New Yorkers Celebrate Zoe Buckman With Art Production Fund and Alice + Olivia
Vogue
Michaela BecklerArt Production Fund hosted an intimate gathering Wednesday evening to celebrate Zoe Buckman's first public art installation, titled Champ. The reception was held at the artist's dreamy new Dumbo studio in Brooklyn, which served as another good reason to clink glasses.
Champ will be on display for a year, starting February 27, at the Standard's Hollywood location on the Sunset Strip. The feminist installation, which features a neon outline of a uterus with boxing gloves in place of ovaries, will slowly rotate more than 40 feet above the ground.
"It's really exciting to me to, in a subtle way and in an obvious way, be affecting the visual landscape of the city," Buckman said. "I just think of the little girls who will be on the school bus and pass it every day. I think about the little boys who will see it from their apartment or their home. I think about the men traveling to work. It's going to be there for a year, so it really has the opportunity to be a part of the fabric of the community, and I think that is one of the most exciting concepts."
Casey Fremont, executive director of Art Production Fund, knew this was the piece for the public after the original went viral on social media. Thus began the long road of securing sponsors, a location, and a date that felt right. "This process happened months ago and then everything in Hollywood happened," she said. "The relevance of this piece and the issues it is bringing up and the dialogues it is leading us to have are more important than ever."
The project, with a launch timed to Women's History Month and International Women's Day, was made possible by the support of longtime friend Stacey Bendet of Alice + Olivia. "She knows and has been supportive of Zoe's work," Fremont said. "It's the perfect trifecta, and her support made all the difference."
"For the moment we are in and where we are, in a world of women speaking out and women speaking up, it felt like this is something that could bring women together," Bendet said.
The cocktail party also celebrated Buckman's Champ embroidery edition, the proceeds of which support the upcoming installation. Friends mingled over bites by chef Melia Marden of Smile to Go while admiring Buckman's work and her beautiful new space.