Media-Whore D'Oevres



"The Gagosian Gallery in West Chelsea capped off its (Auction) RED exhibition Wednesday night with a cocktail party hosted by Larry Gagosian, Vogue's Anna Wintour, and Sotheby's Lisa Dennison. With art by Takashi Murakami, Jeff Koons, and Richard Prince among the works wrangled by the event's organizer, Damien Hirst, there was no shortage of A-listers— Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Stipe, and Charlie Rose, included—angling for one last look. (All 83 lots were scheduled to hit the block at Sotheby's on Thursday, with proceeds going to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.) How did the bad-boy artist come to spearhead one of the year's most anticipated charity events? 'Well, I went down to the South of France to hang out with Bono and we'd had a lot to drink, and I guess it was about five in the morning when Bono suggested I go ahead and make this thing happen,' Hirst explained. 'Suggest' may be the wrong verb. Hirst vaguely remembered being threatened with a punch in the face if he shirked his philanthropic duties." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Christy Turlington dropped $170,500 on a watercolor painting. Takashi Murakami nodded off briefly after his painting sold for $1.65 million. Bono rallied the Sotheby’s crowd for a sing-along to the Beatles’ 'All You Need Is Love.' And a greater-than-projected $42 million was raised for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through the sale of 82 works of art at the Product Red Sotheby’s auction on Thursday night. (The original somewhat conservative estimate was that the items would sell for a collective $21 million to $29 million.) The Damien Hirst-catalyzed auction drew its momentum from high-powered names in the audience (Martha Stewart, Russell Simmons, Queen Noor, Zhang Ziyi) and on the auction block (Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning)." (NYTimes)

"Lunch at Michael’s was about as quiet as Grand Central Station at rush hour. The ladies in the picture were having their annual Valentine’s luncheon; no waiting around for the guys to pick up the slack. This is an annual event and we didn’t catch them all before it was over, missing Leslie Harwood from Newmark Knight Frank Real Estate, Rosanna Scotto who had to get back to Fox 5, Janice Lieberman, the Today Show consumer reporter and Debbie Kosofsky, Today Show producer. Valentines to all! At the table in the corner the Mayor was lunching with his lady friend Diana Taylor and his new personal financial advisor Steve Rattner and his wife, former head of the DNC Finance Committee, Maureen White. Right next door on one side was Paramount Pictures numero uno Brad Grey lunching with David Chase, the man who created your Sunday night Sopranos addiction. And next to them were those two darlings of the fashion world, Isaac Mizrahi and Glenda Bailey of Harper’s Bazaar, while across the way from the Lynn Nesbit was lunching with her client, author Jane Fletcher Geniesse who is just polishing up her new book about the history of the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem." (NYSocialDiary)

"The Parker, a small boutique on Madison Ave. near 78th St., was overflowing last night with an eclectic mix of partygoers who had come to celebrate downtown designer-DJ Izzy Gold’s new, limited-edition 'Kiss Kiss' T-shirt. The design of the soft, gray item was inspired by Patrick McMullan’s 1996 book of the same name—a weighty chunk of pages, it features the party photog’s favorite kissing pics taken over his 25-year career. (Later on, after the party moved to the Meatpacking District nightclub Kiss & Fly, photos from the book were blasted onto a large projection screen dangling over the empty dance floor.) Mr. McMullan, a co-host with Mr. Gold, 26, and Ally Hilfiger, 22, was schmoozing and signing copies from behind a table in one corner of the store." (Observer)

"One of the most romantic valentines I ever received was a beautiful gift-wrapped box that opened to reveal a bloody cow's heart. You can't help loving a person who gives you something like that." (Papermag)

"The Indian Army is raising two new mountain divisions of around 15,000 personnel each to boost its ability to mount offensive and defensive operations along the disputed northern and northeastern borders with China. The formation of the two divisions, which was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, comes in response to China's strengthening of military infrastructure along the undefined 4,057 km line of actual control (LoAC) between the two countries." (Janes)