Getty Villa

As a city girl at heart, I always feel the need to be “on the move,” especially here at school where we are constantly starring at our computers for hours in the day (doing work or procrastinating). I push myself to either go on a beautiful hike, such as in Malibu or Runyon Canon, or see a new exhibit or landmark.

Two Saturday's ago, many museums offered free admission, such as LACMA, Getty Museum, MOCA, etc…My friend and I visited the Getty Villa. I was in awe with the gardens and fountains. I felt as though I was somewhere far away from California, or some sort of secret garden. The structures of the houses were old, yet the café and other structures were all designed with modern and contemporary styles. Yet, both the new and old styles worked together.

Here are some pictures I took of the villa.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-museums-southern-california-free-20140108,0,2193183.story#axzz2rAfy7QTb

Los Angeles Art Convention

How great is it that we could attend a well-known art convention just a mile down from USC? I was blown away with how many artists and the diversity of artists the convention had on display. It was nice to walk around and recognize artists, such as Damien Hirst and Mr. Brainwash, and also discover knew artists that intrigued me. I was very fascinated by Craig Alan’s work—most of his artwork had a 3-dimentional aspect. I was also very intrigued by Edie Nadelhaft’s work. For example, he had a display of pills with different abbreviations on them, which brought a light, witty vibe to the white wall (see photo below).

If you did not get a chance to experience this art convention, I encourage you to visit next year!

GAGOSIAN GALLERY DISPLAYS WORK OF RICHARD AVEDON

The famous GAGOSIAN GALLERY in Beverly Hills had a exhibition on the work of Richard Avedon during my first semester of school. For those who are unfamiliar with Richard Avedon, he is a photographer known for his fashion/women photography. 

In one section of the gallery, the room was dark, with lighted pictures of different famous women. I loved how there were just small pops of striking colors. I was drawn in to each small picture, observing the different lights/pigments.

The rest of the gallery (completely separate from the dark room) had a very calming feel, with tones of white, blue and grey. I liked how some photographs were very large and spread out, so that there was white space in between—it made the room feel taller and more spacious. It was appropriate for the calm approach to his room. 

It was really interesting to see how many women Avedon had photographed too, women famous in both this time and also women that perhaps our parents and grandparents knew very well. And yet, women who are currently alive or those who have passed, were all jumbled together on one wall—there was not a defined pattern to how he displayed each photo, because each photo had equal importance.

I encourage everyone to check out his work, as well as to check the website of the Gagosian Gallery to see what exhibitions are coming up! 
For more information, here is a link--I would definitely check out some of Avedon's work! 
http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/richard-avedon--november-01-2013

DVF Exhibition at LACMA

DVF Exhibition at LACMA by Valerie Gard

Diane von Furstenberg’s signature piece is the wrap dress. I find it so interesting that over years of new trends, this dress has still been a best seller. I also found the prints on her dresses from different years interesting when displayed next to each other: some coordinated nicely together with similar color palettes, and even some designs were similar. I love how the main room where all the dresses were displayed had no white space. Each section of the room had a different pattern on the wall, that even flowed onto the floor. The design was busy, yet feminine and tasteful.

When you first enter the exhibition, there is a gallery of photographs—all of DVF herself. The display was very empowering—it was clear that this exhibition was all about “girl power.”

What I admired most about the exhibition, and DVF herself is that she stuck to one item and created a forever lasting trend and ideal/vision of how a classy, empowering woman looks/wears/feels. For more information, here is the link http://www.dvf.com/wrap40/, and below is a picture I took...

Art Based Activism Opportunity!

Hi guys!
 
I'm writing this post on behalf of the anti-genocide coalition at USC, STAND Against Genocide. Our organization works to stop mass violence and atrocities that are occurring around the world by educating the community and raising awareness about ongoing conflicts, by advocating on behalf of affected communities and reaching out to elected officials and university administration, and by fundraising for related nonprofits.

Our organization is planning an exciting event called "Your Voice, Your World" for this spring that I thought might interest the members in our class because it has an art related component!

There are a lot of really great people and student organizations who are working on important global issues - but too often, these efforts go unrecognized and students who might be interested in getting involved don't even know these organizations exist. This spring, STAND is hosting an event where these students and student organizations can share their work and network with one another.

The event will feature a series of student presentations: short talks, modeled after TED talks, where students share stories of global activism, and presentations of art projects (music, spoken word, dance, art submissions, etc.) that respond to world issues.

Please take a look at the flyer and submission form if you are interested in submitting a proposed talk or art project for this event. Please share it with any friends who might be interested. Proposals can also be submitted directly via our online form.

The initial proposals are due on February 14th! We realize that this date is fast approaching, but the purpose of collecting the proposals so early is just so that we can assure that we have the appropriate equipment for each performance. Those who submit a project proposal will have until the event on April 4th to finalize their work!

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, please let me know so we can talk more about how the event will work!