NEW YORK — The city’s art and fashion worlds are collaborating on an exhibit that stretches 29 blocks along Madison Avenue, and includes a fund-raising effort for the Whitney Museum’s Family Programs.
Dolce & Gabbana, David Yurman, Calvin Klein, Barneys New York, LeSportsac and other fashion brands with boutiques on Madison Avenue have joined forces with world-renowned artists, photographers and sculptors such as Alexander Berg, Luis Coquenao, Ron Arad and Marco Perego for the seventh annual “Madison Avenue: Where Fashion Meets Art” exhibition and fund-raiser.
“This is a great example of the two institutions that make New York City distinct, distinguished and great,” said city council member Dan Garodnick at a press conference announcing the exhibit, which runs April 27-May 13 and can be seen from 57th to 86th Streets along Madison Avenue.
The event partners more than 60 private and public firms, and is organized by The Madison Avenue Business Improvement District, headed by president Matthew A. Bauer.
Bauer insists the artists and fashionistas all work together effortlessly. “It’s a rare time that all these leading brands agree. It’s indicative of the process that they’ve all agreed to be listed in alphabetical order [on the fund-raiser’s program].”
Bauer has been around since the benefit’s humble beginnings. “I was there when it was first suggested in 1999. It’s blossomed and continued from there,” he said.
Bauer said the benefit and its accompanying “wild parties” have evolved into a neighborhood staple. “It’s become a part of these boutiques’ plans for the entire year. It’s a neighborhood tradition.”
Adam D. Weinberg, director of Whitney Museum of American Art, agreed. “It’s now become a rite of spring,” he said. Weinberg emphasized that the event is a tribute to the two essential elements — art and fashion — that make the surrounding area so vibrant.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The event raises money for the Whitney Museum’s Family Programs from a partnership with American Express and the participating boutiques.
The Family Programs consists of approximately 35 different educational initiatives sponsored by the museum, including workshops, curriculum planning and school programs. Most notably, funding for the Family Programs allows the Whitney Museum to provide free admission for children, rare in most museums.
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LeSportsac has embodied the event’s theme by including a handbag and accessories collection designed by international artist avaf, or assume vivid astro focus.
Weinberg explained the artist’s baffling name, saying, “he’s a person and an institution.” Avaf has conceived an 18-piece handbag line, all of which is drenched in his trademark splashes of color and inventive sketches. Debra McCabe, the director of marketing for LeSportsac, said of the sure-to-be-controversial pieces: “It’s like a bad hangover. You either love it, or you hate it.”
The collection will be on display during the fund-raiser, and LeSportsac will feature it in its summer 2006 line.