LACMA to Honor Director Park Chan-wook and Artist Helen Pashgian at Art+Film Gala

LACMA has zeroed in on a pair of honorees for its Art+Film Gala. Set for Nov. 5 and presented at the museum once again in partnership with Gucci, the annual event will fete artist Helen Pashgian and filmmaker Park Chan-wook.

In making the announcement, LACMA CEO Michael Govan called Pashgian “a friend of the museum for so long” and someone who has played “an indelible role” in Southern California’s art community. Park, who will receive the tribute after making the festival rounds in Cannes and Venice with his latest Decision to Leave, is an auteur “whose unforgettable films never fail to show us the power of cinema,” Govan notes.

He adds: “Honoring these two artists together continues the vitally important dialogue between art and film that this event supports.” Eva Chow, returning as co-chair alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, called them “visionaries who have pushed the boundaries of their fields.”

Proceeds from the annual Art+Film Gala go toward underwriting LACMA’s initiative to make film more central to the museum’s curatorial programming, while also funding LACMA’s broader mission. Additional support for the event is provided by Audi.

Pasadena native Pashgian is described as “a pioneer and pre-eminent member of the 1960s Light and Space movement in SoCal,” per LACMA. During her career, she produced a significant series of sculptures comprising vibrantly colored columns, discs and spheres that often feature an isolated element appearing suspended, embedded or encased within.

In 2014, LACMA presented the first large-scale sculptural installation by Pashgian. The same year, it entered the museum’s permanent collection and is composed of 12 molded acrylic columns that fill an entire gallery, creating an immersive viewing experience that invites meditations on the nature of material and light. This work traveled has since traveled to the Frist Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe.

Pashgian’s work has also been seen at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Park, a South Korean director, screenwriter and producer, won a best director prize at the recent Cannes Film Festival for his latest Decision to Leave, a work that THR critic David Rooney wrote finds “a world class artist at the top of his game.” His other credits include Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, a prestigious Cannes grand prix for Old Boy, a jury prize for Thirst, Stoker, The Little Drummer Girl and The Handmaiden.