How much would you pay to see the future? Precognito is the high-end precursor to Saturday's 10th-anniversary edition of Incognito – the Santa Monica Museum of Art's beloved and unique fundraiser, in which an array of L.A.-based artists make a new 10-by-10-inch mini-masterpiece and patrons buy them for $350 without knowing for sure who made what until after the purchase. As you might imagine, tales of capturing the elusive deal-of-the-century Ruscha, Barbara Kruger or Mark Bradford abound – and jostling for position at Saturday night's sale can get kind of intense. Single tickets to the Incognito sale, cocktails and DJ party start at $100; for $250 you can get in and start your Chardonnay-fueled, blind buying spree a bit earlier in the evening. But for ballers really looking for the ultimate leverage, Wednesday night's Precognito offers not only a preview for strategic purposes but also a gala dinner prepared by the rock-star chefs of Alma, honoring artists like John Baldessari, Paul McCarthy, Raymond Pettibon and Gajin Fujita, whose designs graced previous years' invitations. That's the $1,300 night. Package deals are, of course, available if you'd like to go to everything – and with 700 anonymous art works by 550 artists to evaluate, it might be worth the extra time to study up and plan your assault. Santa Monica Museum of Art, Bergamot Station Art Center, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica; Precognito, Wed., April 23, 6:30-10 p.m.; $1,300. Incognito, Sat., April 26, 7-10 p.m.; $250 VIP, $100 supporter. (310) 586-6488, smmoa.org.

Wed., April 23, 7-10 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 04/23/14)

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