A massive collection of various brands and types of spray paint — tools of the trade for artists and creators, but especially graffiti writers of all kinds. On view at the Beyond the Streets exhibition in Los Angeles.
Tag Archives: art world
LOLS: WILL FERRELL & JOEL MCHALE VISIT CONCEPTUAL ART EXHIBITION, HILARITY ENSUES
This is brilliant. In this short promotional video for the Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles, actor-comedians Will Ferrell and Joel McHale take a VIP tour of a conceptual-art exhibition at the museum with its curator. The exhibition is called “Stories of Almost Everyone.” Ferrell and McHale are funny as they’re introduced to various artworks, make comments, and ask questions. The larger gist of the video short is that contemporary — and especially conceptual art — and art museums can be approachable for everyone and are places to ask questions and start conversations about what you see, rather than feel intimidated or confused by the art.
SIZE MATTERS: EPIC 82-FOOT LONG MURAKAMI PAINTING STEALS SPACE FROM OTHER ARTISTS
This massive painting by Japan’s most successful and well-known contemporary artist Takashi Murakami is displayed in the primest spot of the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. It’s huge. It’s epic. It’s unmissable. Anyone entering the museum’s main galleries, where the core selections from the permanent collection are exhibited, will see it as they arrive from the lobby, whether they come via escalator, elevator or a stairway.
So exactly how big is this painting? And what’s it called? Continue reading
DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION: THE INCREDIBLE DEPTH OF ELLEN GALLAGHER’S “BLACK” PAINTINGS
These paintings by artist Ellen Gallagher speak to us in deep, immediate, profound ways. The black abstractions of these canvases are beguiling in their darkness and textures. They change hue and tone as the viewer inches closer to the artwork and the reflection of light off the surface of oil paint brightens and reveals previously unseen layers of shape and color. These are on view at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Los Angeles’s Arts District. Another one of her “black” paintings is on display as part of the permanent collection of the Broad Museum a few blocks away in Downtown Los Angeles. The artwork pictured here is titled “Kapsalon Wonder.”
LOVE: ELI BROAD’S DECADES-LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH BASQUIAT
Among the vast art collection of billionaire businessman, philanthropist and art collector Eli Broad is a large collection of artworks by the late, great artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Pictured here are a handful of those Basquiats currently on view at the eponymous Broad Museum of Art in Los Angeles. (Note: You’ll see round, blurry shadow in the lower left of each image. Sorry, that’s due to dust in the camera of our iPhone. Time for a new iPhone!).
Broad is one of the biggest art collectors in the world and has one of the world’s greatest private art collections, especially of contemporary art, post-modern and pop art. Most of it at his museum in LA.
Broad was one of the early collectors of Basquiat and has many of the artist great works. You could call it a keen eye for a great artist and great artwork.Or you could call it a love affair.
Mysterious: Why “Judith” is Painted on an LA Warehouse Door
The “Judith” in question here is artist Judith Bernstein. The roller shutter with her name painted on it in a rough handwritten style is at the influential art gallery the Box in the Art District of Los Angeles, where Bernstein has had many exhibitions.
Entrance to MOCA / Geffen Contemporary
We’re not religious. But museums are our cathedrals, our churches and temples, our shrines. MoMA may be the modern art world’s Vatican, but in terms of pure open space, MoCA’s Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles comes closest to a giant cathedral like Notre Dame with its massive, cavernous structure. We’re not saying that this museum is equivalent to Notre Dame as far as degree of architectural achievement and historical significance. We’re saying that it is a big fucking space and one that invites reflection and a kind of awe.
The Geffen was kind of a happy accident. The building wasn’t purpose built to be a contemporary art museum. The structure is in LIttle Tokyo in Downtown LA and was originally built in the 1940s for the city as a warehouse and LA Police Department garage accommodating hundreds of vehicles. At the time, MoCA’s use of the space was purely practical.
While the main landmark MoCA branch was being built on nearby Grand Avenue in the early 1980s, the warehouse/garage in Little Tokyo was used as a temporary exhibition space dubbed the “Temporary Contemporary.” Its purpose was to host art shows until construction of the new main MoCA would be completed. The acquisition of the building made sense. The Temporary Contemporary was a success.
It was repurposed as a permanent exhibition space and extension of MoCA. Architect Frank Gehry led the effort. The Geffen’s location is walking distance to the main MoCA location in Downtown LA, and the former LAPD garage offers the kind of space that allows for sprawling exhibitions and epic, large-scale sculptural artworks and installations that might be more diffciult or impossible to mount in other museums.
Untitled Painting by Minimalist Painter Agnes Martin at LACMA … Los Angeles
Entrance Street Art at Lab Art Gallery … Hollywood, Los Angeles
“Walk, Don’t Walk”by George Segal … Whitney Museum, NYC
Sculptural installation artwork by American artist George Segal at the inaugural exhibition of the new Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District in New York City.
Epic Swans Street Art by Faith47 … Lower East Side, New York
Massive mural by the street artist “Faith47” on a building at the corner of Broome and Chrystie streets near the Bowery in New York’s Lower East Side.
In Los Angeles … The New Broad Museum Building
The edgy contemporary architecture of the newly constructed Broad Museum building, a new contemporary art museum in Downtown Los Angeles. The building was designed by the architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The museum will open in September 2015.
On the Street … Hot Pink Converse Sneakers l
We went gallery hopping in New York City on the weekend, which meant we did a lot of walking around the Lower East Side. This gave a member of our crew, Kay Dot, to break in some brand new Converse sneakers. Her Chuck’s-styled kicks are in a shade of hot pink that is practically unmissable from 50 meters away.
Contemporary Art … British Artist Chris Ofili’s Infamous Elephant Dung Sculpture in View in New York
Amid the many paintings by British artist Chris Ofili currently on view at the New Museum in New York is this amusing, visceral little sculpture tucked away in a small stairwell nook. The piece is titled “Shithead” and is made from the artist’s hair, teeth and elephant dung. (Shit, literally.) The artwork is part of an imposing career-survey exhibition of Ofili’s work called “Night and Day.”
In New York … Illuminated Gnomes, Lower East Side
Whimsical, illuminated, translucent gnomes by artist Sam Tufnell at the Castle Fitzjohns Gallery in New York’s Lower East Side.
Artist Creates Awesome Geometric Paintings with Discarded Cigarette Pack Boxes
Santa Cruz, California-based artist Robert Larson creates awesome abstract geometric-patterns on his large canvases using pieces of discarded Malboro cigarette pack boxes he has scavenged as his material. His artwork pictured below was recently exhibited at Volta NYC 2014 in New York City. There’s a good interview on Eyebuzz from a few years a go in which Larson explains how his idea for using cigarette packs as material came to him as he was exploring urban, industrial landscapes and looking for old, distressed metal and wood.
In NYC … Artist Exhibits Reproduction of Trayvon Martin’s Hoodie
“Tough Love,” an exhibition of recent work by Chilean artist Sebastian Errazuriz, is currently on show at the Storefront for Art & Architecture in New York City. The show features some provocative artwork by Errazuriz that riffs on recent and current events. Among the work on show is “Portrait of US,” pictured here, which is a pair of reproductions of Travyon Martin’s bloodied, bullet-punctured hoodie and sweater encased as presented evidence during the trial of George Zimmerman in 2013.
At the Frieze Art Fair in New York City
We’re at the second annual Frieze Art Fair in New York City today, an ambitious event started by influential U.K. art magazine Frieze. Below are some pictures of the venue, including pix of the dramatic entrance to the long, snaking tenets that house the event, which we got to via a ferry up the East River, and our Fair Map.
