LACMA to honor Catherine Opie and Guillermo del Toro at 2018 Art + Film gala

Los Angeles artist Catherine Opie’s searing and honest documentary photographs and Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical creations will take center stage at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 2018 Art + Film Gala on Nov. 3, the museum announced.

The event, now in its eighth year, is the museum’s premier fundraiser, a lavish affair bringing together art, film and fashion figures as well as civic leaders and celebrities.

In a statement released Tuesday, LACMA Director Michael Govan called Opie “one of the most important artists working today.”

“Through her photographs, Cathy captures aspects of American culture, identity, and politics that speak to audiences of all backgrounds,” Govan said. “In Los Angeles, she is also recognized for her work as a teacher. In that role, she shares her knowledge and passion with future generations of artists who will continue her legacy of documentation.”

In 2016, LACMA featured “Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters,” the Mexican filmmaker’s first solo retrospective at the museum. “As a filmmaker, Guillermo’s work challenges us to ignore traditional art-historical narratives and hierarchies of high and low culture,” Govan said. “His ability to collapse time and space, history and fiction, and nature and fantasy makes him an exceptional filmmaker.”

Last year’s Art + Film Gala, honoring artist Mark Bradford and filmmaker George Lucas, raised nearly $4.5 million for the museum. Proceeds from the event benefited the museum’s film program as well as exhibitions, educational initiatives and art acquisitions.

This year’s event will again be co-chaired by Leonardo DiCaprio and museum trustee Eva Chow.

Both Opie and Del Toro, Chow said, “share an exceptional ability to tell human stories that are relevant and important to our time.”

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