Despite (or perhaps in spite of) an ongoing migraine, I caught the artist's reception for Matthew Barney's DRAWING RESTRAINT exhibition at the SFMOMA last night. We arrived early at 6 pm to preview the exhibition on the fourth floor, catch some tunes by friends and mingle amongst the art critics, press, socialites and trashily chic hipsters. Twas a much more casual affair than his earlier NYC opening at the Guggenheim; the crowd seemed decidedly more diverse, though the buzz around the opening still felt electric. Barney's new material was smaller in scope and more conservative than his Cremaster efforts. He continued the same motifs from the Cremaster cycle, including the animalistic references, photographs and large-scale thermo-plastic and self-lubricating plastic installations. While some of his sketches and photo work were beautiful, I left feeling rather unmoved by the collection; once I see the new film in full, I'll report back with further thoughts.

Barney appeared virtually unchanged from the last time I saw him, nonplussed and ready for the adoring crowd. Bjork and her equally vivacious daughter, appropriately dressed in a little white tux, strolled around with a smaller coterie of fab friends. She looked adorable in a white floral chiffon gown and red platform boots. She offered me a wink too! In the loo, I caught sight of a woman dressed in full kimono, dancing and singing to Bjork's "Big Time Sensuality" on top of the sink bar while a friend videotaped her in the mirror. It reminded me of the other fan(atic)s who seemed to pull all stops for her arrival... and how Bjork always manages to create such a stir!

Wobbly, hilarious as ever, whipped up a great DJ set with his 4 CDJs, mixing derelict opera with dreamier stuff. Matmos performed new material, with Martin playing a tuning fork over dry ice while Drew tweaked the knobs, playing a singing bowl and a small xylophone. J Lesser played bass with them and showed off his Dave Smith Evolver #9 to us. Also briefly chatted with Overlap artist bLevin bLectum, who's still in vet school and looking great... and ran into other creative peeps, like Nate, Solar, Chris, Giamma, Violet, Matt, and Latrice.

Due to my ailing head, I went home after the opening, but David and other invited friends went onto the Stud where Bjork and Matthew carried on the party with laptop DJ sets. Apparently the intended small circle of friends mushroomed into a max-packed night as folks hurried to call and invite their friends to come over.