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EDGE 18 BLACK-TIE MEETS THE PUSHING BOUNDARIES AT CAMH GALA MATTHEW RAMIREZ AND CATHERINE D. ANSPON GO UNDERGROUND. PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL ORTIZ. I t was an evening of social glamour and important art in four parts, as Contemporary Arts Museum Houston unfurled its vaunted Gala + Art Auction, christened Underground. Chaired by Blakely Griggs, Melissa Mithoff, and Katherine Phelps, the evening began with cocktails, and segued into an impeccable seated dinner by Jackson and Company. Bergner & Johnson draped silver stalactites from above and projected views of lavender-colored crystals flickering upon the walls. It was a fitting stage for the live auction — Christie's VP Steven Zick, in from the Chicago office, continued CAMH Gala tradition by holding court with the gavel. Five live lots were hammered down, in addition to 20 works in the silent auction. Among the blue-chip artists was Jenny Holzer, represented by a text-inscribed bench that was nabbed by a private hometown collector. Houston art talents included Libbie Masterson, Jan Rattia, Dario Rolbeto, Amy Blakemore, Debra Barrera, Josh Pazda, and Angel Oloshove. Providing an electric coda to a night simultaneously black-tie and edge-driven was a raucous after-party in the CAMH's cavernously cool underground lounge, co-chaired by Matt Johns and Margaret Naeve Parker. In all, $685,000 was raised for the museum's coffers. SOCIAL SCULPTURE: CAMH board chairman Jereann Chaney; museum director Bill Arning; chair husbands Trey Griggs, Michael Mithoff, and Bill Phelps; CAMH stalwarts Sissy and Denny Kempner and Leigh and Reggie Smith; Erica and Benjy Levit; Lucinda and Javier Loya; John and Becca Cason Thrash; Greg Fourticq and John Cone; Nancy and Erik Littlejohn; Isabel and Danny David; Diane Lokey Farb with Mark Sullivan; Monsour Taghdisi, sporting a David Webb brooch, and Henry Richardson; gallerist Kerry Inman; Valerie Fuller; Christie's Jessica Phifer; architect Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter; Candace Baggett and Ron Restrepo; art advisor Melissa Grobmyer and husband Albert Grobmyer; Elizabeth and Barry Young; Betty and Stephen Newton; in from Wimberley, artist McKay Otto and husband Keith Coffee; gallerist Laura Rathe with Gil Bruvel; PaperCity's Jim Kastleman and Zuzana Kastleman; Cartier's Kari Gonzales and husband John Dagley; Texas Contemporary Art Fair's Max Fishko and Kelly Freeman, in from NYC; Elizabeth and Gary Petersen; Cece and Mack Fowler; Cabrina and Steven Owsley; and the night's talent, DJ John Tran and performance artist/come- dian Britt Vasicek, wowing in illuminated purple butterfly wings. Britt Vasicek Howard Robinson, Heidi Gerger Beverly Robinson, David Gerger Leigh Smith, Bill Arning, Reggie Smith Debbie Lackey Patricia Restrepo After Party co-chairs Matt Johns Margaret Naeve Parker Jessica Phifer Becca Cason Thrash Elizabeth Satel Young, Isabel David Cabrina Owsley, co-chair Blakely Griggs Erik & Nancy Littlejohn Michelle Sinenko Alex Wein, Russ Robinson Vickie Love Greenlee Co-chair Katherine Phelps Silvery stalactites Co-chair Melissa Mithoff & Michael Mithoff Valerie Fuller, Courtney Hopson