The Art Was Pretty Good, but the Crowd Was Better

On a wet Saturday night in Beverly Hills, it seemed that the crowd inside the Gagosian Gallery was more interested in itself than in the art: 35 pieces from the 1980s by Roy Lichtenstein. One woman walked through the crowd leading her dog on a bright green leash. In an upstairs hallway, another guest quizzed a friend on a new restaurant: “Was the shish kebab good?” he asked. “Oh yes!” she answered. Yet another guest noted the wall-sized abstract paintings: “Once you see it, you sort of get it.”

Nearby, writer Salman Rushdie made tentative travel plans with an acquaintance. “You really should come up,” his friend said. Rushdie agreed. To a reporter, he explained that he loved the “pure abstraction” of the exhibit. But, alas, he couldn’t afford the art, which started at $250,000. “A few more of my books would have to sell,” he said. Robbie Robertson passed by on his way upstairs.

A photographer’s flash illuminated the arrival of Barbara Davis, the reigning monarch of Los Angeles society. She lit up when she saw Cassandra Lozano, a member of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. “You gave us a piece of art!” Davis gushed, referring to a work that will be auctioned off at Davis’ mammoth charity gala: the Carousel Ball, set for Oct. 15, which benefits the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. Davis turned to admire one painting, which, like the others in the gallery, featured a series of mathematically precise angles, one jutting off a corner of the canvas. “He put one little imperfection in there to trick us,” she said.

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Barbra Berates Bush

Shortly after she took the stage of the Kodak Theatre Sunday night for a Democratic fund-raiser, Barbra Streisand began her tirade against President George Bush and the Republican Party, blaming them for everything from the struggling economy to bad air quality. She substituted criticisms for the lyrics to her hit “The Way We Were.”

“Scattered pictures ... of the House we left behind,” she sang. “People ... see their savings slip away/As they see the world around them get more frightening every day.” She paused periodically during the song to lecture the audience on what she sees as the failings of Republicans and to blast Bush for having “the arrogance of wanting unlimited power. I find George Bush and Dick Cheney frightening,” she said. “I find Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft frightening....I find bringing the country to the brink of a war, unilaterally, five weeks before an election, questionable and very, very frightening.”

The event, which also featured performances by Barry Manilow, comedian Steve Harvey and singers Three Mo’ Tenors, raised $6 million to help win a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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A Soggy Success?

Party planners probably felt pretty safe scheduling an outdoor event in Burbank for late September, but the rain fell--at times in sheets--on Warner Bros.’ bash celebrating the start of the new TV season, held Saturday night at the studio’s lot.

Stars of such Warner Bros.-produced shows as “The West Wing” (three-time Emmy winner Allison Janney called out winners of the raffle prizes), “Smallville” and “The Drew Carey Show” mingled among the crowd of studio executives, agents and the like, who were treated this year to exhibition boxing matches as well as free-flowing drinks and a wide variety of food to munch upon.

Still, the real story was the weather, with the rain coming and going throughout the evening, on more than one occasion sending partygoers running for cover under whatever shelves and outcroppings they could find.

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Paid-Up Dues

When John Nelson III decided to enter the family business, his father, director and former teen star David Nelson, had one piece of advice: There are no shortcuts--you have to pay your dues. “In Hollywood, there’s this idea about the quick killing and getting out of town,” he said. “But the quick fix is not what it’s about.”

So Nelson, then a teenager, went to work on his first film set, fetching food and coffee. His skills in sandwiches got him up the next step, assisting as a location scout. And, paying dues in installments, movie by movie, he became a second assistant director, then first assistant director. He worked with Christine Lahti, and both John and Nick Cassavetes.

“I was slowly climbing the ladder,” said Nelson, “bigger and better pictures.”

On Friday, the first movie produced by Nelson, “100 Mile Rule,” premieres at the Hollywood Film Festival. It stars Jake Weber, Maria Bello, David Thornton and Michael McKean.

The movie is a morality tale of a man who, despite his happy marriage, has a one-night stand while on a business trip. He suffers the consequences when the woman decides to blackmail him. Nelson’s grandfather Ozzie Nelson even has a cameo--a video supposedly containing explicit scenes of the one-night stand turns out to feature old episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

“It was a little hommage to my dad,” said Nelson. “He thought it was very funny.”

It was also a pointed moment in a story about a guy who loses his moral bearings and stands to “lose everything in one fell swoop,” he said. The lesson? “You’re never that safe. Whenever applicable, always take the high road.”

Nelson admits that his life lessons may be boring, “but being a regular guy is not a bad thing,” he said. “Normal is seen as bad. But normal to me is good.”

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Sightings

At W magazine’s vintage party Thursday night at the Chateau Marmont, guests dug through their closets for their favorite fashions of yesteryear. Among them were actress Shiva Rose in a vintage Betsey Johnson dress, Donovan Leitch in Pierre Cardin, and Tori Spelling, Kelly Lynch and Rosanna Arquette.