LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announces the date and honorees of its 2019 Art+Film Gala. On Saturday, November 2, LACMA will honor artist Betye Saar and filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. LACMA trustee Eva Chow and actor Leonardo DiCaprio have championed the museum’s film initiatives since 2011, and they continue their efforts as the 2019 Art+Film Gala Co-Chairs. Gucci continues its invaluable partnership with the museum as the presenting sponsor of the annual event. For the second year, additional support for the gala is provided by Audi.
“Betye Saar is one of the most significant artists working today, and one who boldly addresses issues of race, gender, and spirituality,” said LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan. “Born in Los Angeles and having sustained a career over seven decades here, Saar has only begun to receive the international acclaim her work deserves. LACMA has exhibited her work since 1972. This fall, we are thrilled to present Betye Saar: Call and Response, an exhibition that will reveal the artist’s sketchbooks, an important part of her creative process that has never before been shown publicly, and their relation to her finished works.” He continued, “We are also thrilled to honor acclaimed filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón tells beautiful and stirring stories of humanity and how we relate to one another, from his early films The Little Princess and Y Tu Mamá También to his recent work including Gravity and last year’s Roma, which was as personal as it was universal. Earlier this year LACMA exhibited stills from Roma that not only highlighted Cuarón's incredible skill in pictorial composition, but also connected deeply and personally to so many museum visitors.”
“We are very excited to celebrate the life’s work of two extraordinary forces in the visual arts: Betye Saar and Alfonso Cuarón,” said Gala Co-Chair Eva Chow. “Together with the generous support of our partner Gucci, we are able to shine a light on their contributions in their respective fields that inspire future generations of artists and filmmakers.” Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMA’s initiative to make film more central to the museum’s curatorial programming, while also funding LACMA’s broader mission. This includes exhibitions, acquisitions, and educational programming that explore the intersection of art and film.
Govan added, “This gala is a moment to honor the achievements of the moving image and to celebrate the strengthened dialogue between art and film in Los Angeles. This creative exchange will continue to grow stronger in the coming years with the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and LACMA’s theater in its new building for the permanent collection. These exciting new cultural developments will ensure that the legacy of cinema will continue to thrive in Los Angeles.”
LACMA Productions is an award-winning extension of the museum’s film initiative. Over the last eight years, along with the establishment of the Art+Film initiative, LACMA has dedicated resources to producing short documentary films on artists including John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, David Hockney, Barbara Kruger, James Turrell, Robert Irwin, Mark Bradford, and Catherine Opie. By producing as well as commissioning work from emerging and mid-career filmmakers, the museum has created a series of short documentaries that have earned official selections at some of the leading international film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, DOC NYC, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Full Frame, and AFI DOCS. Past filmmakers include Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, Lance Accord, Doug Pray, Lucy Walker, Jessica Yu, Pippa Bianco, Lisanne Skyler, Dime Davis, and Sini Anderson. For the 2019 Art+Film Gala, filmmaker Christine Turner has been commissioned to make a short film about Betye Saar.
