"Jacklighting"

The show, which pays homage to LAXART’s location as the site of former legendary recording studio Radio Recorders, brought sound back into the space. And music was a common thread throughout the evening, as Walker and musician Kim Gordon caught up outside before wandering down the street in collective exodus to Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, where the night continued with dinner and drinks.

Proclaiming art as a gateway drug to culture, Walker fittingly donned a shirt all evening that said “BUY ART NOT COCAINE,” and said that he aimed to “reproduce the same effects” that he felt around music as he does with visual art. Gordon, who joked that she didn’t “know much about offices,” agreed that music and art provide “more means of expression.”

Over a dinner of tenderly-dressed romaine lettuce and chicken, notable members of LA’s art world came together to celebrate the gallery and support its mission as a free-thinking space for art.

All of a sudden, about halfway through the meal, a hush fell over the crowd, and the grand space became so silent that the shoe-clacking of a lone guest who dared clomp in midway through was enough to raise eyebrows. The hypnotic silence came courtesy of Zsela, who delivered an otherworldly performance that left guests transfixed. There was nary a cellphone in sight or a whisper as the musician sang her set.

Click through for more photos from the evening’s festivities, which brought together the likes of Henry Taylor, Andru Sisson, Francois Ghebaly, Sayre Gomez, Alex Israel, Mary Kelly, Barbara Kruger, Silke Otto-Knapp, Frances Stark, Mary Weatherford and more.