Photo Gallery
There is no denying the extraordinary visual impact of Robert Wilson’s theatrical art. You need only look at the stunning tableau’s in the phantasmagorical forest that surrounds and defines The Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation’s summer benefit. They are created by artists who flock to Wilson’s Artist in Residence and Summer Programs at the Watermill Center he created to nurture future generations in the type of interdisciplinary art he pioneered. Each year, the Foundation’s 10+ acres come to life with extraordinary theatrical and visual compositions in the spirit of the master. This year, the 26th Annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit & Auction was dubbed Tabula Rasa. And true to its name, I drew some blanks — and some original thoughts — as I looked for conceptual meanings behind the art.

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Luann de Lesseps

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Maxwell Osborne and Alex Soros

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Nicole Miller and Debbie Bancroft

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Sylvia Hommert and Katayone Adeli

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Lexi Kaplan

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Parker Calvert

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Lest Rundie and Mark Humphrey

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Max Eicke and Irina Krylova

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Al Jones, Nancy Stone and Greg D’Elia

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Sydney Sadick

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Polina Proshkina

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Parker Calvert, Polina Proshkina and Clayton Calvert

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Di Mondo

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Mary Snow

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Jacques Acoca, Lee Fryd, Ruth Miller and a guest

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Anastasiya Siro

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Mary Snow and Joachim Bader

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Letty Patino and Ryan Patino

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Jamee Gregory and Peter Gregory

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
John Wambold and Melanie Wambold

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Susan Lloyd

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Wynne LaBounta and George Wambold

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Sindre Myklebust and Erik Rydning

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
The Watermill Center founder Robert Wilson

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Leila Heller, Prince Dimitri Of Yugoslavia and Sheikha Paula Al-Sabah

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Brian “HallowDreamz” Henry

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Miss Prissy

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Brian “HallowDreamz” Henry and Miss Prissy

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Natalie King

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)
Bonnie Comley, Stewart F. Lane and Leah Lane

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)

(Photo: Sean Zanni/PMC)