Broad Contemporary Art Museum

GZ and I trudged from her house in West Hollywood to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) on Sunday in 90 degree heat. It was my first look at BCAM, something I had looked forward to for months. I loved the building and you have to ride in the glass elevator that is no less than a small room. And outside the 202 restored antique LA street lights are an amazing display.

But to say I was disappointed by the contents of the building is an understatement. Aaagh. Once again, I really don't get it. I'm being very repetitive lately with my "what is art" theme, I wish I could get off it, but I can't. As long as the public is being fooled and hoodwinked I can't leave this subject alone. What does a porcelain (?) statue of Michael Jackson and his monkey say to me? What am I supposed to feel about a dead lamb in a tank of formaldehyde? Now, I may not be crazy about say, Girl with a Lamb by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, or Boy in Red with a Lamb by Joshua Reynolds, or even Footed Dish with the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), but I can recognize these works as "art."

I kept hoping that I would find one piece I could stand in front of and just sigh in satisfaction. But no such luck. The LACMA site quotes the London Times calling this exhibit "the distilled essence of contemporary American art." I didn't read the article but I can certainly agree with that statement. Oh, was that supposed to be a compliment?

Personally, I feel we are already very well represented in Los Angeles with MOCA which has three facilities in the city. Do we really need to support yet another venue at LACMA? I am disappointed that millions of dollars were spent on presenting junk food when there are so many gourmet feasts for the eyes that need a home.

So, okay this was the opening installment. Ever the optimist, I have great hopes for the future. But maybe a few people in this city need to read Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes."

(Photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Art in the 21st Century
So, I've been viewing the PBS series, Art in the 21st Century on DVD (Oh, NetFlix, how you have changed my life)... just finished the third series. This has been a love/indifferent/hate relationship experience for me. I can't get my head around a lot of what is presented in this series as supposedly "art." A blue plastic bucket from the 99 cent store, I don't think so. What amuses me is how seriously some of these "artists" take themselves. It must be because they have not lived outside their protective bubble. You go to art school, everybody just adores your work, you get commissions from people who don't know any better, and it's a case of the emperor's clothes all over again. What do I know? I don't have a fine arts degree, I'm not an art historian, I don't own a gallery, I'm only a dabbler as an artist. But I don't have to be a murderer to know that murder is wrong! Do I?
Okay, I am jealous, I admit it. If somebody, anybody, had told me art was a respectable profession and I could be involved in it, had given me the tiniest smidgen of encouragement, I would have been on it like you know what on you know what. But that didn't happen. Just the opposite. Yes, I see myself in these videos, working away in my studio, being PAID to have fun and express myself. But instead, I spent my life slogging away for the corporation, under-satisfied, under-appreciated, under-paid. So I am entitled to be bitter, right?
I can't deny it. I am prejudiced.
But then, I don't even have the expectation that art will be beautiful. That is not the point. But shouldn't art, at least, be meaningful? That is a real question. I know the definition of art is obscure. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that art cannot be defined. But it doesn't stop me wrestling with it. The word "Art" must stand for something. Otherwise it is meaningless. But what is it? Well, I suppose it is like trying to define God. It has different meanings to everybody.
However, I also must say that although I disliked or was indifferent to at least 60% of the art shown on the series, I truly embraced a good 40% of it. I can't say that 40% was my cup of tea, but I did understand where the artists were coming from and what they were trying to do. And of that 40% I probably really loved at least half. On the whole, I found the series inspiring and well worth watching. I'm looking forward to series four.
I could not live in this world without art. It is what makes life worthwhile for me. And I'll gladly take the good with the bad than not have art at all.

Mosaic of Memories

I was wondering what to do with all those tiles I painted some years ago when I first started out hand-painting tiles. I recently took a class taught by Carole Free (a wonderful instructor) at UCLA Extension on the art of making mosaics. For a couple of classes I was stuck as I couldn't decide which direction to take as I had so many ideas.
Probably the only thing worse than having no ideas (never my problem in any situation) is having too many (which is why I've never been able to focus my life on any one path). About a year ago I broke up some of my tiles but then didn't know what to do with them, so they sat in a bag on the floor just waiting for the right moment.
Happily, the right moment arrived! I had previously bought a framed mirror which I had intended to use to hold ten 6" tiles, probably with a Ballona Wetlands scene, but I couldn't quite get motivated to paint the tiles.
So everything came together, as these things do.
Now I have to figure out how and where to hang it as it is so heavy and I don't want it crashing down in the next quake.

(Photo and artwork copyright roslyn m wilkins)