College Night at LACMA

I had never been to LACMA before (as far as I can remember anyway), which is totally shameful for me to admit since I was born and raised here in LA county.  In fact, it had been several years since I visited a museum at all.  I don't know why I envisioned vast empty halls with very few visitors and a relaxing atmosphere to just dwell in and really absorb all the work on display.  College night at LACMA could not have been further from what I had imagined.  I was completely blown away by the crowd of young adults that turned up for the event.  It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I finally found my way to the In Wonderland exhibit where I was immediately enthralled by the paragraph of introduction printed on the wall of the entry hall.

I felt comforted by the fact that the artists whose work I was about to see shared the same connection I have always felt to Alice in Wonderland, since my mom had named me after that very Alice.  I moved forward into the exhibit with a renewed excitement, no longer affected by the pack of strangers surrounding me.  I wasn't familiar with the artists behind the first few works in the exhibit, but when I got to the fourth, I was forced to pause.  

Actually the work itself was so intricate that I had to stop for an extended period just to see everything that was going on in it, but then I read the placard next to it and saw the name Frida Kahlo.  I was shocked because I had never seen her work up close before and I realized why she was one among the relatively short list of artists whose names I knew of.  I couldn't imagine how long it took her to include so much detail in her work, and the results are truly breathtaking.  

Besides all of the works by Frida Kahlo, I was particularly impressed by Remedios Varo and Kay Sage.  Varo's masterful use of oil in creating beautiful texture and value contrasts was captivating, and Sage's play with shadows in creating space and depth was extremely stimulating.  

Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibit, and the mashed potato bowls were also amazing.