new museum of contemporary art

Artist Chuck Close's Portrait Project with AOL

Filed under: Events, Art

Wednesday night the rooftop space at New York's New Museum was utterly jam-packed with artists, tech-heads and creative types, including Kate Spade and model Doutzen Kroes, celebrating the 25th anniversary of AOL (Luxist's parent company). Famed artist Chuck Close was commissioned by AOL to create portraits of innovators from the last 25 years. The first phase of this "Project on Creativity" was on display in the rooftop space while model-worthy servers made the rounds with Champagne and truffle mac and cheese on Lucite trays.

Close's literally larger-than-life portraits focused on the faces of Claire Danes, the Dali Lama, inventor Dean Kaman, Close himself and others, all done in the artist's typical documentary style. (The trouble was catching a glimpse of them through the thick crowd.) The photographs (and others yet to be taken) will be used in a campaign for AOL's 25th anniversary year.

How did AOL ever get hooked up with the renowned artist whose work hangs in the MoMA and the collections of many other museums -- and how is Kate Spade involved?

Tags: aols 25th anniversary, bowery hotel, chuck close, dean kaman, new museum, new museum of contemporary art, project on creativity