Avant Garden 2018, the Walker Art Center’s annual benefit, returns for a one-of-a-kind experience on Saturday, September 8. The evening promises a signature Walker party experience, with gourmet food, craft cocktails, an art auction, live music, dancing, special guests and a celebration of the new fall exhibition Siah Armajani: Follow This Line. Proceeds from Avant Garden support the Walker Art Center’s award-winning artistic and educational programming.
The Avant Garden 2018 silent auction items include approximately 35 total works—with pieces ranging in value from $3,000 to $65,000—by artists Larry Bell, Jenny Holzer, Michael Krebber, Dianna Molzan, Raymond Pettibon, Lari Pittman, Sigmar Polke, Laure Prouvost, Allen Ruppersberg, and more.
Avant Garden 2018
Saturday, September 8
6 pm–12 midnight
Walker Art Center
ABOUT BIZ MARKIE
The legendary Biz Markie (Marcell Hall) brings brings more than 30 years of solid hip-hop acumen and an overwhelming fan-base that stretches from New York City to Japan to Europe. At the age of 14, he dazzled his neighborhood under the alias of Biz Markie. His music scene debut began in 1985 as a beat box for Roxanne Shante of the Juice Crew. From then he began constructing his own destiny in the mystifying world of rap and hip-hop. Now 30 years older and immensely wiser, he continues to be universally praised by the ever-fickle and unforgiving hip-hop industry. No easy feat to accomplish, he is the definition of longevity and has managed to remain one of the most notable artists and DJs in the industry.
Born to embrace hip-hop, Biz Markie is originally from Harlem but later moved to Long Island where he gained notoriety by his early teen years for beat boxing and rhyming. He began his journey by beat boxing his way into hearts of hip-hop lovers and delivering humorous, witty rhymes that made him love-able and admired by music fans all over. You can find him spinning and performing amongst almost every major celebrity in America and abroad. He has under his belt such mega-events as The Grammy’s After Parties, The Pre-Oscar Party, Will Smith Movie Premiere Events, events hosted by The Magic Johnson Foundation, the NFL Draft, as well as annual occasions for Super Bowl Weekend, NBA All-star Weekend, CIAA Weekend, Essence Festival and many more.
He currently DJ’s and performs in club and concert venues all over the world, consistently booking over 175 shows a year. He is currently on the I Love the 90’s Tour and 80’s vs 90’s Decades Collides Tour. Biz is also the resident DJ for VH1’s Hip Hop Squares. “Just a Friend” made VH1’s list of 100 greatest hip-hop songs of all time. He recently appeared on Fox’s Empire and ABC’s Blackish. His television credits include Nick Jr’s “Yo Gabba Gabba” doing “Biz’s Beat of the Day”, Sharknado II, Spongebob Squarepants, “Nick Cannon’s “Wild N Out”on MTV, MAD TV, Hip-Hop Squares, VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club”, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, and In Living Color. He has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, The Jimmy Kimmel Show and The Meredith Vieira Show. Other projects include Listerine, Zevia, commercials for Lucky Charms, Radio Shack and Heineken, TuneUp Media, and designing a sneaker with Pro Keds. The Biz Markie brand has also achieved commercial success for corporate sponsors such as Capt’n Crunch, Verizon, Pepsi Cola Corporation, Budweiser and more. He also provides music entertainment for various political fund-raising and awareness events. Biz moves with ease through multiple genres outside of the Hip Hop world, having worked with The Rolling Stones, Will Smith and the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips just to name a few. Simply put, Biz Markie is one of the most sought after Entertainers in the business to date.
ABOUT NORA ENPURE
Nora En Pure (Daniela Niederer) is the deep house & indie dance music sensation that is rippling through the sonic sphere with her beautiful blend of electronic beats. A core member of the Helvetic Nerds group, she leads listeners out of the darker realms of deep house with intricate instrumentals and enlightening melodies.
Gracing the decks of some of the most revered dance music spots over the years, Nora EnPure has played sets at the likes of Ultra Music Festival, Coachella, Tomorrowland, Ushuaïa Ibiza, Mysteryland USA and held residencies at the world’s largest club Privilege Ibiza and Marquee Dayclub Las Vegas. Touring relentlessly all over the globe to bring her scintillating sound to as many countries as humanly possible, her fan base is scattered all across the planet.
Meeting many career milestones over the past two years, 2016 saw her deliver her breathtaking BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. In 2017 she delivered a long list of sensational releases, including her diverse 4-track ‘Conquer Yosemite’ EP, funk-driven cuts ‘Waves‘ and ‘Fever‘, and touching creations ‘Tears In Your Eyes‘ and ‘Trailblazer’. Making her debut at Coachella and being the only female artist to play Tomorrowland’s Mainstage DaybreakSession, she closed the year on an all-time high. Striding into 2018, she landed her own weekly radio show on SiriusXM Chill and hosted her first Purified Miami Music Week Opening Party. Her first track of the year ‘Sphinx’ rapidly became a fan favorite and led her around the world on her Sphinx Tour.
With a long list of festival appearances on the horizon, including Panorama Festival NYC, both weekends of Tomorrowland, Street Parade Zürich and her debut UK festival performance at SW4, Nora En Pure continues to impress.
ABOUT HARMAR SUPERSTAR
“Har Mar Superstar” (Sean Tillman) has been making records under the name since 1999. Under the Har Mar moniker, he has gone through a plethora of phases, ranging from fun-loving, beats-based music pioneer (he and Peaches shared stages early on) to angry arena crowd opener (a 2002 public lewdness allegation proves it) to soul music crooner. His last album Bye Bye 17 opened a lot of people’s minds to his songwriting prowess, which has existed since day one of his career.
For years, he was an artist’s artist when The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gossip, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many other legends decided to collaborate and/or take him on tour. Different phases of his career brought fame through the fickle worlds of indie, British pop, LA DJ-dom, and New York night crawling.
Bye Bye 17 was an eye-opener to the music world, not that Har Mar Superstar wasn’t used to accolades through his former work with Sean Na Na, Gayngs, Neon Neon, and Calvin Krime. He had “arrived as a songwriter.” After living in LA and NYC for 12 years, he moved back to Minneapolis, MN, where he is most creative. With the help of Chris Bierden (Poliça, Bye Bye 17), Ryan McMahon (Har Mar, Lizzo), Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Adele, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, Cat Stevens), and Ryan Olson (Poliça, Marijuana Deathsquads), Har Mar Superstar’s album Best Summer Ever was born.
Best Summer Ever, since its inception, has been imagined as a “Greatest Hits of Har Mar Superstar from 1950-1985.” He was born in 1978.
Best Summer Ever is a slow burner with many ballads, dance-able tracks, and co-writes. Long-time friend Julian Casablancas (Cult Records founder, The Strokes), Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Erykah Badu, Voidz, Weezer), and he worked very closely to make the concept happen. Karen O, Matt Sweeney, and James Levy (Reputante, Lolawolf) all helped write songs on the record. Bobby Charles wrote “I Hope.” “Youth Without Love” was a demo written by Julian that was sitting around that Har Mar Superstar fell in love with, so they made it for the record.
Tickets are available online or by calling the Development office at 612-375-7641 (Monday—Friday 9 am — 5 pm) or the Box Office at 612-375-7600 (Tuesday—Sunday 11 am—5 pm; Thursday until 9 pm, Friday & Saturday until 6 pm)
PLATINUM EXPERIENCE | 6 pm–12 midnight
$10,000 for up to 10 guests plus a limited-edition artwork (Estimated benefits value $2,965)
$7,500 for up to 6 guests (Estimated benefits value $1,145)
$5,000 for up to 4 guests (Estimated benefits value $763)
Cocktail reception, reserved dining, art experience auction, live entertainment, late-night VIP lounge access, plus Gold and Silver Experiences.
GOLD EXPERIENCE | 7 pm–12 midnight
$500 (Estimated benefits value $155)
Complimentary craft cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live music, premiere silent auction, plus Silver Experience.
SILVER EXPERIENCE | 8:30 pm–12 midnight
$125 for one guest (Estimated benefits value $75)
Late-night sweets and savories, two drink tickets, and a DJ.
ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE
Elevate your late-night party with a $2,500 reserved, bottle service lounge near the dance floor. Seats up to 6 guests (Estimated benefits value $500)