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32 GENZKEN GETS IT BY CHRISTINA GEYER L ast September, artist and Nasher Prize Laureate Isa Genzken installed a rather monumental flower smack dab in the middle of the world's most famous concrete jungle. The 26-foot-tall blossom — Rose III, 2016 — commands attention on Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, its red-yellow petals barely in bloom atop a thorn-covered stem that seems to have sprouted straight through the sidewalk. Genzken's urban flower was the inspiration for the Nasher Prize Gala's decor, which was noth- ing short of a gorgeous flower bomb exploding at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Inside the dinner tent and throughout the mu- seum, roses, ranunculus, and poppies in the brightest shades of yellow and red overtook the space. From the tent's ceiling, white blooms canopied over dining tables. It was the perfect homage to Genzken, who was unable to attend the gala due to health reasons but was there in spirit nonetheless. Nasher Sculpture Center director Jeremy Strick spoke about Genzken's profound and brilliant work, as did chairs John Dayton and Fanchon and Howard Hallam. As always, the evening proved to be one of the most elegant nights of the year, with a mixed crowd of artists (last year's Nasher Prize Laureate Theaster Gates flew in from Chicago for the night), collectors (Catherine and Will Rose, Janelle and Alden Pinnell, Sharon and Michael Young, Deedie Rose), local art-world renegades (from Pollock Gallery's Sofia Bastidas to James Cope of And Now Gallery), fashionable types (Nasiba Adilova, Nancy Rogers, Jessica Nowitzki, and Federica Fanari, who held court at what we can only call the best-dressed table), and, of course, Nasher luminaries Nancy Nasher and husband David Haemisegger. Kristen & Joe Cole Tia Pulitzer, Nathan Mabry Jeremy Strick, Mary Cook, Theaster Gates Jessica Nowitzki, James Cope David Haemisegger & Nancy Nasher Isabelle Haemisegger, Sarah Haemisegger Sofia Bastidas, May Makki Nancy Marcus, Deedie Rose, Matrice Ellis-Kirk Nancy Rogers, Nasiba Adilova Sharon Young, Federica Fanari Alden & Janelle Pinnell Catherine & Will Rose Sita Valrun, Piero Golia, Cindy & Armond Schwartz Andre Buchmann, Bettina Pousttchi John Dayton, Fanchon & Howard Hallam