Art Talk

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Under Cover and Behind Closed Gates Apr 22, 2008

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When a few years ago, two Los Angeles museums, MOCA and the Hammer, jointly organized a sprawling exhibition devoted to the history of the American comic strip and comic book, I felt underwhelmed and slightly excluded from all the excitement that surrounded the exhibition...

A New Madonna for Our City of Angels Apr 15, 2008

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So, ladies and gentlemen, if you, like me, have been procrastinating on filing your taxes until the very last moment, then today – April 15 – is your Atonement Day. Why this Christian reference? Probably it has something to do with the deep impression left on me by the spectacular works by Anselm Kiefer and their religious symbology that I talked about last week. Or, maybe I was swayed by the purity and beauty of the Madonna, not the one on the cover of Vanity Fair, but the 500 year-old vision of her that I saw last Sunday...

My Thoughts on Madonna, Moses, and...Anselm Kiefer Apr 08, 2008

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For me, last weekend turned out to be anything but usual. It's Saturday: I am drinking my morning coffee and, all of a sudden, I am in the presence of...Madonna, staring at me from the cover of Vanity Fair. Still in great shape, still eager to provoke. Behind her, the globe that she holds -– or should I say, clutches –- with rather frightening determination. Then, another sip of coffee, and a quick look at another cover story: Moses and his famously thunderous voice is no more; Charlton Heston is dead...

Museums and Private Collectors: It Takes Two to Tango Apr 01, 2008

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My fellow Angelenos, judging by the numerous exhibitions of contemporary art currently on display in various Los Angeles museums, I want to assure you that the state of art in our city is strong...

Great Art, Fake Art... Who Knows? Mar 25, 2008

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The news about the recent acquisition by the Getty Museum of a rare painting by Paul Gauguin came as a welcome surprise. Though this work is known to specialists, it has rarely been seen, as its Swiss owner was very reluctant to loan it out for exhibitions. Even in reproduction, it is absolutely striking, not only because of the beautifully preserved colors, but also because of the strangeness of its subject. Painted by Gauguin during his first trip to Tahiti, it shows what appears to be the severed head of a man placed on a white pillow in the center of the composition...

Art, Sex and Videotape Mar 18, 2008

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As far as the Los Angeles art scene is concerned, last week was a winner. Consider this: in celebration of its tenth anniversary, the Getty Center held two special conferences. The first was focused on new acquisitions made by Weston Naef, Curator of Photographs, Lee Hendrix, Curator of Drawings, and Thomas Kren, Curator of Medieval Manuscripts. All three curators are old pros who have been with the Getty for decades and have virtually built these collections from the ground up. Each drew from a treasure trove of entertaining, poignant stories about their many triumphs and occasional defeats in the never-ending hunt for rare, beautiful artwork...

The Color of Life Mar 11, 2008

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We are lucky to have here, in southern California, some of the best art schools in the country. But when several years ago, I went to one of them to see an exhibition of works by students graduating from the Master of Fine Arts program, I left the galleries feeling rather depressed. Most of the art was inept, and I felt sorry for the parents who had been duped into investing thousands of dollars in their kids' education, with such a dismal return...

Artists as Magicians and Holy Fools Mar 05, 2008

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In the heady art scene of the 1980's, with New York as its epicenter, there were several brash, young artists who ruled the day. Their paintings were big, their personalities even bigger. Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Robert Longo -- they all had become part of the fashionable crowd, their names constantly in the news. Now, a quarter of a century later, their presence on the contemporary art scene is, to put it mildly, rather modest. Today only Julian Schnabel, whose reputation was made by painting over shards of broken plates, continues to evolve as an artist...

To Love It All Feb 27, 2008

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There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that artists cannot make good art from, including such strange substances as bodily fluids and excrement, both animal and human. You may remember the controversy surrounding the paintings by Chris Ofili, the British artist whose trademark material is elephant dung. Bull's urine was used in the past to produce a particular yellow paint, famous for its warm, golden glow. Andy Warhol made a series of so-called 'piss paintings,' where he and his assistants literally urinated on canvas treated with copper; the resulting 'Oxidations' elevated a lowly process into high art. Anselm Kiefer, a celebrated German artist, deals with apocalyptic subjects and uses for his art everything from hay to semen...

Idiots Retreat Feb 20, 2008

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Last week I talked about the theft of four priceless artworks from the Bührle Museum in Zurich and wondered what the hell the idiot burglars were planning to do with the stolen French paintings, so famous as to be virtually unsellable. Here is the latest about the idiots and their heist...

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