Pleasure Principle was the theme of this year's Power Ball, the annual fund-raiser in support of The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto. The two-part evening on June 2 commenced with a VIP portion; last year this section was centered around food, under the direction of conceptual artist Jennifer Rubell. This year though, with little food in sight, it was a feast for the eyes: A performance presented by Drake Hotel Properties by New York-based "genre-evading performance artist" Ryan McNamara enlisted 25 leotard-clad performers who snaked though the crowd of museum patrons and art-scene regulars brandishing neon props. The whole thing might sound rather odd, and it was, but strange is what the Power Ball is all about and what sets it apart from the sea of social happenings in this country. The you-had-to-be-there-to-get-it performances and experiential art instillations are wonderful in the sense that they cannot be captured. It's all about a fleeting moment – moments that have contributed greatly to the Power Ball's success. This is what keeps patrons and power players coming back for more; it's a model often imitated by other institutions but never quite duplicated.
That said, there was plenty of Instagram-bait on display. Architects Coryn Kempster and Julia Jamrozik's inflatable pool toys were stacked haphazardly near a semi-permanent inflatable structure outside the Power Plant, and were at the centre of many a photo-op. Inside, Karen Tam's commentary on the appropriation of Chinese culture, aptly titled Opium Den, culminated in a rather chic space. I saw guests like outgoing Canadian Art Foundation CEO Jill Birch, socialite Victoria Jackman, and wife of the U.S ambassador to Canada, Vicki Heyman, with cocktails in hand, sitting cross-legged on the floor at glossy lacquered tables. In a hallway-turned-gallery-space nearby known as the The Power Plant's Fleck Clerestory, Laura Kikauka's performance piece So You Think You Can Can Can!?! featured the flailing limbs of Toronto's Diamond Dancers. In keeping with the Pleasure Principle theme, Toronto-based artist Lorna Mills, whose digital media installations have been showcased on the legendary Jumbotrons of New York's Time Square, presented Ungentrified – a rather graphic video-based exploration of the underbelly of the Internet. On display were debaucherous acts that made the mind reel.
Italian luxury fashion brand Max Mara returned for the second time as the event's presenting sponsor, bringing with it an up-and-coming contemporary ballet dancer named Javon Jones, recipient of the inaugural Max Mara Young Visionary Award in partnership with the National Young Arts Foundation. Jones's captivating performance set to haunting choral music took place throughout the evening on a stage built for the occasion.
Among those out to support Toronto's powerful public gallery devoted to contemporary visual art: Honorary event chair Belinda Stronach and event co-chairs Jennen Phelan and Jennifer Bassett; Max Mara's U.S. retail director Maria Giulia Maramotti; Toronto-born, New York-based nightlife personality Ladyfag; The Drake Hotel's Jeff Stober; public affairs consultant Barry Campbell and his wife, Debra Grobstein Campbell; actor Sarah Gadon; painter Gavin Lynch; OCAD University president Sara Diamond; gallerists Isa Spalding, Daniel Faria, Samara Walbohm and Joe Shlesinger; art collector Bruce Bailey; president of the Power Plant Gallery, John Matheson, and the gallery's Max Mara-clad director Gaëtane Verna.