Brooklyn Barbeque

For its first benefit, Pioneer Works Center for Art and Innovation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together the arts and sciences, hosted a Sunday evening barbeque at its newly renovated compound in Red Hook, Brooklyn. A kinetic sculpture by Chico MacMurtrie stood at the cavernous entrance to the night’s silent auction, which included works by Andre Saravia, Laurie Simmons, and Pioneer Works founder Dustin Yellin. On the second and third floors of the converted factory, guests including artist Mickalene Thomas and model Karen Elson toured the studios of the current art and science residents—mix-media artist Andres Carranza among them—and waited patiently in line for photographer Robyn Hasty’s tinytype photo booth. “Do you know Dustin?” was the requisite question of the hour, as the artist made his rounds chatting amiable with the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal. Outside on the patio, the intoxicating smell a the grill, manned by Fat Radish’s Nicholas Wilber, enticed guests like Jemima Kirke and Liv Tyler to linger despite the windy conditions. As the night’s finale, Ariel Pink performed for a hoard of paint-covered, swirling groupies, spurring one late-arrival to ask, “Is this part of the installation?” Yes and no.