You’ve got to hand it to Nasiba Hartland-Mackie. With her baby due in just a couple of weeks, she still managed to co-host the Friday, September 19th opening night VIP-ish festivities for photographer Mario Testino‘s “Alta Moda” exhibition at Dallas Contemporary. But then she had Nancy Rogers as her co-hosting partner, so it was pretty obvious that the activities were going to be extremely successful with beautiful and smart art lovers. But while Nancy looked picture perfect as always, she had been working on a second project helping the Cabo San Lucas residents recover from the September 14 hurricane. In addition to putting together three plane loads of “relief items and food” for Cabo for the humans, she was also helping Los Cabos Humane Society.
Ah, but back to the Testino festivities. Here’s a report from the field on the two-day launch:
“This past weekend saw the opening of ‘Alta Moda,’ an exhibition by photographer Mario Testino at Dallas Contemporary.
“DC Executive Director Peter Doroshenko said, ‘It is important to have a major photography exhibition of Mario Testino’s work at Dallas Contemporary. As a bi-lingual museum, this seminal exhibition will bridge Latino culture and contemporary art for all audiences in Texas.’”
“The weekend of festivities to mark the exhibition coming to Dallas was kicked off on Friday with an intimate fundraiser reception at the Dallas Contemporary, followed by a dinner on the rooftop terrace of The Joule Hotel, co-hosted by Nasiba Hartland-Mackie and Nancy Rogers. The crowd included John Clutts, Tammy Cotton Hartnett, Thomas Hartland-Mackie, Georgina Hartland, Rajan Patel, Shelle Sills, Julie Hawes, Michael Flores, Gina Betts, Brian Bolke, Muffin Lemak, Shelby Wagner and Carly and Justin Fields.
“Mario said, ’I am Peruvian and it is one of my missions to celebrate my country’s rich culture on a world stage. I hope that through this exhibition I am able to do that. The Dallas Contemporary is such a dynamic institution and I am delighted to bring this body of work there.’
“The following night opening was attended by special guests, including Erin Wasson, Tim Headington, Michael Tregoning, Chandra North Blaylock and her husband Daniel and Anna-Sophia van Zweden, as well as curator Alison Gingeras and fellow artist Piotr Uklanski.
“’Alta Moda’ is a series of photographic portraits of Peruvians from the mountainous region of Cusco wearing traditional and festive dress. The works present a bold departure for Testino from his work for fashion magazines, investigating both Peruvian traditions and the history of photography. The exhibition will be on view at Dallas Contemporary from Sunday, September 21 through Sunday, December 21, and is supported by The Joule Hotel, Nancy C. & Richard R. Rogers and Burberry.
* Photo credit: Jenifer McNeil Baker