Having had a longstanding relationship with Jeffrey Deitch in New York, Max and Lubov Azria welcomed the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art director, along with actresses Eva Amurri, Lindsay Price and Malin Akerman and artists Bill Viola, Barbara Kruger, Mark Bradford and Kenny Scharf Thursday evening to their glass and white walled Holmby Hills manse, dubbed “Maison du Soleil,” to celebrate MOCA’s new exhibit “The Artist’s Museum.”
“Everybody is an artist in a big way,” Max Azria said. But unlike Azria not everybody is a collector. While Amurri and her boyfriend, Kyle Martino, own a pile of 40 black and white photographs, Akerman said a limited budget confines her collection to African masks and drums, which her husband, professional drummer Roberto Zincone, plays.
Judging by the guests’ appreciation of theremin virtuoso Armen Ra, who performed under a metallic vine ceiling in the salon, the Azrias may be hosting more parties. “I’m a huge fan of anything Jeffrey does,” Lubov Azria said. “I like his philosophy of bringing art to the masses.”