The Wooster Group Hosts First Benefit Art Auction 3/15

The Wooster Group will present its first benefit artauction on the occasion of its 35 th Anniversary. Dubbed "The Wooster (Support)Group", the event will feature live and silent auctions of contemporary art. The benefitwill be chaired by Frances McDormand, supported by the Rolex Institute, and hosted bythe Sean Kelly Gallery at 528 West 29 th Street in New York on Monday, March 15, 2010 at 6:30pm.

Works by Marina Abramovi?, Vito Acconci, Carl Andre, John Baldessari, MatthewBarney, Louise Bourgeois, Ernesto Caivano, James Casebere, Chrome Hearts,Francesco Clemente, Chuck Close, Jessica Craig-Martin, Marcel Dzama, Diller Scofidio+ Renfro, Louis Faurer, Fischerspooner, Robert Gober, Nan Goldin, Antony Gormley,Rose Hartman, Steven Holl, Rebecca Horn, Jacqueline Humphries, Callum Innes, JasperJohns, Rashid Johnson, Joan Jonas, Jane Kaplowitz, Anish Kapoor, Alex Katz, MelKendrick, Terence Koh, Jeff Koons, Jeremy Kost, Tom Kundig, Brigitte Lacombe, LeighLedare, Daniel Libeskind, Kalup Linzy, Roy Lichtenstein, Kalup Linzy, Robert Longo,Nate Lowman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Christian Marclay, Mary Ellen Mark, AnthonyMcCall, McCallum & Tarry, Kim McCarty, Adam McEwen, Stephen Mueller, ShirinNeshat, Yoko Ono, Jack Pierson, Ben Polsky, Ugo Rondinone, Alexander Ross, DavidSalle, Fred Sandback, Katia Santibanez, Peter Saul, Jason Schmidt, KatrinSigurdardottir, Xaviera Simmons, Joshua Smith, Kiki Smith, Ken Solomon, ReenaSpaulings, Billy Sullivan, Al Taylor, Josh Tonsfeldt, Pamela Vander Zwan, John Waters,Carrie Mae Weems, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner, Robert Wilson, The WoosterGroup, Rob Wynne, and Jeff Zimmerman will all be featured.The event will include a live auction conducted by Christie's with support from guestauctioneer Casey Spooner, as well as a silent auction, and will be DJed by the duoAndrew Andrew. Funds raised will support The Wooster Group and its creation of new work.

Among the highlights of the auction are Marina Abramovic's Portrait WithFirewood, 2009, the catalogue cover image for the artist's solo exhibition currently at MoMA; a unique gouache and silkscreen by Louise Bourgeois; an original drawing ofWooster Group Director Elizabeth LeCompte by Alex Katz; and a 1970 print by Roy Lichtenstein. The auction also includes several experiential items including a tour of the 2010 Whitney Biennial with the curators, and a tour of the former home and studio ofDonald Judd. Details and images of the works can be found online here: www.thewoostergroup.org/artauction.

Chaired by Frances McDormand, the event is expected to be attended by prominentperforming and visual arts patrons, collectors, artists and performers, and othersupporters of The Wooster Group.

The host committee includes Sean and Mary Kelly, Joel Coen, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, Chrissie Iles, Kim and Michael McCarty, Cindy Sherman, Michael Ward Stout, and Kate Valk and the benefit committee includes Edward Albee, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, Paul Auster and SiriHustvedt, Mikhail Baryshnikov, J.K. Brown and Eric Diefenbach, Steve Buscemi and JoAndres, Judi Caron, Eileen and Michael Cohen, Julia and John Coleman, Paula Cooperand Jack Macrae, Diego Cortez, Clarissa Dalrymple, Richard Flood, Peter Freeman,Vincent and Shelly Fremont, Barbara Gladstone, Rebecca Irvin, Bree Jeppson, JenniferJason Leigh and Noah Baumbach, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Diane and Adam E. Max, JohnMcEnroe and Patty Smyth, Zesty Meyers, Mark Morris, Louise Neri, David Nolan, AnnPhilbin, Simon Preston, Lynne Sable, Tanya Selvaratnam Scheib, Richard and LaurieStark, John Turturro and Katherine Borowitz, Joel Wachs, and Bryce Wolkowitz. Mediasponsorship by Culture Pundits, advertising support by Artforum, with shipping providedby Transcon International.Tickets start at $150 per person.

Guests who pay $500 for two tickets will receive apair of tickets to The Wooster Group's North Atlantic, at the newly openEd Jerome Robbins Theater of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, running March 10 to April 25, 2010.For tickets to "The Wooster (Support) Group", please contact Elizabeth Lind at +1(212) 868-8450 x209, via email at artauction@thewoostergroup.org or go towww.thewoostergroup.org/artauction.

About The Wooster Group:The Wooster Group is an ensemble of artists who make performance and media works. Founded in 1975, the Group was part of the radical post-modern experiments of thetime, situated among the worlds of dance, visual, media, and theatrical arts. In itspioneering productions, texts (new, classic, and improvised) and technology areinterwoven to tell stories in new ways. Under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte andin collaboration with an ensemble of performers and technical artists, the Group hasmade more than 30 works, including Rumstick Road (1977), L.S.D. (...Just the HighPoints...) (1984), Brace Up! (1991), House/Lights (1999), To You, the Birdie! (Phèdre)(2002), Hamlet (2007), and La Didone (2008). The Group has toured in the U.S. andto Europe, Russia, Canada, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The Performing Garage at 33 Wooster Street in New York City is the company's permanenthome. It owns and operates the Garage as a shareholder in the Grand Street ArtistsCo-op, established as part of the Fluxus art movement in the 1960s.

For more information about The Wooster Group, please visit www.thewoostergroup.org