These expressive pieces of artwork deal with self discovery, self analysis and searching for identity . They seem to have a life of its own and put the viewer under a spell, where one can feel the creators’ pain, but also their curiosity in finding answers to life’s questions and dealing with life’s tragic turns.
Having opened in the end of January 2012 the exhibition closed today, May 6th. For the one who didn’t get a chance to see this magnificent art show, here is a slideshow with some of the works displayed at LACMA.
Today, Sunday, is the last day of the 2012 LA Art Show. A visit pays off for the whole family! There is so much to see that not only kids are busy watching but also participating.
It’s an experience to watch so much different art of all kinds of styles at one place. There are also special events offered throughout the day. From printmaking to fine art lectures. Some showcasing galleries have some of their artists present and one can engage with the artists, talk about their art and find out more about them and their work first hand. Corzine Fine Art (Booth B140) had a special event: Artist Yuri Yuroz decorates white T-shirts (don’t forget to bring one with you!) with a painting.
On another side of the exhibition hall, James Peterson’s spectacular installation ‘Hypoxia’ is attracting admirers of all ages. Children are in heaven here since the artist actually encourages them to touch and experience his artwork. In fact interaction with his installation is necessary to bring the installation ‘to life’: Touch causes certain lights to turn on in parts of the installation while sudden blows of air create unexpected movement.
The LA Art Show is open today, Sunday, January 22, 2012, from 11am – 5pm
Metropolis II by Chris Burden has opened to the public Saturday, January 14, 2012. It’s an experience! Should you be in L.A. for the weekend, do pay LACMA a visit and check out this outstanding exhibition. An “elaborate system of 18 roadways including one 6-lane freeway and HO scale train tracks…” and 1200 custom manufactured die-cast cars make you feel like being in the midst of a mini New York or Los Angeles . An impressive structure of steel, aluminum, shielded copper wire, glass, plastics, wood and even legos take the viewer with amazement. One can spend quite some time discovering all kinds of different buildings and world landmarks like the Eiffel tower and Saint Basil’s Cathedral on the Red Square in Moscow.
This upcoming Monday is part of Target Free Holiday Mondays, which offers free entrance to all LACMA shows and a variety of children activities throughout the day. Not only will you get a look at this amazing architectural design gem, but your kids will have a moment of awe and can continue the day at LACMA with all kinds of other fun activities.
NEXGEN the LACMA Youth membership lets accompanying adults visit for free
By the way, should you have children at the ages of 3-18, get them a NEXGEN membership. It’s a free membership for children and allows one accompanying adult per child to visit LACMA for free.
My son and I just spent a great day at LACMA and actually could take a sneak preview on Metropolis II on Friday, when LACMA offered a special member preview day before the official opening of Metropolis II yesterday.
We continued our LACMA adventure with viewing the art collection at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum. Already the building with its contrasting red elements and the steep escalator, that my son named the ‘escalator to the sky’ is a delight for the eye. Inside, one can experience the fascinating paintings and sculptures of so many famous artists like Jeff Koons, Baldessari and more.
Should you love Expressionism, then walk over to the Ahmanson building. The Rifkind Gallery for German Expressionism offers quite a selection of Kirchner, Pechstein and Co. An entire small exhibit is dedicated to Ludwig Meidner: Ecstatic Expressionism, which will be on view until April 15th. Quite an impressive selection of other representatives of modern art can be found here on level 2 as well. From Picasso, Klee, Otto Dix to Motherwell, Rothko, Pollock, Sam Francis and Liechtenstein.
“Telling the story of the birth of the LA art scene” – PACIFIC STANDARD TIME at LACMA
German design bei Kem Weber - Desk & Chair
California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” is another exhibition that should be on your agenda. As part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 it gives a chronological overview through the many historical highlights that shaped California Design.
Silke Otto-Knapps work is quite intriguing and her at first monochromatic seeming work unveils all kinds of layers and hues and creates a captivating atmosphere once you engage with it.
In contrast to this contemporary London based German artist stands Kurt Schwitters work. “He is one of the most influential artists to have emerged in the years following World War I …”(Princeton University Art Museum). He worked in several genres and media, like Dada, Surrealism, Expressionism and more. His work therefore reminds at times of Picasso, Franz Marc as well as also Mondrian and others.
Noguchi – California Legacy is closing tomorrow, Oct. 2nd. If you get a chance head down to Laguna Beach tomorrow and make it a Sunday outing. It’s a small but really beautiful exhibit. The photographs don’t do justice to experiencing the sculptures ’real life’. Standing in the room with the Akari light sculptures and taking in each one of them, makes you feel like standing in a sanctuary of peace and tranquility. Should you miss to see the Noguchi exhibit at the museum look for the sculpture garden ‘California Scenario’ at the South Coast Plaza Town Center.
So pay Laguna Beach and its museum a visit and make it a day of art at the beach tomorrow. Happy weekend!
The Orange County Museum of Art is well worth a visit these days. Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy opened on April 10th and features quite an impressive number of pieces (about 30) by famous American Sculptor Alexander Calder, the master and inventor of mobiles as an art form.
“When Alexander Calder first invented the mobile, he ushered in a new form of sculpture, using free-moving parts to create a flowing kinetic work of art” (What is Kinetic Sculpture? ) Born into a family of well known artists, his father and grandfather were sculptors, and his mother a painter, Alexander Calder did his first piece of art at the age of four in 1902 – a clay elephant. Later on he studied electrical engineering before he dedicated himself completely to his art. Inspired by Mondrian and Juan Miro, while spending time in Paris, his work features bold colors and geometric shapes.
All his work radiates flow and harmony and walking the exhibition at OCMA is an absolute joy to the eye and our senses of esthetics. Parts of the show include also other artists’ work who, inspired by Calder, tried a similar style. Martin Boyce was my favorite and in my opinion comes closest to the union of esthetics and form as exemplified by Calder.
Great for kids is the experiment room (visitors studio) right next to the reception area. ”Organized by the Education Department, … it is a participatory space for all ages to explore the artistic process. This interactive room offers opportunities to engage … through unique activities for thinking, looking, listening, touching, creating and playing…” (OCMA.net)
Visit OCMA for Mother’s Day tomorrow. All galleries will be open for free from 11am to 5pm. A special program for children will be offering several attractions from story book readings of “Calder’s Circus” to special Mother Day crafts.
On Thursday , May 28, the Newport Beach Film Festival started; the festival that brings a bit of Hollywood glamour to Orange County. Aside of the eye-catching movies, the Filmfest offers several spotlights.
Last Friday before the the movie “Lucky” the Eco Spotlight featured the documentary ”This is Your Ocean: Sharks”. Since we were on a family outing we decided on the Eco Spotlight, that we expected should also be attractive to our 7-year old.
George C. Schellenger, Jim Abernethy, Shawn Heinrichs
In the perfect setting , at the Lido Theater, with ocean frescos on the walls, the world premier was introduced to a very welcoming audience. A bit skeptical about the movie when reading that director George C. Schellenger would take us “into the world of sharks through the eyes of Wyland, Guy Harvey and Jim Abernethy“, we witnessed some beautiful images, but I must say that our first skepticism proofed to be right. The movie oftentimes appeared to be more a promotional piece for the artists, especially Wyland, than a movie that would give the audience a deeper understanding of the world of sharks and on how they lived.
The movie did draw attention to the overfishing and therefore destruction of shark communities that are so important for the ocean’s eco system and many of us are not aware of. Unfortunately that seemed to have been the only deeper topic aside of the very touching subject of Jim Abernethy’s relationship to one very particular shark ”Emma”. These pictures indeed were quite unusual and impressive, since we usually picture sharks as not very affectionate animals. Shark Emma though “knows” Abernethy and feels when he is in the water and comes by to see him!
My family, especially my little shark expert, was expecting to see and learn of some groundbreaking new facts on sharks’ lives. But there were barely any scientific details in the movie. I guess, we expected some kind of Planet Earth experience and were somewhat disturbed to be taken out of the beautiful crystal clear waters of the Bahamas only to watch Wyland paint his majestic underwater worlds on big walls. I wouldn’t have minded to see more of shark expert Jim Abernethy’s beautiful underwater photography work, which complemented the movie much better.
All together the movie is a great attempt to draw attention solely on to sharks and their need for protection. Besides one can experience some fascinating images of underwater scenery, and … should you want to learn more about Wyland’s and Guy Harvey’s painting style and drive for painting underwater worlds, then this is definitely a must see.
If you would like to get involved in saving our oceans, a good start is joining the movement ”One World, One Ocean“.
After the Gruffalo didn’t win the Oscar after all, I took my little son to watch the Oscar Animation Shorts the other day. According to the judgment of my son the first short Madagascar was quite boring. Asking him for his favorite one, his vote fell for none of the nominated ones but for one of the additional award wining shorts: “The Cow Who Wanted to Be A Hamburger is a children’s fable about the power of advertising…” (Everything Burger blog). I am not sure if it was the story or the way the film was made, that intrigued him, but I found the film, with its intensely flickering pictures somewhat headache causing. The story though was quite reminiscent of what we go through as parents all the time. In short : Mom& Dad have no clue about anything and really don’t understand what their kids really want and desire. Despite what the parents try to tell them, kids have to go out into the world, do their own experiments and make mistakes and hopefully learn and grow by mastering them. So also the little calf in the movie. Reality forces it to wake up from its splendid dream of life and face the real world and make some real decisions.
Let’s Pollute seems like an instructional movie, yet is a satire which is initially somewhat confusing for kids. My little son needed some explanation, since he was startled by the movies apparent support of pollution. Yet, he thought it was quite funny.
Pixar’s entry Day & Night is cute and is typically Disney. Of all the shown shorts this is the one, let’s say most pleasing to the eye, since it is the animation what we are most used to watching. Gruffalo, the German/British entry, is a cute children short, in the sense of what one expects from a kid’s movie: pleasantly drawn and clear images, simple story . My son and I enjoyed watching it and the voices of the characters are captivating.
The Lost Thing , by Shaun Tan, in comparison, has extravagant drawings as well as a profound storyline. The movie appears to have a subliminal depressing tone in my opinion, but it has the most imaginative pictures and storyline; both reminiscent of Dali’s surreal paintings. The pictures are not as easy and clean to watch and understand as in Gruffalo, but very complex and full of little odd details. It’s definitely very artistic and deserves the Oscar.
Animated short films are in the OSCAR spotlight. This year’s film nominees can be seen in theaters from Friday on in Los Angeles. “The Gruffalo,” is Germany’s Oscar-nominated animated short, produced by A Magic Light Pictures Production. The LA Times calls the film ‘a charming fable about outsmarting one’s fears.
Have already plans for the weekend? If still undecided or in need of some more ideas, look over our CaliforniaGermans‘ eclectic suggestions:
According to the weather forecast this weekend has some colder summer temperatures in stock for us. Perfect weather for checking out some of Southern California’s cool museums. So after a quick and windy visit at the US Open for surfing in Huntington Beach, you might want to drive down south along PCH and pay a visit to the Laguna Art Museumand its exhibit Art Shack that OC Weekly calls a “cooler-than-cool” exhibition. Open until Oct 3rd one can explore “…surf shacks, tattoo huts, retro shanties and more… Art Shack is presented by Hurley.”
Keep going south and stop by the San Juan Capistrano library later on for their Music At The Library Event on Saturday evening, featuring Steve Riley and the three-time Grammy-nominated Mamou Playboys. There will be two shows with the first one starting at 6:30pm and the second at 8:30pm. Location: San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 31495 El Camino Real, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
On Sunday, don’t miss OCMA’s(Orange County Museum of Art) Targetfree second Sunday Family event. Not only is admission free on the second Sunday of every month but a whole program of activities is offered throughout the day, form hands-on projects to film shorts for kids screenings, and more. The program is from 11 am to 4 pm.
Going north along the coast brings us not only to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, which is always a lot of fun, but Long Beach is also home to a great museum , that my family always enjoys: MOLAA. The Museum of Latin American Art which is the only museum in the western United States that exclusively features contemporary Latin American Art. MOLAA is now offering free admission on Sundays. Apart from great contemporary art exhibits and a noteworthy 15,000 sq. ft. sculpture garden, this Sunday, August 8th, will also kick off the Colombian Cinema Showcase which will present screenings of the best in contemporary Colombian film. These screenings will include a variety of features, documentaries, and short films. The opening reception is free and open to the public, will include tours of the galleries, live music and a free screening. Call for details – 562-437-1689
More Latin Sounds are offered at LACMA in Los Angeles which is presenting Adonis Puentes this Saturday, August 7, at 5:00 pm. The concert will be at Hancock Park and entrance is free. On Sunday LACMA will have its free Andell Family Sundays from 12:30–3:30 pm with bilingual gallery tours and programs designed especially for families. Special Tip: Richard Wagner fans might want to visit the exhibit Myths, Legends, and Cultural Renewal: Wagner’s Sourcesat that time as well since it will be closing on August 16, 2010.
More music but this time especially for kids can be found at the Getty Center. This free concert series in the Central Garden is for kids and their families and features some of the best children’s musicians from across the nation: August 7 and 8- Dance with Milkshake, a band sure to have you and your kids on your feet with their rock ‘n’ roll tunes. From 11:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. there is also free family fun with tours especially designed for children, art workshops, hands on projects and much more.
Despite the predicted cooler summer nights this weekend, I have to mention the Flights & Sounds Summer Festival at the Orange County Great Park. With free dance lessons at 7:30pm and concerts starting at 8pm the Orange County Great Park Corporation presents in partnership with the Irvine Barclay Theatre free Saturday night concerts and Friday Night Dance Parties.
The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles presents Skirball’s free Sunset Concerts, celebrating musical traditions from around the globe, every Thursday evenings, July 22–August 26. All concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.Doors open at 7:00 p.m. Free admission; no reservations.
Last, should you care for some German theatre, right from Berlin. Franz Kafka’s: A Report To an Academy is playing in German with English subtitles at The Ivy Substation (The ACTORS GANG) in Culver City, 9070 Venice Blvd. Tickets are $20/$15 and can be ordered by calling 323-464-3375 or per email zoodistrict@gmail.com
Vom kleinen, unscheinbaren Vogel zum "König der Vögel": Eine Legende beschreibt, wie der Zaunkönig zu seinem Namen kam. Manchmal haben gerade die Unscheinbaren eine verborgene Schönheit.
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