White Cube’s First U.S. Gallery Arrives With a Bang

This past weekend, White Cube celebrated the opening of its first permanent stateside gallery with two days of events. The festivities kicked off with a private artist’s dinner on Friday, Sept. 29, and culminated the following day with a VIP preview of the inaugural exhibition, “Chopped and Screwed,” at the gallery’s new home on the Upper East Side. White Cube founder Jay Jopling and senior director Courtney Willis Blair welcomed guests at the gallery before making their way to the historic Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion to continue the celebration, where they tucked into the Gilded Age manse’s velvet booths to feast on decadent desert towers by Acquolina and sip Casa Dragones cocktails. The evening fête featured special performances by Kelela, jazz pianist Jason Moran, and the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra before guests danced the night away at an afterparty led by DJ Jazzy Jay. More than 500 notables from the worlds of art, music, and fashion were in attendance, including Michael Armitage, Cerith Wyn Evans, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Michèle Lamy, Julie Mehretu, Alex Israel, Christian Farschou, Jon Gray, Max Hollein, Anne Pasternak, Lee Quiñones, Nicola Vassell, Leo Villarreal, Ralph Pucci, Doris Salcedo, and more. Photos by Bre Johnson and Deonté Lee/BFA.