Birthday Trip to LACMA

Last year I joined LACMA for my birthday, especially to see the James Turrell retrospective. It was a deal to join since membership included free tickets to the special exhibit. Little did I know that I would return four more times to get my money's worth for the $110 "Dual Membership". If you are interested, here is a link to my year at LACMA. 

Yesterday we saw Van Gogh to Kandinsky which opens to the public tomorrow, but members got a special preview.  In this exhibit we were allowed to photograph a number of the works with a little sign next to the ones we were not allowed to shoot.

Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. Looking forward to seeing the Klee museum in Berne where he grew up.

I got in trouble for taking this photo. See the gentleman in black on the right side? He came over to me to explain the photographing rules. I just wanted to show the scope of the exhibit and how many people were there. It's a terrible photo, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

So, while I was pleased that our $110 membership had gone so far this year, we had to add an additional $58 to the total spent while going to LACMA this year. We parked on the street to save the $10 parking fee in the lot, and after 2 hours and 10 minutes in a 2 hour zone, we were awarded this lovely ticket from the City of LA. I guess that $168 is still a good deal for 5 trips to the museum for 2 people....

On Art Installation

Some of our book club members have moved from Claremont to LA and live near LACMA. That means that when we go to their place for book club, we stop by the art museum before we meet for book discussion. It's fun to go to LACMA with another of our book club members. He is an artist as well as the Associate Director at the Pomona College Museum of Art. He was particularly interested in seeing the exhibit called Four Abstract Classicists (which includes Claremont artist Karl Benjamin). He was greatly disappointed in the exhibit, however, and this is why. It consists of only 8 works. Only one Benjamin. 

Karl Benjamin work on the left

He also did not like the fact that these two Hammersley works were placed so close to one another. They are not naturally a pair, and the eye needs more space between non-related works.

In another room, he pointed out to us that the new rage is to place art in the salon-style, like it was done back in the day. (Think Isabel Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston.) Here are book club friends examining why it is difficult to enjoy individual works of art when hung in this manner.

Calder at LACMA

Somehow I got it into my head that it would be fun to take a swing by LACMA after our afternoon in Westlake Village. I had seen the ads for a new exhibit of Calder mobiles, and I just love his work. Now that I have a membership to LACMA, it makes sense to drop in, even for just 45 minutes, since we can get into the exhibits for free.

Of course, the 35-minute drive from the edge of Ventura County took over an hour, and by that time we were starting to feel the effects of that 8-mile hike. Nonetheless, I am glad that we stopped in to see the art. The exhibit was not huge, so we could take our time in enjoying each of the pieces. I wish I could have taken photos because the shadows cast were pretty cool as well as the art itself.

However, here are some images for the blog anyway. The first one is one of the permanent Calder sculptures that sits outside at LACMA. I took this photo back in June.

I had never seen Urban Light at night, so I snapped this shot. They need to replace one of the lights….

This is the cover of an invitation for new members to attend a reception for the Calder which is this Wednesday - not a great time to get into LA for us.

LACMA Again

In between Canter's and book club, we had time to kill and a desire to stroll through LACMA. Although we had just been there earlier in the month, I knew there would be art to revisit and perhaps something new to see. I've read that the best way to get to know a work of art is to have multiple encounters with it, so I was ready to see some of my favorites. What I had not realized that when we were there in early June was that we had totally missed the special exhibition of Hans Richter art. Granted, I think I had heard his name, but was not familiar with his art, film or writings. This retrospective has so. much. stuff. that it was overwhelming, so I concentrated on the pieces which caught my eye. I particularly liked these works (and I checked with the guards to make sure that I was allowed to photograph). Apparently these are scrolls which he made as a model for a film: The Orchestration of Color. I found this video online.

Now that I've seen that little clip, I think that this exhibit makes a great companion to the James Turrell exhibit that is also currently at LACMA.

Birthday at LACMA

Yay for a birthday that falls on a weekend! On my Kansas trip I read a few articles about the James Turrell Retrospective at LACMA and knew that's how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I had also been wanting to see the Levitated Mass, so that was a bonus.

I have no photos of the Turrell exhibit since they are not allowed, but let me say that I am glad we saw it. I think if I was not familiar with his Skyspace at Pomona College, I may not have enjoyed the show as much, mostly because his work is very subtle and takes time to enjoy. 

When we arrived at the museum just before it opened, the skies were still holding on to June gloom, so the light was soft, but the skies uninteresting. If I lived closer to the museum, I would watch the skies and take opportunities to photograph this rock. The bolder is actually smaller than I had envisioned, but, nonetheless fun to see.

Of course I enjoyed much of the art that we saw (mostly modern), I was particularly enamored of Metropolis II - a model city with trains and cars that zip around like crazy. The kids watching the cars were clearly thrilled with the excitement, as evidenced by their chatter and occasional shrieks.

We capped the evening off with a trip to the Pomona Skyspace.