The Guggenheim Welcomes a Star-Studded Crowd to Celebrate Taryn Simon’s New Show

2 min read

At 7 p.m. last night, the Guggenheim welcomed flurries of guests to celebrate Taryn Simon’s massive exhibition “Father Country I Do Love You.”

By 8 p.m., a line outside the Guggenheim stretched down the street, nearly wrapping around the corner. Inside, a dense crowd of art lovers, Guggenheim members, collectors, gallerists, artists, and movie stars swarmed the central island bar, while other attendees wandered the six levels of the iconic rotunda.

Along with Simon, who spent much of her night on the upper floors of the exhibition, stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Laura Dern, Jodie Foster, and Adrien Brody (seen holding hands with his mother as they walked through the show) spent the evening at the Upper East Side museum.

Crowd of people mingling at an indoor event with a bar and art displayed on the wall.

Hannah Turner Harts/BFA.com

A large contingent of fellow artists showed up to support Simon, including Amy Sherald, Rashid Johnson, and Arlene Shechet. Other guests included director Stephen Spielberg, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, authors Salman Rushdie and Miranda July, and director couple Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach.

“Father Country I Do Love You” unfolds across the entire six floors of the rotunda, with 42 artworks the artist refers to as “chapters.” These chapters detail the life of an unnamed federal agent whose career often placed him at the epicenter of 20th-century historical events. The multimedia exhibition features photographs and video installations that probe American history and explore ideas of truth and political violence. The show concludes with a machine that lets you crank a handle and release a marble down the Guggenheim rotunda, allowing anyone to fulfill the lifelong dreams of rolling something down the spiraling museum. The exhibition runs through March 14, 2027.

Ahead, see all the stars who attended Simon’s opening at the Guggenheim.

Taryn Simon