The crowd at the Parish Art Museum gala in Southampton on Saturday roared like a Tea Party convention when Empire State First Lady Michelle Paterson explained why her husband couldn’t be there. “He’s been busy in Albany signing 6,681 vetoes to keep spending down,” she said to thunderous applause. Among those who turned out to see curator Beth Rudin DeWoody and painter Ross Bleckner honored were Christophe de Menil, Donna Karan, Jay McInerney, Debbie Bancroft, Eric Fischl, Robert Zimmerman, Jonathan and Somers Farkas, and Tatiana and Campion Platt.