A little shindig went down at the Whitney last night, nothing much to talk about, really.

Some artists you may have heard of were there, and some pillars of New York society (many of them Whitney trustees), and, oh yes, almost 1,000 – or was it closer to 2,000 – who had their hands on a coveted gold admissions ticket.

Attending the first night’s preview of the Whitney Biennial, “Day for Night,” is not too far off from winning entry into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Those who were there reveled in the experience.

Just past 7 o’clock, and the video art and the guests were buzzing. In the lobby, Lisa Anastos showed off her House of Diehl outfit, a black leather jacket and a mini skirt made up of miniature album covers.

“I chose this because the biennial is so rock and roll – and you have to wear a piece of art to an art opening,” Ms. Anastos, who is wearing a different House of Diehl ensemble at tonight’s second opening, said.

The director of the Studio Museum, Thelma Golden, in a Cynthia Rowley dress purchased Monday and Michael Kors shoes, was up on the fourth floor with investor Alphonse Fletcher Jr., admiring one her favorite artists, Mike Bradford, and set to locate the work of Kori Newkirk, who will be exhibiting at her museum soon.

As anyone in the art world knows, Ms. Golden defines the hot spot. Joining her on the fourth floor were the Whitney’s director, Adam Weinberg, art dealer Marian Goodman, actress and Imitation of Christ designer Tara Subkoff (in the midst of a photo shoot for Vogue), singer-songwriter and future Metropolitan Opera collaborator Rufus Wainwright, performance artist Kembra Pfahler, and artist Kenneth Anger, whose wall of photographs in the biennial is being viewed in America for the first time. Although the curators of the biennial, Chrissy Iles and Phillippe Vergne, started on the second floor, they, too, found the center of gravity was on the fourth floor (a message helpfully conveyed by the BlackBerry Ms. Iles carried).

As more people filed in, there was chaos, bewilderment, awe, and lots of serious – and not so serious – conversation filled with terms like “artifice,” “irony,” “thought experiments,” and “pre- and post-modernist parameters.”

Some works won only passing glances; others, like Adam McEwen’s “Obituaries,” drew closer scrutiny. A former obituary writer, Mr. McEwen presents blown-up fictional obituaries of celebrities, newspaper-style.

Madison Avenue doesn’t get too wild – unless you count the annual sales at La Perla and the Whitney’s parties. On this night, the artwork did some of the debauchery – as suggested in Marilyn Minter’s “Purple Haze,” which shows a woman made up with purple glittery eyes shadow and open lips spilling pearls and diamonds. And some of the guests went straight for the party floor – the lower level. That’s where I found red and white wine from a vineyard called Peace, tortellini on a stick, brie, sliced radishes, Whitney trustee Joanne Cassullo, art consultant Blair Clarke, and art dealers Anthony Archibald and Max Protetch.

Dare you miss this art party, which runs through May 28, there’s always the 800-page catalogue, which includes bonus material such as a section called “Draw Me a Sheep,” executed by biennial artists, and an essay by philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

But do try to come – golden ticket or not, everyone is welcome at the Whitney Biennial come Thursday when the show opens to the public.