LACMA college night

On Thursday April 5 I attended LACMA’s college night. I had never been to this museum before and I was in awe of the beauty and architecture of the museum. The vibe of the event was so fun. It was swarming with college kids everywhere. I was able to create my own collage and talk to other college students about their art experiences and their thought on the exhibit. The exhibit that I went to was called In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States.

I was very inspired by the many different paintings and works of art in the exhibit. Some of the pieces were a bit frightening including one set of pieces of babie’s dolls heads. While walking around the exhibit there was information on the wall divided into different parts, for example “The Body” or ”The Creative Woman” I liked how the exhibit was divided into different parts according to topic rather than by art style. I really enjoyed the pieces by Frida Kahlo. It amazed me that they were able to get so many unique pieces in their exhibit. I recognized another piece by Helen Lundeberg. His minimalist, abstract style of painting was easy to identify. The bright colors he used and his fading of colors was beautiful and I felt like I could relate his use of color to our class discussion. Overall this exhibit was inspiring and really made me value how close we are to the LACMA. I hope visit the LACMA more often and explore some of the other exhibits presented there.  

Extra Credit: MOCA Transmission LA: AV Club

MOCA was unlike any museum I have ever been to.  The setting was somewhat warehouse-like and there was a really cool bar area.  There was a wide range of exhibits consisting of almost every medium imaginable.  It was really more like an amusement park than a museum.  There were lights and music and some really beautiful artwork.  The Cai Guo-Qiang exhibit was especially impressive (gunpowder art and crop circles!), but unfortunately there was no photography allowed in there, not that I could've fit any of his work into a picture anyway.  The following are just a few of the many photographs I took of the rest of the museum.

Crazy Light Hallway

Crazy Light Hallway Ceiling

Virtual Room

 

Trippy Video Art

Mirror Painting

Car with audio and light show

Butterflies!!!

My favorite: Room with Spinning Circles 

Room with random light ropes

Extra Credit: Santa Monica Museum of Art

I never even knew the Santa Monica Museum of Art existed before, so I'm glad this class gave me an opportunity to go discover someplace totally new!  Upon entering the little souvenir shop at the entrance of the museum, I was excited to see Pollen Arts candles for sale, which are handmade by one of my friend's friends.  

Next, I moved into the Isa Melsheimer exhibit, which was interesting because I couldn't really tell what the focus of the exhibit was.  There were these tiny models on the floor in the center of the room, but I didn't know if those were actually part of the exhibit since they seemed a bit out of place compared to the rest of the things on display.  I thought it was really cool what they did with the strings though.

The paintings were pretty small and almost blended into the walls and were positioned in random places, so they didn't seem to be the focus of the exhibit either.  I moved on to the Mickalene Thomas exhibit titled Origin of the Universe.  Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside the exhibit, but I did manage to get one stealth shot (but you really need to see them in person to get the full effect of the rhinestones).

 Mickalene Thomas's work was incredibly impressive.  Many of the pieces were like collages of all different mediums: acrylic and oil paints, photographs and rhinestones!  The rhinestones were such a unique touch, and they really added dimension and sparkle to the pieces.  The exhibit was comprised of various interior and exterior landscapes and portraits.  The piece titled Origin of the Universe was actually rather explicit, but I thought the title was quite clever.  Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to SMMoA, and I was especially inspired by Mickalene Thomas's pieces since they were really like nothing I've ever seen before.

LACMA College Night

On April 5 I attended College Night at LACMA. It was a great experience and there was an huge turnout of college kids who came to check out some awesome art and enjoy the reception and complimentary food. While there, I was able to view both the Wonderland surrealist exhibit as well as the California Design exhibit. Both had some really interesting pieces in their collection. It was really cool to see how the stye of such things as clothing and furniture have changed throughout the years in the California Design exhibit. The surrealist exhibit had some awesome stuff in it as well. I enjoyed the pieces by Frida Kahlo. I had never really heard of her before so it was cool to learn about her and see some of her work. My favorite exhibit however was Chris Burden’s Metropolis. It was an amazing collection of toy race car tracks built around a large model city. It was really crazy to think about the time and effort that went into it and how if was able to function so perfectly with so much going on. All in all it was a great trip to LACMA and I would recommend it to everyone. 

MOCA Festival Pictures at The Geffen Contemporary

The Geffen Contemporary was an unbelievable showcase of modern art and technology. I especially loved all the projection pieces, which featured large-scale projection rooms in which you could fully immerse yourself in the moving images. There was also some interesting work with neon lights, hypnotism, and audio/visual experiences. The event featured a bar that was part of the exhibit, which would ferry your drink down to you on something that looked like a toy train track, and live music in the evening. There were also sculptures and paintings from up and coming modern artists. In the large warehouse to the right of the exhibit, there was an enormous installation for a foreign artist who adhered a giant rug to the ceiling and cut out crop-circle like symbols from the rug. The adjacent room featured videos of him performing his “gunpowder painting,” which is achieved by fastening firecrackers to the side of a building in the shape of an image, and, once lit, the image appears on the side in black gunpowder. This was my favorite of all the exhibits this semester. I will definitely be returning to the Geffen soon.  

SMMOA Show + Galleries

This is one of the coolest museums around Los Angeles. The old train station that is now divided into numerous sub galleries featured everything from jewelry and fine oil paintings to abstract sculpture and modern works. The Mickaline Thomas exhibition was vibrant and unexpected; full of large, colorful portraits and landscapes in her own, definitive style. Though her images are of real life scenery, her use of color is both original and shifts the overall feel of each painting. 

In addition to this, I checked out the artist galleries at Bergamont Station. There were fantastic sculptures from the LA Art Collective, some dark, horror themed galleries, and in general some wacky paintings and photographs I couldn't quite comprehend. There was a series of pieces woven between a wooden frame with string and wire, as well as wooden mosaic pieces that were a result of a google search for various people and things, such as “Brian Urlacher” or “LA Lakers”. Overall, this museum was a great experience. I will definitely return, and hopefully with some money because I would have loved to buy some of these.

Artist Talk: Maggie Nelson

Last week I attended the graduate lecture series featuring the author Maggie Nelson. Her literature, however, is far from traditional and focuses mainly on the analysis and cultural impact of various forms of art. Her most recent work, The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning (2011), was the topic of her discussion. She discussed several past works, including the infamous “cut piece” by Yoko Ono, in which members of the audience were invited one by one to use a pair of scissors to cut off her clothing. Other pieces, too, where performers would physically inflict pain on themselves, paint with blood, or recreate unknowingly in front of their observers a rape scene or appear as a murder victim. Nelson's book The Art of Cruelty examines the cultural significance of this performance art as it relates to the female psyche. Her images and passages were both shocking and moving, showing just how far the boundaries of art can be stretched to make a point.

Artist Talk: Mitchell Syrop

This was one of the most interesting artist lecturers from the semester. The talk was mediated by the head of the sculpture department Lisa Lapinski and the talk also featured art critic Bruce Hainley, and musician Mayo Thompson of the former psychedelic rock band the Red Krayola. The lecture was organized in conjunction with Mitchell's gallery show at Roski's graduate building, and discussed not only his recent work, but more importantly the accessibility of his previous work to younger generations. Thompson, a cynical, extremely vocal character, commented on the vagueness of the student questions. “Art does not need to be critiqued,” he said. He believed that Syrop's work, along with all other visual and performing art, is free for interpretation but put forth by the will of the creator. Especially with an artist whose work can be as abstract as Syrop's, it was interesting to hear him speak about his intentions now vs. when he began “Watch It/Think It”, a staged movie clip with a specific, dated, washed-out feel that he remembers from his early childhood.  

Artist Talk: Ed Fella

I was fortunate enough to attend the Ed Fella lecture with my typography class earlier in the semester, and was inspired by his talk about his own creative process. He walked us through his upbringing in Detroit, Michigan, where after little success in high school he attended a trade school where he was taught the fundamentals of the Bahaus. While many of his peers moved to LA, New York, and Chicago, Fella decided to stay in Detroit and made a good living as a designer in his early to mid life. It was only later, after being offered a position to teach at Cal Arts, that he decided to move to Los Angeles and continue his love for design and typography on the west coast. While his love of the Bahaus shows through in much of his early work, his more recent compositions show a wild side of him full of chaos and fun. He discussed how he gets across the message of a poster or logo through the texts he designs, and showed us the various stencils and tools, in addition to his sketchbooks, used to create some of his most popular work. Overall great typography work.