Architecture

A while ago, we posted an article asking what you, dear readers, thought about the distinction between art and vandalism.  Skating the line, with a very charged political message, is British street artist D*Face who has installed two enormous and menacing Oscar statues atop two iconic LA locations: Runyon Canyon and Mel’s Drive-In in Hollywood.  Both statues have skeleton-like figures with bits of flesh missing from their arms and legs exposing Oscar’s blood and bones.  The one that sat at Runyon had a placard that read “Beauty Is One Snip Away,” while the other at Mel’s Drive-In said “Beauty Is Skin Deep.” They’ve both been removed since they were spotted yesterday morning, but the whole incident begs a whole host of questions, not least of which is: really? Mel’s Drive-In? We get Runyon Canyon, but that’s a strange choice.

More importantly, what do you think of all this? The two most basic sides must be: applause to D*Face for exposing a vanity-obsessed culture at a time when it’s at its most self-congratulatory vs. how petulant of this artist to criticize a sector of popular culture that he need not participate in if he finds it so disheartening.

We imagine that a great many of you, dear readers, have guests in town for the holidays.  If you’re lucky enough to have them staying at your house, you’ll appreciate this little listing of places to send them so that they can experience all the art and culture that LA has to offer. (Remind them that Woody Allen was wrong when he said it was only frozen yogurt and right turns on red…)

Bergamot Station

A healthy sized collection of art galleries in Santa Monica, Bergamot Station does actually have something for every walk of life.  Your sister-in-law prefers installations while your uncle is a photography nut? Send them west of the 405 to this once dilapidated train station for a day filled with some of LA’s most innovative galleries.  They’ve even got a café, salon, and vintage clothing shop on site, so let them know they could be occupied for hours!

Bergamot Station is located at 2525 Michigan Ave in Santa Monica.  Please call (310) 828-4001 or click here for more information.

Annenberg Space for Photography

Your guests will surely appreciate a jaunt to Annenberg Space for Photography’s latest exhibit: SPORT: Iooss and Leifer.  Read our take on it here.  It’s a spectacular collection that chronicles the recent history of sports including inspiring snaps of Serena Williams and Mohammad Ali.  They have no excuse to come back before grabbing a bite at the little café downstairs and then maybe catching a movie across the street at the Century City shopping center – drop a hint about your favorite shops in the mall.

The Annenberg Space for Photography is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars #10 in Century City.  Call (213) 403-3000 for more information or click here.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

If you’ve got guests over New Year’s Eve, grab a couple seats to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy take advantage of the unparalleled acoustics at Disney Hall.  There’s a show at 7:00pm and one at 10:30pm – we’d recommend a quick bite either before or after the performance at Kendall’s Brasserie across the street at the Dorothy Chandler to help ring in the New Year!

Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Ave. in Downtown LA.  Please call (323) 850-2000 or click here for more information.

Getty Villa in Malibu

There is no better place to remind your guests that you live in paradise than the Getty Villa in Malibu.  It’s free to view the ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiques and objets d’art, you’ve just got to make a reservation beforehand for parking.  On view now at the Villa is an exhibition called “Reconstructing Identity: A Statue of a God from Dresden.” Once you’ve gotten your fill of the gorgeous views and Roman-inspired architecture, head a bit farther down PCH to Cross Creek Road, where you’ll find Taverna Tony’s (delicious Greek food) and some dangerous shopping.

The Getty Villa is located at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.  Please call (310) 440-7300 or click here for more information.

It’s hard trying to keep up on what’s what.  Here is round-up of art news that came our way:

• More than just a hobby — There are some people making serious cash with arts and crafts.  No macaroni sculptures or macramé to be found.  And it will make you want to consider taking up knitting.  [New York Times]

• Don’t just dress like an artist –  Read like one, too.  Inspired by Jerry Saltz’s book, An Ideal Syllabus, Tyler Green asks artists their favorite or most-valued books.  Your Amazon wishlist will be growing.  [Modern Art Notes]

• The Power List – There aren’t too many power suits to be found in the art world.  Well, maybe a few.  Here is Art + Auction’s list of power players for the year.  [Art + Auction]

• ‘Tis the season for top tens — Here we go: fascinating museum exhibitions, architecture moments, classical music moments, and theatre productions.  [LA Times]

• Lost, then found — A Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen in 2003 has been recovered and is now exhibited at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.  Whew!  Close one…  [BBC]

• Not just regular ol’ archaeology — It’s artist archaeology?  Teams of scientists are looking into where’s the final remains of Caravaggio. [Telegraph]

• Yes or no? — What is contemporary art and what isn’t contemporary art.  You decide.  [e-flux]

• The course load — It isn’t Drawing 101 anymore.  Here’s a few art classes across the country that weren’t offered when you were in school.  Times are a-changin’.  [Art Net]

• New year, new leadership – The Downtown Art Walk announces a new executive director: Jay Lopez, the force behind Beyond Eden, East Hollywood Day of the Dead, and the Silver Lake Gallery Alliance. [LA Magazine]

• In the knick of time – The Centre Pompidou reopens after a 24 day strike just in time for your Christmas in Paris.  That is, if you are getting sick of your 80 degree weather in LA.  [Art Info]

So I’ve been writing for Fine Arts LA for almost a year now, and I realized that this affords me one of the greatest of art-reviewers’ honors: the end-of-the-year top-ten list.  As a devout follower of numerous art, theatre, and film writers, I find that it’s often popular to downplay the top-ten tradition, dismiss it as a sad reality of the quick-fix world we live in.  But even in this downplaying, there’s a hint of relish in the writer’s voice, as if he/she felt obligated to somehow contain their own excitement at the prospect of shedding off those hundreds upon hundreds of shows, films, galleries, albums, installations, and happenings they consumed throughout the year, finally to narrow it down to the even, clean number of ten.

I myself haven’t been to hundreds of shows this year.  But as a weekly contributor to Fine Arts LA, I have been privy to some of the best art this crazy city has to offer, and I wasn’t limited to one medium.  I saw plays, movies, photography exhibits, I even flirted with the perils of a natural disaster, and thus… my top ten:

10. “Sam Cherry: Photographs of Charles Bukowski, the Black Cat, and Skid Row”

Representing one half of the double exhibit entitled “Bukowski and Burroughs” that went up in early April at the Track 16 Gallery, this series of simple photographs succeeded in portraying what none of these phantasmagoric, apocalyptic fantasy movies can pull off: it showed an old, self-destructive man, reflecting back on the good times he’s had, proud yet regretful, strong yet weak.

9. Ken Tanaka’s “Maximum Pleasant”

Ken Tanaka is one artist/performer/youtube-phenomenon I was lucky enough to interview.  His show at the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery back in May included videos, paintings, drawings, music, and even a fully functional garage sale.  But it neither the media mash-up that impressed me about Ken nor even his possible double identity.  It was his sense of pure pleasure in creation, his contagious childlike sense of comedy that emanates off his pieces, and made for one of the smiley-est art openings I’ve seen in LA.

8. Landscaping the Den of Saints

It’s easy to skip over small, live theatre in Los Angeles, especially when it’s a three-hour meditation on the ideas of success and ambition like Jacob Smith’s recent, original production at the Avery Schreiber Theatre.  But sometimes you miss out on gems, and this play took on the issue of being young and hungry in Los Angeles, and ended up representing the struggle with a sense of playful accuracy.  And actor Sean Fitzgerald deserves some sort of award for his transformative performance.

7. Visioneers

This film, which is now up on Netflix instant-play, began its distribution independently.  And I mean independently.  I saw Visioneers at the Echo Park Film Center, when it was traveling around to any screen that would take it, and I have to say that it stuck with me.  Starring the still-underrated Zack Galifianakis, the movie is about spontaneous combustion in a futuristic, corporate-run society, where giving someone the middle finger is a sign of respect.  Every time I enter an office building, I think of the bearded Galifianakis flicking me off with a smile.

6. Gavin Bunner’s “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”

Another interviewee, the friendly Mr. Bunner isn’t afraid to dress in a cardboard Moby Dick costume and compete in a public boxing match against a Berenstein Bear.  Sure it seems silly, but it’s emblematic of what this young, promising painter is attempting to capture and celebrate in his work: the absurd convergence of pop and pomp in our Google-ingrained brains.

5. Lie of the Mind

I only saw this play last week, so it might just be a fresh lie of my own mind, but Studio Five Productions’ latest show, which you can still catch until the 19th at the Studio/Stage Theatre, is a brave and forceful retelling of Sam Shepard’s original, 1985 story.  The actors are physical and fierce, the music is haunting, the makeup is extraordinary, and the set is like something Jason Schwartzman’s character would dream up in Rushmore.

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In your beautiful, British garden filled with lush roses and wildflowers, you probably sip your PG Tips tea – with milk and two sugars — in your favorite spot right next to a folly built just for your viewing pleasure.

Pray tell, what is this folly business?

Essentially, follies are unusable pieces of architecture built for pure ornamental purposes and contain some element of novelty, whether they are constructed to look like ancient ruins such as the Pantheon of Rome, Chinese pagodas, or the Egyptian pyramids. Stemming from the word “folly” which means “the act or instance of foolishness,” architectural follies are built solely for form over function; no one can actually reside or work in a folly, unless you job is to relax in your garden and enjoy the scenery…  They are exquisite pieces of lawn decoration to say the very least.

But, architects Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena of Escher GuneWardena have taken this idea and run with it to their closest Pacific Design Center to create Folly – The View from Nowhere, organized by MOCA curator Philipp Kalser.  This show surveys architectural follies from around the world as well as offering a newly designed folly courtesy of the firm.

With so many examples of programmatic architecture – novelty architecture with a purpose — across Los Angeles, we are completely intrigued by its opposite – the folly.

The Folly – The View from Nowhere opens at the Pacific Design Center December 6, 2009.  Please click here for more information.

Image: Lucy the Elephant, Margate, N.J.

This had never happened before. My curiosity grew more and more as I traversed through this particular museum’s Gothic collection. Normally, a museum with this caliber of art has a reputation that precedes it; but this one did not.

This collection is housed in the St. Agnes convent, one of the most famous and oldest convents in Europe. The Old Master’s collection of Prague’s National Gallery contains paintings and sculptures ranging from the 12th to the 15th centuries. It effectively traces the evolution of visual styles throughout Bohemian history, artistically depicting how the city became an intellectually prosperous and thriving cultural center.

However, few even know that this convent­–founded in the 13th century by the sister of Prague’s great King Charles IV–even exists, or that it houses one of the Czech nation’s greatest art collections since it lies hidden among the winding cobblestone streets in the far depths of Prague’s Old Town.

Separately and together, both the convent and the collection are historically weighty players in the greater scheme of the other historical monuments in Prague. This must be one of the most non-famous historical monuments I have ever seen.

The convent does not scream out like other more overdone Gothic buildings. There is a certain simplicity, humility, and reverent factor to the structure that suits the essence of the collection perfectly. The sanctuary seems to shrink back at the thought of large crowds – the galleries are so small that they would probably buckle with a group of more than 50 people at one time; a fraction of what a museum will take in a day.  Still, it begs the question–given the significance of the art–why such a low profile?

Possibly a consequence of the Czech Republic’s closed off communist days, or maybe due to a lack of publicity, this collection fails to attract the same celebrity as other branded medieval collections– such as Musée du Cluny’s in Paris, or the Uffizi’s in Florence– both of which are renowned throughout the world.

At long last, in 2006, the collection–and the convent as its resting place–received due international recognition when the MET brought the collection overseas to New York City and exhibited the Bohemian Gothic art alongside that of its Italian, French, Byzantine, and British counterparts, sending a message cementing its place in the international canon of Medieval art.

The convent and its collection housed within it deserve to be visited. Not so they can be marked off a traveler’s checklist, but so they may be captured in a memory, or written about in a journal that documents the highlights of a culture whose prominence has long remained in the shadows of more well-known artistic centers.

Such discoveries make a museum aficionado, like myself, feel unprepared. Yet, it simultaneously endows me with an impression of genuine discovery– a sensation often unattainable, due to the vast number of guidebooks and online gallery reviews available today.  Feeling like I had discovered something turned out to be significantly more gratifying than already knowing what was to come, as is the instance with the Louvre’s Mona Lisa or L’ Accademmia dell’ Arte’s The David.

The sense of stumbling upon something foreign and mysterious; a hidden treasure of sorts is appealing and is especially fitting in a city like Prague. Its meandering cobblestone streets will never fail to provide new surprises and discoveries at every ancient, yet all the while, unfamiliar turn.

- By Andrea F. Pagliai

Berlin may be our sister city, but there’s another German-speaking city nearby that has had great cultural and intellectual influence over Los Angeles.  Vienna is home to two of Los Angeles’ most significant architects of the last century: Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra.  From the time they landed in this city in the 1920s, both architects have stylistically shaped Los Angeles’ landscape. They merged a Viennese aesthetic with inspirations derived from their new surroundings.  Their geometric, modern styles compliment Los Angeles’ spread out feel and their works have inspired generations of modern architects in this city and in Vienna.  

An exhibit on through September 13 at SCI-Arc’s Library takes a look at just this: the influence that Vienna has had on Los Angeles and vice versa.  By inviting LA-based architects Hitoshi Abe, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, and Eric Owen Moss to compete for a chance to update Vienna University of Economic’s campus by integrating school buildings with a more urban campus feel, the exhibit does explore how each city has shaped the other.  Juxtaposing these architects’ works are photographs and drawings of local buildings by Schindler and Neutra.  Some of their masterpieces are sure to include Neutra’s Chuey House, the Neutra Office Buidling, and the Schindler House in West Hollywood. 

It’s exciting to see that Vienna has had more influence on LA than just the apple strudel and Wiener schnitzel – although… those have been pretty thrilling so far. 

Schindler/Neutra and LA in Wien / Wien in LA are on at SCI-Arc through September 13, 2009.  For more information, please call (213) 613-2200 or click here.  

Those familiar with the non-Indiana Jones side of archaeology feel at home poring over geographical and architectural maps.  Getting a good feel of the land surrounding a site as well as plotting the fragments of ancient buildings on paper are key to preparing your findings for publication – fingers crossed!

It takes skill to envision lines, dots, and dashes on a two-dimensional map as a living and breathing structure.  But these kind of works and more fleshed out architectural drawings allow people to gather data about civilizations past as well as contemporary architecture.  For every commercial and residential structure, there are thousands of pieces of draft paper scribbled upon and meticulously drawn in the various stages of building.  These papers give insight into the thought process of an architect at work.

For those who need a little light to hone that skill, the Edward Cella Art + Architecture gallery is currently showing Drawings and Objects by Architects, a drawing-based exhibition that highlights the original drawings of buildings and architectural details by Frank Gehry, Richard Neutra, Lebbeus Woods, Frank Lloyd Wright, and many others.  Included in this show are buildings of two of the most famous skyscrapers – the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center.  Mostly filled with black and white drawings, colorful splashes brighten up the exhibition space as you walk, wonder, and see this other side of architecture that is usually stuck in a sketchpad somewhere.

 Drawings and Objects by Architects closes October 10th at Edward Cella Art + Architecture.

Image courtesy of Edward Cella Art + Architecture 

Angelenos aren’t strangers to coming together during a time of need, especially when local treasures are at stake.  Take Los Angeles Conservancy’s actions to preserve the Ambassador Hotel.  They fought tooth and nail all the way to provide alternatives for LAUSD to build a school while maintaining the integrity of the Cocoanut Grove’s historic home.  Despite all efforts, the hotel was demolished to pave way for a much needed school.  But that promise to preserve and revitalize Angeleno heritage remains not just in terms of architectural structures, but also contributions to LA.

Many of you are aware of the protest  against LACMA’s proposed film program cuts.  Considering LACMA has lost nearly $1 million dollars over the past ten years in this department, this decision was coupled with declining audiences and new forms of film watching.  It seems like an easy way to streamline the budget, right?

We beg to differ.  Launched by Philip Chamberlin in 1968, Ronald Haver and David Shepard screened films to make LACMA’s film program one of the city’s strongest.  Since its inception, the film program at LACMA has brought Hollywood classics and international rarities up close and personal for the denizens of Los Angeles.  Its removal not only make us upset, but ever active.  Even Martin Scorsese had something to say in an open letter to director Michael Goven and LACMA:

“…So I find it profoundly disheartening to know that a vital outlet for the exhibition of what was once known as ‘repertory cinema’ has been cut off in L.A. of all places, the center of film production and the land of the movie-making itself.”

But Scorsese isn’t alone.  Debra Levine and Kathleen Dunleavy launched Save Film at LACMA as quickly as LACMA decided to place their film program on the chopping block.  The LA Times reports that they wrote a letter requesting a meeting with those in charge to discuss: “how critical the LACMA film program is for our community; [to] help find ways to reinstate and enhance the museum’s commitment to film; and [to] present you with our petition.”  That petition, by the way, has 2,190 signatures, their Facebook group has 2,906 members, and their Twitter feed has 184 followers at last count.

Michael Govan and members of Save Film at LACMA will begin conversation come September 1 to talk about reinstating the film program in a ‘popcorn summit,’ which will hopefully require more summit than popcorn.

If anyone is to say they never attended a film screening at LACMA, they don’t have an excuse now.

The program is scheduled to end after “The Classic Films of Alain Resnais,” Oct. 2 to 17.  Here is your invitation to sign the petition.

Video courtesy of Save Film at LACMA

Some shoes are made for walking; some definitely are not.  As much as we love them, for three days you’ll want to tuck those Louboutins away and tie up some Chucks.  Trust us.

The Architecture and Design (A+D) Museum wants to share with you a little architecture and design  — outside of the museum.  Some call it a walking tour; we (and the A+D Museum) prefer the term “urban hike,” which incorporates an element of interaction us car-bound Angelenos aren’t used to.  And since none of the urban hikes involve being in traffic, we are starting to like this idea more and more.  A series of urban hikes will lead you around the neighborhoods of Little Tokyo, Leimert Park, and MacArthur Park – each neighborhood on a different day – and let you take note of architectural gems and little nooks Angelenos have overlooked or even forgotten.  Your guide, Mike the Poet, knows the neighborhoods like the back of his hand, so just put one foot in front of the other and explore Los Angeles in an unconventional fashion – by foot.  By all means, bring those Louboutins just in case you are feeling brave.

The first urban hike of Little Tokyo is this Sunday, July 26. Leimert Park’s urban hike is Sunday, August 9 and the last one is at MacArthur Park, Sunday, August 30. All tours start at 11.  For more information, click here.