Anthony Haden-Guest turned 88 and, as part of the celebration, he got body painted in the middle of the dance floor at the world-famous Copacabana nightclub. The literati and the downtown glitterati turned out in droves. Since this is a Village paper, I’m not going to explain the piano reference. If you don’t get it, please ask any piano player or jazz musician.
Lorraine Leckie, who co-wrote the songs for the CD collection Rudely Interrupted with Haden-Guest, sang one of the tunes from the record. Then she was joined by Tiffany Ambassador Tony Vaughn – who knew the luxe jewelry maison even had an ambassador? – and they led the assembled crowd in a rousing rendition of the traditional Happy Birthday song. Lorraine’s ever-attentive hubby, Billy LeRoy was also present and accounted for.
The Roosevelts were there. Phil Roosevelt and his lovely wife Jenny Merino were all smiles, as always. Jenny, a native of Peru, is one of Manhattan’s leading dealers for contemporary Latin American art.
Maxine Hoover, a downtown superstar curator and artist, was there. She’s slated to be the first artist on Mars. Elon Musk already had her fitted for a spacesuit, which makes sense. She’s also a fashion model. Who better to make a spacesuit look good? Meanwhile, between now and liftoff, she’s the subject of a solo exhibit at MORA, the Jersey City museum. Likewise, she’s a major presence this month at the Art Bound Miami Charity Sparkle Gala in Chelsea.
Of course, every good club party needs a party promoter and that’s one of the hats Lee Klein wears. He also wrote a surreal micro-play about a lady from Florence who was drinking chianti when she turned into a bottle of Barolo. Film, stage, and TV actress Anna Maria Cianciulli was the lady from Florence, which she also is in real life. At Klein’s insistence, I strummed some chords on my ukulele in the background. (Later in the evening, I read Jazz Is My Country and a couple of sonnets.)
Did I mention that Haden-Guest was body painted? Andy Golub – who else? – began the process. But soon something odd happened. Women, including artist Sunhe Hong and writer Ronnie Norpel, began to shoulder Golub aside as they slathered their hands in the paint and began to fingerpaint the octogenarian kickboxing writer and cartoonist. He did not object.
Kickboxing? Haden-Guest has practiced boxing and kickboxing pretty much all his adult life. A couple of years ago he was knocked out in a bout. He might have a British accent, but he’s still a genuine tough guy. As a writer, he has had a storied career. For example, one time he was in Lebanon to interview Carlos the Jackal for Vanity Fair. He was kidnapped and held hostage by a warlord for several days.
Tom Wolfe modeled a character in Bonfire of the Vanities on him.
David Friend, the VF editor who assigned the Carlos the Jackal story, showed up. Likewise, long-time Village Voice writer Mark Jacobson, who was AHG’s colleague at New York magazine, was there with his lovely daughter Rae. There was quite a gaggle of art students there. Ah, youth!
Jim C (aka James Love Cornwell III) came from Woodstock with a large portrait of the birthday boy. Jim C ran the Nada gallery on Rivington Street in the 1980s. His video documentation of the downtown art scene served as much of the footage for the award-winning film Make Me Famous.
Peace artist Jon Tsoi was there, of course. He’s the subject of Haden-Guest’s latest piece in White Hot, the online art magazine, not be confused with White Box art space on Avenue B. Juan Puntes, director of White Box, and Yohanna Roa, curator of performance art there, also attended.
I could go on, and so I shall: Rivington School heavy metal sculptor Linus Coraggio, painter Ford Crull, and Christopher Hart Chambers, who just had his current exhibition at Crossing Art gallery on West 23rd Street – they were there. Shalom Neuman, the founder of Fusionism and recent winner of the Premio Galileo in Florence, was just back from Prague and came straight from the airport to the club.
Colette Lumiere was dazzling, as always. Rick Prol was his always unassuming self. Artists Joe Coleman and Mike Cockrill also made the scene.
Did I mention that Haden-Guest was body painted in the middle of the dance floor at the Copacabana and the women mobbed him, and he turned 88 years young. All true. Another night out in Manhattan.
Amazing coverage of a night to be remembered