The Many Uncanny Splendors of Aspen ArtWeek 2024

To attend ArtCrush, the Aspen Art Museum’s annual gala, various art-world luminaries fly into the tiny Aspen airport on tiny little planes. The only direct flights from New York are private jets, and once you arrive, there are no Ubers, only taxis and private drivers. This secluded mountainous enclave was molded to the tastes of high net-worth individuals—“a mixture of second and third home owners from California, Miami, Chicago, and Texas,” Aspen Art Fair founder Becca Hoffman told me while I was in town for the annual fair, which this year took place from July 29 to August 2. Given its mixed political affiliations, $1500 cowboy hats, and overwhelmingly white population, it’s easy to be cynical about this place. But Aspen’s frictionless lifestyle, I found, can also be quite seductive. Every day looks like The Sound of Music and the water does wonders for your skin and hair.

The days leading up to ArtCrush fall under Aspen Art Week, the museum’s jam-packed program of idyllic trips into the mountains, artist talks, cocktails, and general hospitality. It’s a sartorially demanding schedule, according to Teran Davis, an art collector with homes in Brentwood and Montecito: “We have a hike, we have a gala, we have Pilates,” she tallied, plus “pre-party, party, and post-party.” And all told, she said, you should plan to bring at least eight pairs of shoes.

This year marked the Aspen Art Museum’s 45th anniversary, so the programming was especially wild. Composer Jason Moran performed a rooftop concert at the museum on July 31; the following afternoon, I caught his collaboration with the artist Ryan Trecartin, this surreal concert of experimental movie scores at the summit of Aspen Mountain. To make it happen, Trecartin told me, the museum hired a company specializing in “extreme piano moving,” and at its 10,705-foot elevation, the scenery was extraordinary. Seated with their backs to the sunset, the audience at one point turned around to snap photos of the sun sinking below the mountains.

At the museum, the artist Allison Katz staged “In the House of the Trembling Eye,” a bonkers exhibition of treasures plucked from both the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and local collections; picture mysterious fragments of 2000-year-old frescoes shown alongside early Yayoi Kusama works, and a newly commissioned Nancy Lupo. The Aspen Art Museum has no permanent collection of its own, but it’s surrounded by private collectors that are happy to open their doors. My highlight was the tour through the home of John and Amy Phelan, a private investment cofounder and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, respectively. I saw the crying Hello Kitty fountain in their backyard (Tom Sachs, “Kitty Fountain,” 2008) and the baby Michael Jackson sculpture facing the baby Charles Manson in their living room (John Waters, “Playdate,” 2006) and thought, these collectors know exactly who they are and what they like. I had only been in Aspen a day, but it seems my cynicism was cured.

The climax of the week was ArtCrush, which took place on Friday in a tent at the foot of the scenic Buttermilk Mountains. The theme this year was Golden Hour, an ode to the sunset where sheets of gold poured out of the entrance, and the gala cochairs wore various dresses in gold and copper sequins. There were more than 600 guests. During cocktails I chatted with famed curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, who had on a powder-blue Bottega Veneta suit and a shirt and tie with beautifully clashing stripes. “It’s difficult to explain why, but I could imagine easily writing a book here,” he told me in his distinct Swiss-German accent, comparing Aspen to the Engadine Mountains, where authors were known to have their best ideas. “I think it’s the idea of being in communion with the environment,” he added. “It’s as Agnes Varda once said, ‘A day without seeing a tree is a waste of a day.’”

At dinner, the museum awarded this year’s honorees—Moran, artist Jacqueline Humphries, and its building’s architect, Pritzker-winning Shigeru Ban—with statuettes by the late designer Gaetano Pesce. Among the attendees for the evening were Gladstone Gallery’s Erik Saverkool, gallerist Marianne Boesky, and curator Simone Krug. Adrien Meyer of Christie’s kicked off the live auction, and soon began running around the room, hopping between bidders, some of which were advisors with clients bidding through the phone. As the numbers started popping off—$60,000, $70,000, $150,000—a few artists took the opportunity to leave the room and take a shot at the bar. “It can be hard on artists,” said Boesky, who had donated works to the silent auction instead. Icona Pop started playing as a sunset-hued Alex Israel wave came out; the Jacqueline Humphries painting went for $400,000.

The museum’s auctions, both live and silent, brought in a record-breaking $4.5 million, with artists getting a cut from their donated works for the first time. A celebration ensued back at the Mollie hotel, where everyone cobbled together the contents of their mini bar to toast the end of an exciting week.