Sunday, February 17, 2008

Domesticated, contemporary art, and Indian food

Amy’s opening was amazing and beautiful and all the things that you would hope an opening would be. Her work is simply incredible.

On my way into L.A., the photo shoot I had lined up fell through when the subject’s wife went into labor, so I had way more time down there than I had planned. That gave me a chance to stop in quickly and see Amy and then walk down to LACMA where I discovered that admission was free because of the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum. I scored one of the last available tickets (free, but you still needed a ticket) to get into the BCAM, and I did a whirlwind walk-through of the place. The building is great, and then there’s the art. Say what you will about what’s missing, there are Basquiat and Lichtenstein and Warhol and Kruger and Sherman and Serra and way, way more. I need to go back when I have more time.

After about 45 minutes in the museum, I walked back to the gallery where Amy introduced me to photographer Patrick Romero, who reads my blog and has commented here and who should really, really get his own blog or Web site because his work is too good not to be seen by a big audience. Then off for dinner (Indian food, very good) on Paul Kopeikin. I was lucky enough to be assigned the seat (yes, we were told where to sit by Mr. Kopeikin himself) next to Amy’s husband, John, who is ridiculously fun to talk to. All in all, a great night.

Oh, in case I didn’t already mention it, the show, it was fantastic.

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Sunday, April 01, 2007

Pick-up

I got the chance to spend a little time at the Getty today, and the highlight of my visit was A Place in the Sun: Photographs of Los Angeles by John Humble. The exhibit included two projects—The Urban Landscape and The Los Angeles River. Both are wonderful, but I was more drawn to the former. According to the Getty Web site, “John Humble was one of eight Los Angeles–based photographers awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979 to document the city on the occasion of its bicentennial.” Though the places he photographed have changed (some significantly) since he photographed them, what has not changed is the beauty and sadness of Los Angeles. If you aren’t aware of John Humble’s work, you can find more of it at his Web site (click here).

The Getty exhibit opened on March 27 and runs through July 8. (A catalog connected with the exhibition is available at the museum bookstore or online.) If you’re in L.A., be sure to check it out.


Copyright © 2007 Liz Kuball

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