02/06/2026
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles () hosted its annual gala over the weekend, bringing art world and Hollywood royalty to Little Tokyo — from Barbara Kruger and Charles Gaines to Ava DuVernay and Keanu Reeves. It was the second year that the gala took on the “Moca Legends” format, which recognizes figures who “cement the museum as a global leader in contemporary art,” per MOCA. This year’s event honored artists Kara Walker () and Paul McCarthy (), along with MOCA trustee Eugenio López Alonso ().
Hosted by dancer and multi-disciplinary artist Stephen Galloway () and soundtracked by live orchestral performances from the MOCA Gala Symphony Orchestra, the gala under creative director Piero Golia’s () vision became a whimsical, bordering-on-surrealist invitation to indulge the senses and support the arts in L.A. (The evening would raise $3 million for MOCA.) The dinner menu, dreamed up in collaboration with food artist and designer Laila Gohar (), included charred breadsticks in beautiful, weird shapes, reminiscent of McCarthy’s wooden sculptures, and a sculpted mound of butter the height of a taper candle. Wild king salmon topped with tomatoes, olives and capers was accessorized with a puff pastry in the shape of a cartoon fish.
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