Luxury Group by Marriott International's Chic LA Art Week Fête

Sanford Biggers and Jenni Benzaquen. Photography by David X Prutting / BFA.com. Image courtesy of Marriott International.

This past week in LA, Luxury Group by Marriott International welcomed a unique group of art world movers and shakers into the Hammer Museum for a rare, intimate dinner in honor of Los Angeles Art Week.

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Founded in 1990, the museum, which also hosted Frieze LA's official cocktail kickoff a few nights before, is at the center of LA’s art ecosystem, and the likes of director Annie Philbin and Art Production Fund director Casey Fremont joined co-hosts Jenni Benzaquen, SVP and Global Brand Leader, The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, and artist Sanford Biggers for an ultra-insider dinner at Alice Waters’ Lulu. Also in attendance were Christine Y. Kim, Curator, Tate Modern, artist Gisela McDaniel, Kickstarter's Head of Arts Danny Baez, and more.

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Of course, Biggers has a personal connection to the institution: last year the Hammer invited him to erect his 25-foot-tall bronze statue Oracle, 2021, on site. A continuation of his “Chimera” series, the work still stands strong in the same place. Before Luxury Group's seated dinner at the center of the museum's garden, guests had the treat of a guided viewing of the monumental statue with the artist himself. Biggers, who was born in LA but now lives in New York, very much represents the ethos of the evening and Luxury Group’s mission overall—to highlight the connection between art and travel. It’s through both that we’re able to realize the greater world at large, as well as ourselves, too.