Resnick Pavillion at Los Angeles County Museum of Art opens soon

Resnick Pavilion designed by Renzo Piano

Opening to the public on October 2, 2010, Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) ultra-contemporary $53 million, 45,000 square foot Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion was unveiled to Los Angeles' media today.

An Olmec basalt rock monument

Three exhibitions fill the space. Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico features monumental prehistoric stone sculptures as well as smaller objects from Mexico's earliest civilization.

An Olmec Colossal Head 1200-900 BC

Fashioning Fashion is a rare chance to look into history's closet and has nearly 160 exquisitely made examples of  clothing and accessories from intricately embroidered silk and muslin dresses to tailored waistcoats to a rather sexy c. 1900 leather corset accessorized with fetish boots.

18th Century-style fashionistas

Eye for the Sensual: Selections from the Resnick Collection has more than 100 fine pieces of furniture, sculpture and decorative art (such as a pair of Art Deco lamps made from bronze cobras) that span centuries and reflect the couple's eclectic taste. The building's numerous skylights face north, so the entire space is flooded with natural light. The palm garden and surrounding landscaping is by Robert Irwin who also designed the Getty Center's landscaping. Check out the impressive new space, BCAM and LACMA's vast holdings for free during the inaugural weekend of October 2-3. Ticket info here.

LACMA's new Resnick Pavilion

Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-857-6000

Los Angeles' Natural History Museum 1913 Building restored

Restored facade at L.A.'s Natural History Museum: the Eagle sculpture soars again

I've been to L.A.'s Natural History Museum many times: the 1913 Building was the home of the infamous Discovery Room--a creepy crawly extravaganza known as the bug room at my house.  $100 million dollars later, it's now been redone and houses the new interactive and very modern Age of Mammals exhibition which manages to encompass 65 million years of history in one room.

Age of Mammals at the Natural History Museum

As I wrote in September 2010's Los Feliz Ledger: Among the highlights of the restoration is the return of a picturesque terra cotta eagle sculpture, with 7-foot wingspan, that is dramatically perched above the building’s oft-photographed facade. Guided by 24 pages of original drawings, the architecture and engineering team brought back architectural details, such as the 30 arched windows and glass roof in the wing that holds the Age of Mammals.  The restored windows remarkably brighten the space, giving it a very contemporary feel. Newly opened within the historic structure, the perennially popular Age of Mammals was re-designed, with up-close displays behind glass panels that give visitors a way to connect with the deep past. The room that has numerous interactive touch screens, 38 mammal skeletons and digital shorts that illustrate concepts like planetary geology and human evolution, all designed to make science accessible. More than 130 specimens came from the La Brea Tar pits; the suspended whale skeleton above helps put human size in perspective.

Art glass by Judson Studios tops the domed ceiling of the 1913 Building

 

 

 

Look up to see the original, stunning art glass ceiling, now brilliant and luminescent once again. Created by Highland Park’s Judson Studios, the restoration of the rotunda’s domed opalescent art glass ceiling was overseen by David Judson, great-grandson of the initial artist.

And there's still more to come at the museum: new landscaping and entrance will face Exposition Boulevard and a new Age of Dinosaurs Hall. All scheduled to be redone by museum's 100th anniversary in 2013.

Silver Lake Walking Man's local memorials

An iconic fixture on local streets, Walking Man (aka Dr. Marc Abrams) died last week. Sunday's memorial walk in his honor was covered in the New York Times. The story includes an interview with muralist and artist Nicholas Gagliarducci.  (I previously wrote about the mural in May 2009). As the New York Times reports: The mural depicts Dr. Abrams in his trademark light green shorts, reading a newspaper and headed past historic Los Angeles buildings and parts of the city long-since built over.

“There was a sadness about him that might have triggered the old L.A. scene I painted,” Mr. Gagliarducci said. “These parts of our city are things that have disappeared, so it’s like he’s there walking through history.”

There's another Walking Man portrait in the painted mural on the Micheltorena St. Elementary school's Sunset Blvd. facing wall (above). Very saddened by his passing are the youth in the neighborhood who have seen the Walking Man go by their entire lives.

Walk in peace, dude. You will definitely be missed.

The Kids are All Right gets Los Angeles' bohemian side just right

Shot in-and-around Los Angeles, director Lisa Cholodenko captures Silver Lake and Echo Park's boho aesthetic in "The Kids Are All Right." (With spot-on, smart and funny performances from Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, too!)   It's a very well art-directed version of reality with looks that seem torn from the pages of architect Barbara Bestor's Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake. Pictured above is the Echo Park vintage-tinged dining room of Mark Ruffalo's character. Kudos to production designer Julie Berghoff for making his hillside home so believably lived in.

Who wouldn't want to stop in at the locavore restaurant--supplied via a bountiful community garden-- that Ruffalo's character owns? (Exteriors shot in Echo Park). There's a lovely, artfully-lighted outdoor patio, rustic wood panels and a cozy lounge/bar.  Imagine Forage's menu meets Malo's bar vibe set in the outdoor garden at Cliff's Edge, complete with a Santa Barbara County-made wine list.

Perhaps there will be a "Sideways"-like bump in sales for the Santa Barbara wines featured in the film including Alma Rosa and Fiddlehead Cellars' Pinot Noir.  The movie will be in theaters this Friday. If only the fictional restaurant would open soon too.

John Baldessari at LACMA Los Angeles

Welcome to conceptual artist John Baldessari's retrospective complete with gift shop at LACMA. The entire second floor of BCAM is now Baldessari-land with 150 works created from 1962 to the present (and a site-specific 60' nose and 60' ear hanging from the building's exterior).    John Baldessari: Pure Beauty runs through September 12th. Inaugurated at the Tate Modern in London, the show will move to the MET in NYC after its Los Angeles dates.

Based in Santa Monica and a well-loved fixture of the LA art scene, Baldessari's relationship with the museum has been fruitful, advised LACMA's CEO Michael Govan today. The artist helped design LACMA's logo and also art directed the stunning Rene Magritte exhibition that memorably included Magritte's signature blue sky above.

I've always thought there was much sly humor in his text and photo pieces; his answers to journalists' questions today were peppered with wry observations and funny comments. A self-professed film addict, Baldessari is a fan of film noir and often uses found film stills in his work. He finds that movie imagery (the dying cowboy, for instance), captures stereotypes and cliches that are embedded in a viewer's mind. He seeks to manipulate and tweak them to mean something else.

"I don't think art should be elitist," he advised. To that end, there's a Baldessari iPhone application coming out Friday and a commissioned mixed-media series, entitled "W/Studio 54," on display at Wolfgang Puck's CUT restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire, Four Seasons too.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art 

12-8 M/T/Th • Closed Wednesday • 12-9 F • 11-8 S/S
5905 Wilshire Blvd • Los Angeles California 90036  

323-857-6000

The Vader Project is back in Los Angeles: 100 customized Darth Vader helmets

Hey "Star Wars" movie fans and pop-culture enthusiasts: this show is for you. One of the most popular events during the annual Star Wars' fan convention held in Los Angeles in 2007, the Vader Project returns this month (June 11-20) to its own pop-up gallery at 6812 Melrose Ave. The brainchild of my friends Sarah Jo Marks and Dov Kelemer of DKE toys, the Vader Project is 100 Darth Vader helmets customized by artists such as Gary Baseman (above).

At the pop-up gallery you will be able to not only see the one-of-a-kind creations (and some are rather wacky) but also buy a catalog of the entire collection before it goes to auction in July at Freeman's Philadelphia Auction.

You may not get to see "real" "Star Wars" characters like those at the fan-boy convention, but you never know.

Daily from  Noon- 6 p.m. June 12-20, 2010
The Vader Project
6812 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Dwell on Design to tour Eastside L.A.

June 24-27, the design and architecture conference Dwell on Design will come to the L.A. Convention Center. Home tours are included in the event.  The Sunday June 27 Eastside Home Tour (which starts in Larchmont--not even faux or near Eastside) features six modern homes such as Silver Lake's very fab Auburn 7.  Expect hills and hipster enclaves per the website: "This isn't a part of L.A. that many tourists get to see. We head East from Larchmont into Silver Lake and Atwater Village along their peaceful, leafy streets for anyone who dares to stop by. "

Tour if you dare! Screen shot is from the concurrent Mobius LA event.