Though it may seem that Armory Week and Frieze Week get all the action, the reality is that there is never a dull moment in the New York art world. From the East Side to the West Side, there’s always something happening at the city’s museums, galleries, and various event spaces. This week was no exception.

Brooklyn Artists Ball
The Brooklyn Museum held its first annual benefit under new director Anne Pasternak on April 20, in honor of its board of trustees president Stephanie Ingrassia and her husband Tim.

The evening offered an early look at the new exhibition “Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016.” The night’s festivities showed just how functional the artist’s works really are, as board of trustees member Swizz Beatz brought down the house with an epic DJ set on two massive Sachs speakers in the lobby.

“There’s so much color in this building tonight,” said Swizz to the crowd. “This is not a black/white thing; this is about every color of the art rainbow!”

Guests at the pre-dance party dinner were also treated to a stunning display in the Beaux-Arts Court, where event designer David Stark had topped each table with slender, impossibly tall white columns inspired by Brancusi’s Endless Column. Close inspection revealed they were made from rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. “Anne told us we’d be surprised by the centerpieces, but not to worry; they were all going to be used!” a delighted board member told artnet News.

Dustin Yellin and Deborah Kass at the 2016 Brooklyn Museum Artist Ball.
Photo: Liam McMullan, © Patrick McMullan.

Tom Sachs and Elizabeth Sackler at the 2016 Brooklyn Museum Artist Ball.
Photo: Liam McMullan, © Patrick McMullan.

Swizz Beatz and Anne Pasternak at the 2016 Brooklyn Museum Artist Ball.
Photo: Liam McMullan, © Patrick McMullan.

Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner
Sachs was also on hand on April 18 as the Tribeca Film Festival held its annual Artists Dinner at Balthazar in Soho. Although the art world was further represented by Dustin Yellin, Petra Collins, and the Art Production Fund‘s Yvonne Force Villareal, the real focus was on Hollywood and fashion.

Celebrities on hand included Robert De Niro, Chloe Sevigney, Katie Holmes, Leelee Sobieski, and basketball player/art collector Carmelo Anthony.

At the dinner, each guest went home with an artist’s book, just as each prize in the festival comes with a work of art, from one of the ten participating artists in the Artists Awards program.

Chloe Sevigny at the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner.
Photo: Owen Hoffmann © Patrick McMullan.

Katie Holmes, Carmelo Anthony, and La La Anthonyat the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner.
Photo: Owen Hoffmann © Patrick McMullan.

Robert De Niro, Grace Hightower, Harvey Keitel, and Daphna Kastner at the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner.
Photo: Owen Hoffmann © Patrick McMullan.

Tavi Gevinson and Petra Collins at the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner.
Photo: Owen Hoffmann © Patrick McMullan.

Public Art Fund 2016 Spring Benefit
The Public Art Fund held its annual benefit, with cocktails, a silent auction, dinner, and a dance party, at Metopolitan West on April 19. Event co-chairs included artists Hank Willis Thomas and Ugo Rondinone. Thomas also contributed an artist project to the event, along with Davide Balula, Xavier Cha, and Nathalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman.

Ingar Dragset, Young Juntak, Massimiliano Gioni, Cecilia Alemani, and Michael Elmgreen at the Public Art Fund 2016 Spring Benefit.
Photo: Jared Siskin, ©Patrick McMullan.

Olaf Breuning, Cynthia Rowley, and Nicholas Baume at the Public Art Fund 2016 Spring Benefit.
Photo: Liz Ligon, courtesy Public Art Fund.

Jillionaire, Siovan Hope Ross, Rujeko Hockley, and Hank Willis Thomas at the Public Art Fund 2016 Spring Benefit.
Photo: Liz Ligon, courtesy Public Art Fund.

The Collective Design Dinner at the New York EDITION 
On April 19, the New York EDITION played host to the Collective Design fair’s kick-off dinner, ahead of the fair’s upcoming Frieze Week edition. Guests at the hotel’s Clocktower event space included fair founder and creative director Steven Learner, Collective director Jillian Choi, Jewish Museum digital director Jia Jia Fei, gallerist Cristina Grajales, and Surface magazine editor-in-chief Spencer Bailey. The hotel, which is partnering with the fair, also hosted a small lobby cocktail party the following night.

Jia Jia Fei, Antwaun Sargent, and Georgia Wright Zach at the Collective Design Dinner at the New York EDITION hotel.
Photo: Zach Hilty/BFA.

Nausheen Shah and Fiona Byrne at the Collective Design Dinner at the New York EDITION hotel.
Photo: Zach Hilty/BFA.

HBO and Game of Thrones present Art the Throne
On April 20, HBO transformed the stunning Angel Orensanz Center, a historic Lower East Side synagogue, into an appropriately Gothic-feeling art venue for a one night exhibition held in anticipation of this Sunday’s premiere of the sixth season of Game of Thrones. Actors Jacob Anderson, who plays Grey Worm, and Hannah Murray, who plays Gilly, as well as transgender model Geena Rocero, were on hand for the opening, which featured GoT-themed tequila cocktails like “The Rains of Castamere” and work by artists Jeff Nishinaka, Marcos Chin, Cyrcle, Pop Chart Lab, and Tristan Eaton.

“They asked us to choose our favorite scene,” said Nishinaka of the show’s inception to artnet News. He created a stunning paper sculpture of the evil White Walker—the head alone took 20 hours—commanding his zombie hoard, an undeniably terrifying moment from the most recent season.

Hannah Murray and Jacob Anderson attend HBO’s “Art the Throne: Immersive Art Experience” at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on April 20, 2016 in New York City.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for HBO.

Geena Rocero attends HBO’s “Art the Throne: Immersive Art Experience” at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on April 20, 2016 in New York City.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for HBO.

HBO’s “Art the Throne: Immersive Art Experience” at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on April 20, 2016 in New York City.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for HBO.

“Rashaad Newsome: Stop Playing in My Face!” 
Rashaad Newsome’s first solo exhibition at Chelsea’s De Buck Gallery, featuring new works inspired by issues of agency among women of color, both trans- and cisgender. Following the opening, fans of the artist celebrated at an afterparty at Ken & Cook sponsored by Bulldog Gin. The evening’s highlights included performances by Katey Red, Conrtoverse, Ash B, and Kevin JZ Prodigy.

Katey Red, Rashaad Newsome, and Florence Newsome at the after-part for “Stop Playing in My Face.”
Photo: Charlie Rubin.

Kia LaBeija at the after-part for “Stop Playing in My Face.”
Photo: Charlie Rubin.