Woman damages artwork at glitzy Auckland Art Gallery event

By Louise Ternouth of RNZ

An artwork has been damaged at a glitzy event held at the Auckland Art Gallery, leading to a criminal charge.

Guests at The Curious Ball last month were served alcohol and given exclusive after-hours access to the exhibition of works by Olafur Eliasson.

His art sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars and the damaged piece is a hanging sculpture.

The Curious Ball was held at Auckland Art gallery on 1 March and 208 people attended.

The event was held there for the second time, after what Auckland Art Gallery described as a "successful debut in 2024".

According to the art gallery's website, the event was tipped as an "unforgettable night of art, dance, music and culinary delights", with performances from contemporary dance groups, a soprano singer and DJ. Canapés, and cocktails were served throughout the night.

VIP tickets cost $300 dollars and general admission was $200. Notable New Zealanders at the event included fashion designer Karen Walker and model/actor Colin Mathura-Jeffree.

The highlight of the event was exclusive after-hours access to Eliasson's exhibition, which was a mix of installations, sculptures and photographs. His work had been on display at the gallery since early last December, the first time his work had been exhibited in Aotearoa.

Auckland Art Gallery declined to be interviewed, but in a statement, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said the main event, where attendees could dance and were served refreshments, was held in the gallery's Te Ātea North Atrium.

He said one of the guests damaged one of the artworks.

"One of the patrons at this event damaged a hanging sculpture that was on loan for the exhibition Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey."

The gallery's conservation team assessed the sculpture and confirmed it was broken.

"It was found that one of the outer sheets of the artwork was cracked and a glass shard was broken off.

"The lender was notified and the artwork is being repaired - there will be no lasting damage."

The gallery said it needed Eliasson's permission to discuss the specific piece of artwork further.

Some of his works sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Christies in New York recently valued a piece of his work at US$150,000.

The gallery undertook an investigation of the incident and the matter was reported to police.

Police confirmed to RNZ that a 29-year-old woman was charged with wilful damage and remanded on bail, due to appear in the Auckland District Court later in April.