Blank Forms held its eighth annual gala at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on the Lower East Side, honoring artist Cosima von Bonin and vocalist Asha Puthli. The event transformed the historic former synagogue into a stage for experimental music and Cambodian cuisine, featuring performances by guitarists Brandon Ross and Melvin Gibbs, as well as Puthli herself, introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz saxophonist Henry Threadgill. Guests included curators Ruba Katrib and Jay Sanders, Brooklyn Rail Co-Founder Phong Bui, Amant’s Tobi Maier, gallerists from Matthew Marks and Gladstone, musicians Lizzi Bougatsos and Miho Hatori, writer Lucy Sante, and artists Amalia Ulman, Sylvie Fleury, and Rachel Rose.
This gala matters because it exemplifies the cross-disciplinary programming that Blank Forms champions—blending experimental music, visual art, and performance in a site-specific setting. By honoring both a visual artist and a vocalist, the event underscores the organization’s commitment to dissolving boundaries between art forms, while also spotlighting the Lower East Side’s cultural history and the growing role of Cambodian cuisine in art-world hospitality. The evening’s success reflects the continued vitality of artist-run and nonprofit spaces in fostering community and avant-garde expression.