At the corner of Dance & Art - Petronio Art Auction

Plus: Say Grace
(Vogue's Grace Coddington, that is)

On Monday evening, we attended an art auction to benefit Stephen Petronio Company (SPC) at the Metropolitan Pavililion. We (and as you will see, several others) posed in front of Cindy Sherman's photograph.

We invited Debra Rapoport (above, left) to join us, and she came wearing one of her industrial felt millinery creations.  Debra used to arrange flowers, and ran into a friend from the same circle. (Small world!)

Photographer John Reilly and artist/designer Kirsten Hawthorne check out the Cindy Sherman and Krirsten gets into the act.

Choreographer Stephen Petronio greeted his guests and introduced his dancers who appeared in an excerpt of his newest work "LIKE LAZARUS DID", part of an evening length work with artist Janine Antoni and composer SON LUX with yMUSIC and the Young People's Chorus of New York.

Company dancers Joshua Green, Davalois Fearon, Nicolas Sciscione and Gino Grenek.

Partners! Stephen's husband, Jean-Marc Flack with his business partner Karen Erickson.

Bobby Tramontano II,  an avid Petronio supporter and auction participant (and fan of the Dumpling Diva!), bid on a number of items. Here he stands next to Annie Liebowitz' portrait of Stephen Petronio in mid-leap.  Jean and Bobby both placed several bids on it, but unfortunately, neither was successful.  Read on.

Photographer Sarah Silver, who chronicles SPC, was the successful bidder for Annie Liebowitz's portrait of Stephen. With her is Dean Sheremet.

Liz Gerring Radke (left) is a member of the SPC board of directors and a major supporter.

Publicist Mandie Erickson.

Dumitri Gorzo's "Head, 2011" is acrylic, water color and wood pulp.

Auction organizer Craig Hensala with DJ April Hunt.

Artist Fedele Spadafora and his wife.

Fedele Spadafora's "Choice, 2011", a crowd favorite.

Jean-Marc Flack and guest.

Doreen Remen (right) and artist Janine Antoni.  We loved Janine's necklace - a birthday gift from her husband.

Maria Caso (right) and Shelly Bromfield.

This piece (Untitled, 2006) is by Stephen Petronio and is acrylic and charcoal on canvas paper.

Stephen posed with Dancer Davalois Fearon and her friend.

Neil Goldberg (left), with Berhard Blythe,  donated a photograph to the auction depicting the face of a subway rider in whose face the F Train doors had just slammed shut. Priceless!

Another gorgeous couple at the event.

Denny Lee is obviously thrilled that he successfully bid on a painting for his girlfriend Carrie Mackin (who is on the SPC board).

This piece by Yoko Ono is called "Colours of the Globe, 2009".

Dancer Gino Grenek and his friend Stephen.

John Reilly and Jean pause for a photo.

The hors d'oevres were absolutely delicious and the desserts were mighty yummy -- little dark chocolate rolls and tiny pumpkin cheesecake squares. (You can glimpse Valerie's crazy green bird ring as she reaches for a tasty morsel.)

Kirsten successfully bid on Valerie Hegarty's "Pigeon, 2010" out of foil, wire, canvas, glue, paper, paint, plaster and tape. An exhibition of Valerie Hegarty's work will be at the Brooklyn Museum in April 2013.

Here's a shot of Kirsten, with the box containing her pigeon firmly placed in her basket, before cycling off into the night.

What we're wearing:
Valerie:  Vintage felt hat with striped ribbon, stamped Merrimac Hat Corp., from the recent Manhattan Vintage Show, Chrysler Building-like verdigris earrings, unlabeled bolero, poison green striped silk shirt by Suits Me, anonymous verdigris bracelet, Comme des Garcons pants, camouflage booties from Greenwich Village (label illegible).

Jean: Yves St. Laurent hat; Cynthia Rowley shawl sweater; Costume National pants; Rick Owens turtle neck;  silver metal ball necklace (flea market) and vintage aluminum wire and marble earrings; vintage bakelite rings; Underground creepers;  Tignanello red leather cross-body bag. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Say Grace

Searching for a holiday gift for your fashionista friends?

Grace Coddington, creative director of Vogue magazine, and a model as early as the late 1950s, has written a book entitled Grace: A Memoir. (Click here for the link to Amazon.com). She was recently interviewed by Terry Gross of WHYY for Fresh Air as part of her promotional tour. We thought you might like to hear 71 year old Grace talking with Terry about her childhood in Wales, her modeling career, the car accident that changed the trajectory of her career, and her life at Vogue. Click here to link to that interview. The interview is about 30 minutes long. If you fast forward to 14:30, you can hear her views on cosmetic surgery (she prefers aging naturally); at 18:30 her views on older models (she cites the ‘Fashion At Any Age’ Vogue series, not too convincingly), and at 26:00 the transition from models to celebrities on magazine covers (it’s probably here to stay, she says regretfully). If you're not in a hurry, listen to the whole interview. (And check out some of Terry Gross’s other wonderful interviews while you’re there!)