Blank Forms’s gala turned a historic synagogue into a stage for experimental music and Cambodian cuisine this week. The eighth annual event honored artist Cosima von Bonin and vocalist Asha Puthli—blending song, instrumentals, and the visual arts into a single unforgettable night at the Angel Orensanz Foundation.
The Location: The Lower East Side former house of worship offered an evocative backdrop for guests to mingle amongst red-stone constructions, sweeping buttresses, towering windows, and gothic accents.
The Crowd: Amongst those in attendance were curators Ruba Katrib and Jay Sanders, Brooklyn Rail Co-Founder Phong Bui, Amant’s Tobi Maier, Matthew Marks Gallery’s Beau Rutland, Gladstone Gallery’s Julian Ehrlich, musicians Lizzi Bougatsos and Miho Hatori, writer Lucy Sante, and artists Amalia Ulman, Sylvie Fleury, and Rachel Rose.
Entertainment: The night’s schedule included performances by guitarists Brandon Ross and Melvin Gibbs, as well as by Puthli herself, introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz saxophonist Henry Threadgill.
Food and Drink: Kreung Cambodia curated a Cambodian-inspired assortment including tropical winter salad with chicories and kumquat galangal dressing, cha mee soar with wood ear mushrooms, and curi sariman and eggplant in squash with roti.
Parting Gift: Guests brought home a bounty, including tote bags featuring a drawing by Japanese artist Akio Suzuki; copies of CULTURED at Home, Alien Roots: Éliane Radigue, and Better Do It Now Before You Die Later, the latter being the memoir of American saxophonist Sonny Simmons.
in your life?
