Believe It

THE PARTY What’s black, white and read all over? It’s not a newspaper, but it is, perhaps, just as newsy. Internationally renowned conceptual artist Barbara Kruger was commissioned to exhibit her five-sided installation Belief+ Doubt into the lower level of the Smithsonian’s modern art museum. Friends of the Hirshhorn fêted the artwork, along with the brand-new bookstore nearby, at the museum’s annual donor event. THE PEOPLE Ceiling-high phrases jetted up in crimson and black past some of the city’s art elites. The Pinkline Project’s Philippa Hughes joined Gregory Walters of 3M, the company who donated the vinyl to the museum for the exhibit. Hirshhorn VIPs, like Jane Cafritz and museum Director Richard Koshalek, were also on hand. BEST IN SHOW The exhibit, which, according to the artist, is designed to “introduce doubt” with open-ended questions, also explores consumerism with the statements “You want it. You buy it. You forget it.” ironically placed opposite the new bookstore. Photography by Rebecca D’Angelo