirts & a tour by Scooter LaForge at the residence of Izhar Patkin. Photos & words by Glenn Belverio

 

Dear Shaded Viewers,

Last week, I was invited to a delightful winter garden party by Lia Gangitano, owner of Participant Gallery, at the home of Israeli artist Izhar Patkin. The space, a former school on East 1st Street, is a spellbinding labyrinth of cavernous spaces too vast to count. A phantasmagoric stroll through the residence is mandatory, and even better if charismatic artist Scooter LaForge is your tour guide through the more hidden rooms of the house.

The occasion? Well, many things. There were the limited-edition Vaginal Davis x Rick Owens for Participant Inc. t-shirts (sales of these and tickets to this party benefited the very excellent Participant Gallery). We welcomed the new Participant Board Members: Derrick Adams, Justin Vivian Bond (who sadly did not make it to this soiree), Jeffrey Gibson, April Hunt, Rose Lord, Sheri Pasquarella and Elisabeth Sussman, and Advisory Board Members Pati Hertling and Amanda Hunt.

I’m afraid I was rather remiss in my duties of photographing people at this shindig. Perhaps I was too busy catching up on news and gossip with Patrick McDonald, and enjoying the magnificent feast of Mediterranean vegetarian food and vodka rickeys.

 

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I did make sure I got a shot of the glamorous Lia Gangitano, though.

 

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The Vaginal Davis x Rick Owens t-shirts—a limited edition of 30—came in a variety of styles and fabrications. I can’t wait to wear mine!

 

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We wish Vag could have been there! Her drawings on the t-shirts are lovely.

 

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As mentioned, the charming Scooter LaForge took Patrick and I on a tour of the enchanting rooms he painted. Here he is in the Egyptian room. Well, if I slept in front of a gilded sarcophagus every night, I wonder if I would wake up feeling like Boris Karloff?

You can see the rest of the tour in this post’s photo gallery. Scooter is a very prolific artist and has, among many things, collaborated with my friend Mary Adams on dresses for the Lower East Side Girls’ Club.

 

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Patrick posing with a sculpture by Izhar Patkin. Izhar has work in MoMA’s collection, The Black Paintings, 1986. He’s also had work in the Whitney Biennial.

 

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Patrick and Scooter in one of the rooms Scooter painted. It seems they are being photo-bombed by a fellatio fête galante behind them…I love Scooter’s t-shirt and Patrick’s ensemble reminds me of the chic 1920s lesbians in the opening party scene of Auntie Mame.

 

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Scooter took a timed photo of us with his phone. What a fun night.

Please be sure to visit Participant Gallery….I’m nearby, so you can stop by my place for a cocktail afterwards.

Love,

Glenn Belverio

Glenn Belverio

Glenn Belverio is a writer and New Yorker. He has been reporting for ASVOF since 2005 and currently works at The Museum of Modern Art as the Content Manager for MoMA Design Store.