With a pavilion designed by Mexico-based studio Lanza Atelier, food by Laila Gohar and hosts including Alejandro Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuaron and Salma Hayek, this year’s Serpentine’s Summer Party—a heatwave edition—was a typically starry and celebratory affair.
Temperatures in the capital yesterday hit a sweltering 37 degrees. So, it felt fitting that the Serpentine Summer Party last night had a distinctly Latin American flavour, celebrating a new pavilion from Lanza Atelier, a Mexico City-based architectural practice whose design riffed on the English garden party (and provided somewhere to shelter from the heat).
“It’s a contemporary version of a vernacular type of garden wall, which is eminently British. “It invites the public to experience the pavilion as half outside space and half inside space,” says Isabel Abascal, one half (with Alessandro Arienzo) of Lanza Atelier, from inside the red-brick sinuous structure. “It connects our interest in Mesoamerican serpent energy—a powerful and transformative force. Bringing the serpent to the serpentine makes us reflect on that.”
A line-up of esteemed Mexican talent were amongst the hosts: actor Salma Hayek and directors Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Iñárritu. “Well I think we brought this weather, this heat. I’m happy to share it with my friends Alfonso and Salma, celebrating these young Mexican architects,” says Iñárritu, standing next to the pavilion. Other names in attendance included Anish Kapoor, Kyle MacLachlan, Isha Ambani, Maja Hoffmann, Michael Bloomberg, Sienna Miller and Sadiq Khan. Names from fashion included Adwoa Aboah, Alexa Chung, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley whilst musicians included Caroline Polachek, Tsunaina, Joy Crookes and Wretch 32. A surprise appearance came in the handsome form of Academy Award-winning actor Michael B. Jordan, who arrived in a Mercedes to much fanfare.
As the event got into full swing, and a Mariachi band started playing (naturally), the Mexican theme continued with cuisine from food artist Laila Gohar—a menu of corn, guacamole and tamales, presented on more winding benches by Lanza. “I love the pavilion. It’s brick and it’s just brick. I approach food in a similar way. I like things that are just corn, just potatoes,” said Gohar, who also showcased sculptures made from chocolate—miraculously unmelted—and cakes designed to look like bricks.
Some canny guests found their way into the (delightfully air-conditioned) Serpentine galleries, where an exhibition Picture Making by Cecily Brown is currently on view. Inspired by park life and nature, it resonated wonderfully with the gallery’s location in London’s premier green space, and names such as Grayson Perry and Charlie Brooker were chatting amongst its tableaux. Wandering outside, was a bright yellow installation by Jesús Rafael Soto. “He’s a pioneering Venezuelan artist who created these amazing immersive sculptures that visitors can walk through,” said Hans Ulrich Obrist, creative director of the Serpentine.
“We live in a world where it’s important to bring many different fields together—art, architecture and design, in a way that creates new encounters.”
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Obrist also emphasised the institution’s commitment to emerging talent, as well as its cross-disciplinary focus. “Over the last few years, we’ve focused on younger architectural offices, like Lanza Studio, giving them the possibility to build for the first time at the Serpentine,” adding that Gohar’s works were also sculptures. “We live in a world where it’s important to bring many different fields together—art, architecture and design, in a way that creates new encounters.”
One of the most important dates in the art calendar—and a staple of the London summer social calendar—the Serpentine Summer Party acts as a fundraising event for the gallery, which opened in 1970, converted from a tea pavilion. “It’s the most important night of our year, where we bring together our community with artists and luminaries from around the world,” reflected Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek. “It’s crucial in helping to keep the Serpentine free and open to all.”
