Aperture Honors Dawoud Bey for 2023 Gala
The annual fundraising gala celebrated Aperture and paid tribute to Dawoud Bey, the photographer and Aperture trustee.
Aperture Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, 2023
All photographs by Leo Sorel
On October 3, Aperture celebrated the 2023 Gala, its most prominent annual benefit supporting Aperture’s mission and belief that photography can inspire a more curious, creative, and equitable world. The evening signaled a transformational moment for Aperture, with an upcoming move to the Upper West Side, expanding visibility and reach for the seventy-one-year-old nonprofit organization. The Gala also marked a joyous occasion for Aperture supporters and artists to gather in tribute to a beloved force in the field—photographer, educator, and MacArthur Fellow Dawoud Bey. In remarks at the event, Aperture Executive Director Sarah Meister described Bey, who is also an Aperture Trustee, as “a North Star for the organization.” She continued, “If Aperture is dedicated to creating insight, community, and understanding through photography, then there is no one who exemplifies that more than Dawoud.”
The Gala was graciously cochaired by Agnes Gund and Aperture Trustees Elizabeth Ann Kahane, Cathy M. Kaplan, Dr. Kenneth Montague, Bob Rennie, and Lisa Rosenblum. Guests arriving at the Ertegun Atrium at Jazz at Lincoln Center were greeted by the cochairs, served sparkling drinks, and had the opportunity to view and bid on works in an auction.
Live music by the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra welcomed guests into the Appel Room for a seated dinner with an early autumnal menu. Aperture Board Chair and Gala Cochair Cathy Kaplan thanked the many friends and colleagues for their ongoing support and alliance with Aperture, which was followed by a spirited tribute to Dawoud Bey’s legacy as an artist and activist.
For decades, Dawoud Bey (born in Queens, 1953) has made evocative photographs that mine the histories of marginalized Black communities, with works ranging from the side streets and thoroughfares of Harlem, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, and the dense, unmarked trails of the Underground Railroad. His forthcoming Aperture publication, Elegy (copublished with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), assembles the history projects and landscape-based work Bey has made since 2012, and is being published in conjunction with a new exhibition. In admiration ofBey’s impact on modern visual culture, his friend, artist Carrie Mae Weems contributed for the video program: “Thank you for the way in which you’ve brought other photographers forward. You’ve made space for others. You’ve given us something special through your life’s work, and for that I am deeply grateful.”
Gala cochairs: Lisa Rosenblum, Elizabeth Kahane, Bob Rennie, Dawoud Bey, Agnes Gund, Kenneth Montague, Cathy Kaplan, and Sarah Meister
Kwame S. Brathwaite, Colette-Veasey Cullors, Laurie Cumbo, Dawoud Bey, Hank Willis Thomas, Kenneth Montague, and Sarah Meister
Lyle Ashton Harris, Gale Brewer, Dawoud Bey, and Sarah Meister
Natasha Egan, Sarah Meister, Dawoud Bey, An-My Lê, and Lesley A. Martin
Pamela and Lennell Myricks, Sarah Meister, Dawoud Bey, and Tom Schiff
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dawoud Bey, Carrie Mae Weems, and Sarah Meister
Elizabeth Kahane, Dawoud Bey, and Stuart Cooper
Additionally in the video tribute, artist Tyler Mitchell and Elisabeth Sherman, curator at International Center of Photography, shared experiences that illustrate Bey’s dedication and practice. On stage, fellow artist LaToya Ruby Frazier admired her colleague’s virtuosic ability to capture both the historic and everyday rhythms of Black life. During her introduction of Bey, Frazier remarked, “To encounter you, is to elevate in confidence, rigor, and thought what it means to be a photographer, what it means to be an artist, the discipline and commitment it takes.”
With performances from the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, the evening included powerful remarks from Laurie Cumbo, New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, and Gale A. Brewer, New York City Councilmember representing the Upper West Side neighborhood where Aperture will soon establish a new permanent home. Also joining were many artists who have collaborated with Aperture on publications and programs in support of their work over the years, such as Kelli Connell, Sara Cwynar, Angélica Dass, John Edmonds, Awol Erizku, Adam Fuss, Phyllis Galembo, Gail Albert Halaban, Lyle Ashton Harris, Tommy Kha, Justine Kurland, Gillian Laub, An-My Lê, Jarod Lew, Missy O’Shaughnessy, Ari Marcopoulos, Ryan McGinley, Susan Meiselas, Joel Meyerowitz, Philip Montgomery, Matthew Pillsbury, Stephen Shore, Paul Anthony Smith, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Joel Sternfeld, Hank Willis Thomas, Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb, author and curator Nicole R. Fleetwood, and writer Rebecca Bengal.
The night also featured a live auction, animated by Sarah Krueger, Head of Photographs at Phillips, with an impressive lot of works by Dawoud Bey, Kwame Brathwaite, Gordon Parks, Gregory Crewdson, and Justine Kurland. A silent auction, hosted on Artsy through noon on October 4, included work by Jamel Shabazz, Joel Meyerowitz, Gail Albert Halaban, Garry Winogrand, An-My Lê, Lillian Bassman, Shirin Neshat, Erwin Olaf, Vik Muniz, and Robert Polidori. A paddle raise to benefit Aperture’s work scholar program which offers invaluable career development and experience in arts and publishing, inspired a swell of contributions from Gala attendees. Proceeds from the Gala and auction support Aperture’s work as a nonprofit leader in the field, including its award-winning publications, educational initiatives, exhibitions, and public programming. Those attending the Gala as well as those reading along in support are encouraged to make a donation of any amount here.
Aperture’s 2023 Gala thanks Founders Agnes Gund, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Lisa Rosenblum, Thomas R. Schiff and Mary Ellen Goeke; Gala Leaders Dawoud Bey, Allan Chapin and Anna Nilsson, Emerson Collective, Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Foundation, Elizabeth and William Kahane, Cathy M. Kaplan and Renwick D. Martin, Melissa and James O’Shaughnessy, and Sean Kelly Gallery. Thanks to those who made the auction possible, including Dawoud Bey, Sean Kelly Gallery, The Gordon Parks Foundation, Kwame S. Brathwaite and the Brathwaite Archive, Michael Hoeh, Gregory Crewdson, and Justine Kurland and Higher Pictures.
