Better late than never


New York Times
June 9, 2004
Late Edition - Final
Metropolitan Desk
Page 2

BOLDFACE NAMES
Joyce Wadler With Melena Z. Ryzik and Alexis Rehrmann

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And the Couch Is Covered With Cat Hair

The Museum of Modern Art, which is closed for renovation, held its annual Party in the Garden at the Roseland Ballroom on Monday night. This is like crashing on the couch of your artist friend in Washington Heights while the work is being done on your West Village duplex. The special events crew had made an effort, with red tablecloths and red bamboo chairs; flower projections kept the lonely dance floor lukewarm. But their efforts were defeated by the sheer vast blackness of the space. The sounds of chirping birds played under bouncy jazz could not eradicate the ghosts of taxi dancers.

"I was just thinking of 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'" JOHN WATERS said, in a filmic allusion you Columbia J. School Young'Uns probably do not get.

And STEVE MARTIN, the evening's honoree, jokingly thanked the Modern's architect, YOSHIO TANIGUCHI, for the space. We fear we may not have caught all the nuance of Mr. Martin's speech -- we were seated behind a sheer curtain that separated us from the diners and the entertainment -- so we had to rely on large arm gestures, rather than facial expressions, for our visual input.

"I love the new building," Mr. Martin said in his speech. (Wide arm gesture, which took in the shadow of the empty balcony -- of course, from our vantage point, it was all shadow.) "I never dreamed it could possibly be like this."

- posted by sookeyjane 11/25/2004 08:24:00 PM PERMALINK 0 COMMENTS