Tilda Swinton Turns 53, Celebrates Birthday At MoMA Gala

Tilda Swinton turned 53, celebrating the occasion at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) with a special gala in her honor.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Tilda Swinton recently participated in a modern art performance piece for the museum by sleeping in a glass box.

TIlda Swinton is an artist that has crossed most boundaries, working on both the big and little screen, music videos, performance art and theater. She won the Academy Award Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Michael Clayton in 2007, and has won and been nominated for too many awards to keep count. With 67 projects to her name, including producing five films and writing on two, it’s safe to say Tilda Swinton is a fairly prolific artist to put it mildly.

Apparently the Museum of Modern Art in New York agrees. The museum acknowledged Ms. Swinton as one of the few artists to ever have been the feature of both the big screen and as an exhibit in the museum.

Tilda wore a tweed beige and cream jacket and white trousers by haute couture designer Chanel (who sponsored the event) for her big night. Guests tried explaining Tilda Swinton’s star power throughout the night. For example, actor Ralph Fiennes said:

“I admire the ease and the grace in which she carries her talent, she’s a great actress, but it’s her quality of person herself, her soul, it’s her that I think is unique. It shines through in a way that’s very rare.”

Designer Zac Posen admired her body openly:

“She has an elegant, alien-like quality, her sensitivity and vibrato really resonates.”

An editor-in-chief for Vogue admired how Tilda Swinton could approach so many varied subjects:

“Her range is extraordinary, it’s quite unusual in an actress of her relatively young years to have done so many different things so brilliantly, she is prepared to go out of what might be traditionally thought of as her comfort zone. I think a lot of actresses today, they may be talented, but they tend to accept or maybe it’s what they’re offered similar roles. She just always surprises me with her choices. The same goes for her fashion.”

Director Wes Anderson says Tild Swinton has her own category for art:

“Sometimes she is elaborate and theatrical, sometimes she is austere and heartbreakingly emotional, sometimes she is asleep in a box. She is her own category, and though she is very fair – almost the color of a cloud, I think we can safely say, nearly everything in life pales when viewed alongside her.”

In return, Tilda Swinton had some happy words of her own for her guests:

“It’s my birthday! MoMA is giving me a birthday party, and they’ve invited some of my great friends, so I’m very happy and very grateful. My last birthday party was when I was 9 and we had a trampoline, but who knew that 53 would top even that!”

The celebration brought out some heavy hitters, including David Bowie, mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sofia Coppola, and Jessica Biel. Guests enjoyed seared tuna, lamb chops, and lemon cake.

MoMA has previously honored Quentin Tarantino, Pedro Almodovar, Kathryn Bigelow, Tim Burton and Baz Luhrmann.

What do you think of this star studded event; did Tilda Swinton deserve her very own gala?