LOS ANGELES — In John Altoon’s current retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, curator Carol S. Eliel organizes a view of this Los Angeles artist’s work that spans from his early beginnings in art — heavy strokes of more Cubist-type work — to his delicate, sexually charged ink and watercolors leading up to his death.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Posted inArt
The Dancing Designs of Modern Art Kimono
Many of us, when we picture kimono, envision the traditional Japanese garment covered in similarly traditional images: blossoming floral motifs, soaring or leaping animals, mountain peaks and cresting seascapes in Ukiyo-e style.
Posted inArt
Sculpting the Thingness of Light
LOS ANGELES — For Helen Pashgian, art exists at the intersection of the material and immaterial. Her use of industrial materials, such as acrylic, epoxy, resin, and metal, combined with complex fabrication processes serve to make the presence of light a substance unto itself.
Posted inNews
National Exhibition Will Fill US Billboards with Art
Five American art museums and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America will mount a nationwide public art exhibition this summer. Art Everywhere will bring reproductions of some 50 artworks from the museums’ collections — chosen how else but through an online public vote — to billboards, subway platforms, train stations, and more.
Posted inArt
Frank Gehry Frames LACMA’s Calder Exhibition
LOS ANGELES — Architects often make good exhibition designers. It may seem obvious, since architects as a rule frame and organize space, but few actually get involved in the design of major museum exhibitions. Frank Gehry is an exception to the rule and the Los Angeles-based architect has for decades been designing exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Posted inArt
Vanquished Modernism Reconsidered in Pink
LOS ANGELES — Rudolph Schindler was ahead of his time. A protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and an early adapter of modernism, he introduced a revolutionary form of architecture to Los Angeles in the early 1900s.
Unfortunately, at the time, no one cared.
Posted inNews
LA Museum Drama: MOCA Goes Full Deitch, LACMA Lays Off Staff
LA MOCA has fired Paul Schimmel Paul Schimmel quits LA MOCA? (according to Jeffrey Deitch), LACMA is reducing its hours and cutting staff, and the Getty cut jobs last month. Pull yourself together, LA!
Posted inOpinion
LACMA’s Rocking Social Media Campaign for Levitated Mass
LOS ANGELES —There’s a giant rock in town. If you live in Los Angeles, it’s almost impossible to ignore this fact. Part of that is because the rock — Michael Heizner’s “Levitated Mass” — blocked traffic on its slow journey to the heart of LA and into the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But it’s easy enough to skip that part of town if you want to. The biggest reason is that almost every Angeleno (at least in my art-loving circle) is talking about it.
Posted inOpinion
Covering Geopolitical Tensions with Bedcovers
LOS ANGELES — Tucked away in a small corner at LACMA is a new show: Common Places: Printing, Embroidery and the Art of Global Mapping. Culled together from the museum’s permanent collection, the works consist of embroidery inspired by printed paper works.
Posted inArt
LA’s Newest Rock Star Rolls Into Town
LOS ANGELES — When this guy comes to town, he brings with him an entourage of hardhat-wearing men, baleful security officers, news teams and draws crowds of local residents and enthusiastic out-of-towners (including me). A rock star, you say? You bet.
Posted inOpinion
Four Minutes With Ellsworth Kelly
On the occasion of the Ellsworth Kelly: Prints and Drawings exhibition at LACMA, the museum has posted a four-minute segment from a longer conversation between the artist and curators Stephanie Barron and Britt Salvesen.
Posted inArt
LACMA Lets You Play Exquisite Corpse on Your iPhone
LOS ANGELES — Just a day after I reviewed LACMA’s In Wonderland exhibition of surrealist female artists, I came across their new app. Designed by media artist Jody Zellen, Art Swipe starts you off with 16 images from the show. The images are cut in three and arranged with others on the screen, allowing you simply to slide the images until you find a mash-up you like.
