Scene & Heard: Stars turn out for Hopper opening at MOCA

After passing by Dennis Hopper’s towering sculpture of “La Salsa Man,” guests at the July 10 reception for “Dennis Hopper Double Standard” shared memories as they perused the show at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

With the sounds of “Don’t Bogart That Joint” wafting through the air, new Museum of Contemporary Art Director Jeffrey Deitch and exhibition curator Julian Schnabel greeted VIP art collectors, Hopper’s family and friends, celebrities such as Bette Midler, Patricia Arquette, Reese Witherspoon and Kelly Lynch, artists Shepard Fairey and Ed Ruscha, gallery owner Tony Shafrazi, and Ace Gallery’s Jennifer Kellen, fashion designer Jeremy Scott and Vogue’s senior West Coast editor Lisa Love, among others.

Eli Broad said, “Dennis was an incredible individual in so many of the arts,” reeling off the disciplines of film, photography, painting and sculpture. Added Edythe Broad, “There was only one Dennis Hopper.” The Broads are the show’s presenters.

Hopper collectors Linda and Jerry Janger admired the scope of the exhibition, which includes a self-portrait they lent, titled “Within a Man of Light, There Is Only Light; Within a Man of Darkness, There is Only Darkness.”

“Dennis would be proud to see this,” said Rosanna Arquette, accompanied by investment banker Todd Morgan.

With guests in cowboy hats dotting the room, Dwight Yoakam said from under his big brim, “It’s a tribute to Dennis. He wore hats well.”

A longtime friend of Hopper’s with galleries in Paris and Salzburg, art dealer Thaddaeus Ropac recalled, “I introduced him to opera and he introduced me to Madonna.”

Tripling up the “Double Standard” motif, Deitch and hotelier André Balazs continued the soiree with a rooftop dinner atop the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles.

Dignitaries dig soccer

Quite the international crowd gathered together at the Regency Club for the July 11 World Cup final. And no wonder. The Los Angeles Consular Corps, L.A. Consular Press Organization, South African Consulate-General and L.A. World Affairs Council hosted the affair, in conjunction with the Westwood-based club. The luncheon drew 230 of their combined constituents, including diplomats from Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.

“People said we couldn’t pull this off,” said South African Political Consul Etienne Van Straaten. “They said the stadiums wouldn’t be ready. That we wouldn’t have the security,” and added, “There were companies advertising knife-proof vests.”

Van Straaten said he had been hosting soccer screening parties since the games began. “Why stay home to watch with yourself and your lonesome?” he asked. “Here we have supporters of both the Dutch and Spanish teams.”

As 2010 FIFA World Cup mascot Zakumi stood by and several guests tooted their vuvuzelas, the club’s general manager Scully Cloete — also a South African native and self-proclaimed “fanatic of soccer” — served Spanish paella, white asparagus from Holland and South African specialties, such as boerewors, or beef sausage.

Guests included Argentinean Consul General Jorge Lapsenson; Italian Consul General Nicola Faganello; Azerbaijani Consul General Elin Suleymanov; Ecuador’s Consul General Emeritus Francisco Aguirre; Slovenian Consul General Emeritus Mark Ryavec; Moroccan Consul Abdu Saoud; Kevin Thuo of Kenya; Ali al Abdullatif of Saudi Arabia; and Italian Commercial Attaché Mariella Salvatori. Also present were L.A. County Deputy Protocol Chief Lourdes Saab; L.A. World Affairs Council President Curtis Mack; and commentator Alejandro Luna of Fox Sports International.

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