Bloomberg partygoer falls over, damages priceless Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) artwork

A unique and priceless art installation was damaged after a partygoer accidentally fell on it during cocktail parties at one of Australia’s most prestigious museums.

The piece, the biggest attraction at the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art when it opened, is titled Center and was part of a traveling installation of works by acclaimed South Korean artist Do Ho Suh.

But a private after-work function attended by Bloomberg employees ended in disaster when an enthusiastic reveler struck the fabric and metal frame, a series of intricately designed doors, knocking down two of the doors.

I was there with…a guest and witnessed it. It was the main sculpture in the center of multicolored fabric,” an insider told The Aussie Corporate.

‘(It) seemed to detach two “doors”. It definitely goes hard for a Monday night!

The artwork features life-size recreations of entrances to houses and apartment buildings where Suh has lived in cities like New York, London and Berlin in a connected corridor.

Another witness reported that “someone drunk fell and destroyed part of an exhibit.”

Suh’s exhibition marked the first time the acclaimed South Korean artist had held a solo exhibition in the southern hemisphere.

While the value of the damaged piece is unclear as it was never offered for auction, one of his pieces, titled Some/One, sold for more than $814,000 in 2009, equivalent to AUD$1.2 million.

His Center The exhibition is made up of a series of full-scale entrances to a house or apartment building that Suh has lived in in different parts of the world, linked in an interconnected walkable corridor.

It is created from translucent green, red, purple, pink and orange fabric on a stainless steel frame, with fine details such as power outlets, light switches, door handles and hinges meticulously recreated.

The exhibition also features other works by the artist spanning three decades, including Metallic Jacketwhich represents your mandatory military service experience in the South Korean military, and Ladder-III, which is on loan from the Tate Collection in the UK.

It is a one-to-one scale recreation of the narrow staircase that connected Suh’s New York apartment, where he lived for twenty years, with the owner’s house, constructed of red cloth and suspended, floating from the ceiling.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Museum of Contemporary Art and Bloomberg for comment.

Another of acclaimed artist Staircase-III (pictured) is also on display in Sydney on loan from the Tate Collection.

Do Ho Suh (pictured), in her 60s, is from South Korea and has exhibited her work around the world with solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art in Boston and the Smithsonian in Washington DC

Suh’s exhibit ran from November 4, 2022 to Monday at the MCA in Sydney (pictured)

It echoes an incident earlier this month when a collector visiting a contemporary art fair in the United States accidentally knocked over a small glass sculpture by renowned artist Jeff Koons, shattering it into pieces.

The brilliant blue sculpture, one of Koons’ famous ‘balloon dog’ series, was valued at $42,000.

The mishap occurred during a VIP preview at Art Wynwood in Miami, and some collectors thought it was a performance or a theatrical stunt.

The sculpture stood alone on an acrylic base emblazoned with the de Koons surname.

“I saw this woman was there, and she was hitting (the sculpture), and then it fell and broke into thousands of pieces,” artist Stephen Gamson told a Fox News affiliate in Miami.

Gamson told reporters that he thought the woman touched the artwork to see if it was a real balloon.

An art collector vandalized a $42,000 limited-edition blue porcelain balloon dog sculpture by world-famous artist Jeff Koons in downtown Miami

Koon’s 2004 balloon dog, which sold for $58.4 million, is one of many works of his that have drawn criticism.

A passerby took video as gallery employees swept up the glass shards.

“I can’t believe someone took that down,” a voice is heard saying in the video.

Benedicte Caluch, an art consultant for Bel-Air Fine Art, which sponsored Koons’ piece, told the Miami Herald that the woman had no intention of destroying the piece and that insurance would cover the damage.

Koons, who was not present, is an American painter and sculptor who draws inspiration from everyday objects, including balloon animals. His works defy notions of fine art, even as they have fetched up to $91 million at auction.

His balloon dog sculptures range in size from less than a foot (30 centimeters) tall to more than 10 feet (three meters) tall, and come in vivid colors.