The Artful CheckupThis image is from the Icons of the Desert website. See website for further copyright information. Photo: Tony De Camillo for the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Time for my annual checkup so, in my new public transportation mode, I took the Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica Bus Line) from Culver City up to Westwood and the UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) Medical Center. With the 40-minute ride (this route encompasses almost the entire universe) and a combined 20-minute walk, this little adventure lasts one whole hour as opposed to half that time by car. So once again, it's a matter of weighing the value of one's time against the operating costs and mileage on the family car plus the $11 parking fee. Right now my preference is for the bus over fighting traffic and looking for a parking space.

I was able to plan the day so that I had doctors appointments in the morning and late afternoon. This gave me the time slot I needed to walk over to the Fowler Museum on campus. For over two months now I have been staring at the brochure announcing the Icons of the Desert exhibit, a collection of Australian Aboriginal paintings from the early 1970s with the extended exhibit of Innovations in Western Desert Painting, 1972-1999. I was so excited about seeing these abstract images I was almost afraid I would be disappointed when viewing them in person. But not to worry. I was totally immersed in the wonder of these paintings, composed of lines and dots in earthy tones. The best part is that each painting tells a story according to Aboriginal lore. The viewer cannot understand the story without a written description, but this does not diminish the power of these works. I felt a direct spiritual connection to these designs. One can argue that all art is spiritual. However, I sensed these pieces had a life of their own, beyond the two-dimensional representations that I was looking at on the walls of the museum.

Sunday, August 2 at 2:00pm there are two lectures on this exhibit, free with no reservations required. I am tempted to attend.

Unfortunately, this exhibit ends August 3, but you can still catch it at New York University through December.

Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, is a display of 250 artifacts from the Fowler Collection exploring the impact of art on people's lives in various cultures worldwide. There are several pieces displayed that I want to research further on the internet, such as the papier mache art of the Linares family and the ceramics of Jorge Wilmot. This is ongoing.

Reflecting Culture: The Francis E. Fowler, Jr. Collection of Silver is a permanent installation with some stunning examples of silver artifacts such as teapots and goblets.

Busing to Art

Being forced to live in a state of "less is more" I have now discovered public transportation. In a previous blog I reported on my adventures busing and training to downtown LA with my friend GZ. Since then I have become even more adventurous.
Last Saturday I had a ticket for the lecture on The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani at the Getty Villa and invited GZ. Knowing she had no fear of public transportation I thought it would be fun if we could both find our individual ways there, she from West Hollywood, me from Culver City. She assured me she had a straight shot on the number 2. I took line 33 to Fairfax, then line 584, which dropped me off across the street from the Villa (after a rather convoluted trip that took almost two hours, partly my fault but partly because the West LA Transportation Center is several miles east of me from where I can take a bus to anywhere in the known universe, even if I want to go west).
It turned out her bus had changed the route and she had to walk a mile on Pacific Coast Highway with no sidewalks and traffic coming up behind her at 60 plus miles an hour. Going home we both took the #584 to Fairfax then went our separate ways.
The "Golden Graves" date from around 450-250BC and since the 1930s, archaeologists have uncovered 28 burials. Vani is in the area of today's Georgia, Russia. A highly developed civilization has been discovered that had its own religious and artistic practices, while embracing influences from neighboring cultures.
The kingdom of Colchis gained fame as the destination of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece, and indeed, the region has proved to be rich in gold.
The gold jewelry and other objects found in the graves are exquisite and sophisticated. Granulated gold (extremely small gold beads the size of termite castings) were intricately imposed on some of the pieces.
There are also non-burial items in the exhibit such as the elephant lamps and some figurines, all equally interesting in the discussion of this artistic culture.
This exhibit goes through October 5, 2009. As parking at both Gettys is now $15, unless you have a car full of people, I would suggest looking at that bus schedule.

So, for something completely different I decided to bus up to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) on Friday. This was a one-hour trip, door to door, and as Fairfax was a mess on a Friday afternoon, I thought that was pretty good time. I was interested to see Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists From Korea at the BCAM (Broad Contemporary Art Museum, a part of LACMA), otherwise known as the Broad (pronounced "Brode").
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of a lot of contemporary art but I kinda liked this exhibit. I enjoyed walking through HappyHappy at the entrance comprised of strings of brightly colored plastic containers and the chain link fences at the Sixth Street side where you can add your own plastic items. I also liked looking out of the Ahmanson Building to see the swaths of colored fabric criss-crossing the windows.
One of my favorite indoor pieces was the room where there were six movies playing, each one set in different parts of the world. The artist stood still and silent while people passed her by. The passersby became part of the piece too, some ignoring her, some puzzled by her, some smiling or laughing at her presence.
The other was the person-sized stuffed animals. The signage said illegal aliens were inside the costumes as a "performance." One was a rabbit, the other a family of different animals. I found it interesting how my perception changed when for a second I believed there really were people inside, then that they were illegally in this country earning $5 a day for their performance, then the realization that there couldn't be anybody inside.
After that I wandered around the permanent collections, not stopping at anything in particular, just breathing in all the art as a whole, ingesting the peace and serenity.
I walked around outside in the park, viewing the full scale models of the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers caught in the tar pits tens of thousands of years ago. Climbing the berm to the top of the Page Museum, I saw couples, singles, families, tourists, Angelenos, all enjoying themselves on this wondrous, sun-filled day in southern California... all my problems, dilemmas, unmade decisions, and other troubles of the past months, weeks, and days were nowhere to be found. I was in the moment.

Century Plaza Needs Your Help

Below is information I copied from the Los Angeles Conservancy website:

CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL: One of 11 Most Endangered Historic Sites in U.S.
How You Can Help

To Learn More

Century Plaza Hotel in the News

Did You Know?

Moments In History
Photo courtesy Yamasaki Associates
On April 28, 2009, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Century Plaza Hotel (Minoru Yamasaki, 1966) in Century City to its 2009 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This annual list highlights historic places throughout the U.S. that face destruction or irreparable damage.

The owners of the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City announced plans to raze the building and replace it with two 600-foot towers in December 2008. The new project would include a boutique hotel, condominiums, and mixed-use space, plus two acres of open space. The venerable hotel received a $36 million facelift less than a year ago. HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Los Angeles Conservancy is leading the charge to save the Century Plaza from demolition. Here's how you can help:
1. Pledge your support for preserving the Century Plaza. Join our growing network of people throughout L.A. and the world in voicing your support for the hotel's preservation. We won't share your information with anyone, and we'll use it only to gauge the level of support for the Century Plaza and update you on breaking news on this specific issue.

Ronald Reagan at the CenturyPlaza Hotel with Mary Lou Rettonand the 1984 Olympic team. Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Library.
2. If you're part of an organization, consider joining the Conservancy's growing coalition of groups who support preservation of the Century Plaza. For more information, contact Flora Chou at fchou@laconservancy.org or (213) 430-4211.
3. Become a part of the conversation on Facebook and engage in the Conservancy's Century Plaza discussion board. Voice your opinion and find out what others are thinking. Visit our Facebook page and become a fan to get the most up to date information on this issue.
4. If you're not already a member, join the Conservancy to give us greater strength in numbers.
5. If you'd like to make a donation, consider a gift to the Conservancy's Preservation Advocacy Fund to help with expenses for support materials, outreach, and other costs related to protecting the hotel from demolition.

Who Gets To Call it Art, John Constable or Charlton Heston?

I've been watching a lot of 50s and 60s Hollywood movies lately like The Fall of the Roman Empire, Ben-Hur, Spartacus, etc. I never saw those movies when they first came out so I thought it was time to catch up. And, of course, I'll read, watch, hear, or smell anything that has the remotest connection to the Roman Empire, my favorite period of history. So, in that vein, although a millenia away from that time period, I Netflixed The Agony and the Ecstasy starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison, two icons of the silver screen. Of course, we are all familiar with Michelangelo's obsession and anguish with painting the Sistine Chapel (the snippet of Irvine Stone's book that this film covers). Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the relationship between Michelangelo and his patron/protagonist Pope Julius II fleshed out. Nothing in the dialogue sounded phony—the words coming out of their mouths were believable as the actual conversations that took place.
I also enjoyed watching the progression of the painting, from the drawings on paper to the transfer of the outlines to the ceiling, to the application of paint. Watching Charlton Heston painstakingly make those brush strokes while sitting and lying in those awkward positions, it is inconceivable that Michelangelo was able to complete the entire ceiling. Although he had assistants to mix the paint and clean up, he made the decision to paint the whole thing himself.
A few years ago I had the good fortune to stand and stare at the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Our tour guide whisked us through at breakneck speed, apparently so she could maximize the time we spent in the Vatican souvenir store, and hence, her commissions on our purchases. So my friend and I decided to return on our own at the end of the two-week tour through Italy. Whereas the first time through we had been more concerned with keeping up with our guide's red flag than soaking anything in, this time we were able to find a place to sit and contemplate the ceiling in all its glory. I wish now I had seen the movie before viewing the ceiling, as it would have been fun to imagine Charlton Heston way up there on the scaffolding, and even more amazing to contemplate Michelangelo's vision. But obviously, that is my 20th century mindset—and perhaps it was, after all, better to see it for its own beauty and not through the eyes of a Hollywood film.
Aside from the painting of the ceiling and the relationship between the painter and the pope, I was struck by the fact that Julius II acted more like a military general than a religious leader. Apparently at that time, the Catholic church was into empire building, spreading Christianity much like the British Empire spreading "civilization" and the US spreading "democracy," by military might. History turns out to be nothing more than a change of clothes and vocabulary after all.
If you enjoy art, or history, or both, The Agony and the Ecstasy is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

Two other films I rented recently, both documentaries, are Who Gets to Call it Art? and The English Masters: Constable. The first was the biography of an art critic I never heard of before (not that I am familiar with many art critics), Henry Geldzahler, the very first curator of contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Oh, so now I know who to blame! Just kidding, folks. Geldzahler was born independently wealthy—how unfair is that? But it seems he was also born knowing what he wanted to do with his life, and rather than sitting around being rich all day, he went out and did it. He was unusual as an art critic in that he mingled with the artists of the day, had intimate platonic and sexual relationships with some, and both treated and was treated by the artists as an equal. His friends were Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and others of their ilk. Artistic luminaries such as David Hockney and Frank Stella, also his pals and two of my favorites, contributed interviews to the film along with others.

Geldzahler was one of the first people to consider "pop" art as fine art. While I don't always share his enthusiasm, I understand the contributions this genre has made to the world of art, and I admire him for being true to his convictions, as he genuinely believed in these artists and their work. Geldzahler died of cancer at the age of sixty. The organizer to the end, Hockney relates that Henry was carried downstairs from his sickbed so he could re-arrange a few objets d'art in his living room—he loved and understood the relationships between things. He was then carried back upstairs and died shortly thereafter.

The second documentary about John Constable, the English landscape artist, has a more personal meaning to me. On a trip to England a few years ago, some friends took me to Constable Country in Suffolk (see photo above). I have to admit, I wasn't that interested in Constable's art at the time. But after seeing his paintings and being able to relate them to the part of the country that he mostly painted, I became a fan. Landscape art was not very popular at the time (the early 1800s) as the money was in portraits. But as time went by, his landscapes were recognized as great works of art, leading to his acceptance, rather late, by the Royal Academy. His beloved wife died shortly after delivering their seventh child and Constable spent the rest of his life (he died at 60) dressed in black, painting, and raising his children. He rejected the popular notion that artists should use their imaginations, and instead painted what he saw in nature, and was probably the first plein air painter in oils. His sketches, expressions of what he saw at the moment, had a great influence on the later impressionists. As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the area that was his inspiration. The temperature was in the mid-eighties on that trip, with humidity and insects to match. As there is a lot of water in the area, I wondered if Constable had to deal with mosquitoes as he sat out in the fields sketching!

(Photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)