Art Outside Los Angeles (Pacific Standard Time #8 and #9)

Pomona (technically, Claremont) and Palm Springs are obviously not known for their art or art museum but I would not have otherwise visited these art institutions if it had not been for Pacific Standard Time.  Pomona College Museum of Art is within the Claremont Colleges and the exhibit reminded me of a time when art was just plain old wild, crazy, sex, drugs, anything goes.  Not that I lived that era but there was a definite 60s or 70s feel to every piece they showed in this small museum just a short walk from Claremont Village.  Names that regularly make the MOCA rounds in LA (Baldessari, Burden, Chicago) had significant stays in Pomona in the period 1969-1973.  About 75 miles to the east is the Palm Springs Museum of Art.  My visit last week was my first to the museum as well as to the city of Palm Springs and was not disappointed both in the art as well as the vibe of the city.  I knew moving to Rancho Cucamonga did bring me closer to the desert communities and driving home from Palm Springs on a Friday afternoon took a lot less time than driving home from LACMA or MOCA or The Getty.  "Backyard Oasis" is all about Southern California and I would recommend it to anyone who loves this place -- from LA all the way to Palm Springs.  The center of attraction are four David Hockney (Polaroid) collages of swimming pools and they are just phenomenal.  No one does collage better than Hockney.  Period.

Weegee In Los Angeles (Pacific Standard Time #7)

My seventh Pacific Standard Time visit was to MOCA Grand Ave yesterday, New Year's Eve.  It was one of those quick hour and a half visits because every LA institution closed at 3pm on the last day of the year.  I got there around 130pm just enough to ingest what the photographer Weegee (Usher Fellig) produced in his 4 years (1947-1951) in Los Angeles.  What the exhibit gave me more than anything is an appreciation for what we have today in compared to life in the late 40s.  Some quick thoughts as I was going from gallery to gallery:
1) Has there ever been a photographer who worked in Los Angeles who didn't take pictures of celebrities?  Bet Weegee would have done the Kardashians if he were alive today.
2) I wonder how Weegee would have appreciated Photoshop?  Several galleries showed his analog manipulation of images to produce more interesting composites except he used a variety of techniques primarily special lenses, filters, etc.
3) Whatever happened to all those men's magazines from the 50s?  The print sizes of those rags were such that they fit in a man's inside jacket pocket, somewhere between the size of an iPad and an iPhone.
4) I need to get a copy of Weegee's New York (1948) -- a movie that was shown but restored to opening day quality.
5) I still find it a real stretch to consider tabloid photography as art.  It's like saying TMZ is eligible for a Pulitzer prize.  Either way, who am I to decide what is or isn't art.
6) Now, I'm really curious how his work before and after working in LA looked like.  It would be interesting to contrast his work and see if it got better or worse.  Working in LA has that effect on anybody who has spent any extended period of time here.  Could be the filthy air or dirty sex or abundance of celebrities or some combination thereof.

California Design (Pacific Standard Time #6)

Another perfect day in the City of Angels.  This time of year, it's a definite problem just driving down the street with crazed last-minute shoppers and other people who need to be somewhere yesterday.  So LACMA is probably the least crowded of all LA institutions today where those who finished their Christmas shopping early soaked in this perfect winter day in Southern California.  This is my 6th Pacific Standard Time tour stop where California design in being showcased in the Resnick Pavilion at LACMA.  This one did not disappoint and to my surprise, photography was allowed throughout the exhibit with the exception of the re-creation of the Eames House living room.  So of course, I snapped away starting with what greets visitors (top) as well as what brought up the rear (bottom).  And in between, was a visual buffet of what California design was all about.  As I snaked my way through various items, I cannot help but think that this kind of design, especially the architecture, could never have originated in the east coast.  Bright, open, clean, optimistic.  The fact that it was sunny outside and in the 60s in December has everything to do the design attributes of everything that originates from California.  Artists and designers are definitely influenced by the geography and the climate of where they do their creative work.  It may be winter solstice in the northern hemisphere but if you're here, there is good reason to be out visiting a place like LACMA.  It's also the first day of my winter vacation and after working hard most of the year, I needed a day like today.


The red item above is called an Ice Gun, c. 1935.  The description reads "The ice gun's aerodynamic form resembles the streamlined trains and automobiles of the 1930s.  It provided cocktail party theater:  the thirsty gunslinger would pull back on the cone-shaped lever, drop the ice cubes in the opening at the top, release the trigger, and crushed ice would fall into the waiting glass."  Now, that is cool.

Vivan Los Muertos (Pacific Standard Time #5)

So I dragged the kids out of Rancho Cucamonga again and headed to the Autry after eating lunch in Arcadia.  There is a Day Of The Dead Celebration going on from 3pm to 9pm today and here are some of the images I captured on my camera.  Also, I decided to join the Autry as a museum member since I can get my money's worth in just a couple visits.  Besides, they gave me a cool Mariachi book to go with the membership.  Of course, while we were there I saw the Autry installment of Pacific Standard Time called "Art Along The Hyphen: The Mexican-American Generation".

The House That Sam Built (Pacific Standard Time #4)

It was the only logical thing to do.  We met my brother's family in Arcadia for dimsum this morning and the Huntington Library was only a few miles away in San Marino.  They had an exhibit of some of the phenomenal works of art by probably Rancho Cucamonga's most famous artist, Sam Maloof.  Sam understands what clean design lines are all about.  I actually learned about him when I saw a local paper mention his death in 2009 at the age of 93!  (I've always argued that art makes you live a longer, fulfilling life.)  The Boone Gallery inside the Huntington is small but was filled with masterpieces by the master craftsman, along with several paintings of local artists like abstract painter Karl Benjamin.  The coolest part of this Pacific Standard Time exhibit is I got to sit on an actual Maloof chair and after talking to the docent, I realized that I had sat on probably the most expensive piece of furniture (about $25,000) I will ever set my butt on.  The maple chair was as ergonomic a wooden chair I've ever sat on.  Which brings me to my point that design is not all about the visual but also about fit and function.  A great artist like Sam understood that.

CMP at UCR (Pacific Standard Time #3)

Today was my day off so what better way to spend it than look at some antiques at Mission Galleria and visit my favorite museum in the IE, the California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside.  They had several of the classics (Adams, Weston) in the same gallery along with works with Baltz, Deal and the other Adams (Robert).  This installation is part of the Pacific Standard Time collaboration. On the third floor is a separate show titled "Aftershocks" that include some more works from Deal and my favorites, Laurie Brown and John Divola.  Even though it's a good 50 miles from LA, I've always felt CMP is up there in terms of cutting edge photographic works displayed over the years.

Now That's What That Airstream Trailer Is For!

When the kids and I visited LACMA in August to see Tim Burton, I saw this Airstream trailer inside the Resnick Pavilion for an upcoming show.  When I saw Tim Burton in June, this gallery was filled with David Smith's sculpture and was surprised to see it empty because I really wanted to see his works again.  Instead, I was greeted by this empty main area of the newest of the LACMA buildings.  I did find this weekend, from some San Bernardino newspaper of all places, about the California design exhibit at LACMA that started on October 1st and right there on the front page of the section was this same Airstream trailer I saw two months ago.  I will return to LACMA soon as I committed to seeing as much of Pacific Standard Time as possible and the Resnick Pavilion is definitely on my list.

MOCA Geffen Contemporary (Pacific Standard Time #2)

We had lunch with my brother's family and my parents at President Thai in Pasadena to celebrate my birthday.  So it's a no-brainer to take the extra 20 minute drive to Little Tokyo to go the MOCA Geffen Contemporary to see my 2nd Pacific Standard Time exhibit this week.  Not sure how the kids will take some modern California art (through 1981) but I was surprised how engaged they were viewing some of the more obscure pieces.  (My bribe was to take them through the shops in Little Tokyo to browse afterwards.)  I actually had a chance to go to the opening night of "Under The Big Black Sun" last Friday but ended up having a party at home instead to toast the completion of our project at home.  Anyway, the last time I took the kids to a museum was in August to see Tim Burton and that did not disappoint them at all.  My hope is through osmosis, my kids will get to appreciate this kind of art a little more each year as they grow older.  The pieces at the Geffen did not disappoint.  Several pieces by my favorite Los Angeles artist, Ed Ruscha were shown along with some Raymond Pettibon punk rock and poster art from the Black Flag years.  In fact, I was surprised to see several Black Flag vinyl LPs at the museum store.  I only had an hour to walk through all the galleries as my kids were starting to get restless looking at "these weird" art.  So, needless to say, I will return to the Geffen (without kids) to really take the time to visually absorb each piece.  Another beautiful day in the City of Angels.

The Getty Center (Pacific Standard Time #1)

I made the decision today while sitting in some boring meeting at work.  What if I make it a goal to see every exhibit. I don't know exactly how many of the participating museums I will get to visit but so far I did my first (of hopefully at least 20) visit at a Southern California cultural institution to see Pacific Standard Time.  Yesterday is #1, a visit to the Getty Center on a perfect October day.