Julian Schnabel Curses at Noisy Miami Crowd During Mr. Chow Celebration

Cait Munro December 3, 2015 ShareShare This Article

Michael Chow.
Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA.com.

It’s not Art Basel in Miami Beach until someone has a minor freak out, and last night, that someone was Julian Schnabel. The world-weary painter took the stage at the W Hotel to celebrate restaurateur Michael Chow—of Mr. Chow fame—as well as Chow’s upcoming exhibition “Voice for My Father” at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the rowdy crowd refused to stop talking during Schnabel’s speech.

“Hello girls and boys at the end,” he said, gesturing to a particularly noisy pocket of the crowd. “I know this is a cocktail party, but if people could please just be respectful. Can you just be quiet for about five minutes?”

But when the chatter failed to subside, he didn’t mince words: “Shut the fuck up, please!” he eventually yelled to the group, which included Paris Hilton, Julian Lennon, Dylan Brant, Rose McGowan, Amanda Hearst, and Jane Holzer.

Arne Glimcher, Julian Schnabel Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA.com

Julian Schnabel, Arne Glimcher.
Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA.com

Despite the noise, Schnabel continued his rambling speech, which he traveled from New York to Miami just for a single evening to make. That’s right, he isn’t bothering to attend the fair this year.

“Michael started to be an artist in 1959. Maybe he was an artist his whole life, but he started in 1959 and then quit to make a living or something, and I think he was actually quite good at that,” Schnabel said, referencing the success of Chow’s upscale restaurant chain. “But about five years ago he started painting [again], and maybe the one good thing about becoming older is that you become wiser. Does anybody find that?”

Chow’s upcoming exhibition, which is produced under his given name, Zhou Yinghua, focuses on the entrepreneur’s relationship with his father, Zhou Xinfang, a grand master of the Beijing Opera. The February 2016 show will feature large-scale paintings, portraits, and archival photography, and marks the posthumous 120th anniversary of Xinfang’s birth.

Julian Lennon, China Chow.
Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA.com

“It’s about the relationship between Michael and his father and [also] Andy [Warhol] and his father,” said museum director Eric Shiner during a speech. “The show is going to be absolutely beautiful.”

Schnabel even copped to owning three of Chow’s massive paintings, which he displays inside his pink-hued West Village mansion. And for a man that doesn’t bother with silly things like art fairs, that’s saying something.

See images from the party below.