Great Jones Street couldn't have been a more fitting location for Thursday night's MTV RE:DEFINE auction launch and preview. Some of today's most buzzed about artists, including Richard Phillips, Wendy White, and Chloe Wise, kicked off the VIP preview of the annual exhibition on the New York City block famously lived and loved by Basquiat in the '80s, during a time many of his creative contemporaries faced the AIDS crisis. Curated by Neville Wakefield, the show helps benefit the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, raising money for HIV and AIDS prevention. The evening, DJ'd by Paul Sevigny (with vinyl, no less!) featured a digital auction through Paddle8, as well as a tribute video for George Michael. But the mood, though political, was hardly stoic. Stylish guests like Heron Preston, Arden Wohl, and LuAnn de Lesseps bounced between the dance floor, photo booth, and candlelit balcony, all partying in the name of art and philanthropy.

[Richard Phillips, Maxine Trowbridge, Joyce Goss, Peter Doroshenko by Kelsey Stanton/BFA.com]