“Band (2006) may qualify as Richard Serra’s magnum opus, representing the fullest expression of the formal vocabulary proffered by his monumental steel arcs and torqued ellipses of the 1980s and 1990s. Among the most formally elegant and technically complex works of Serra’s oeuvre, this sculpture took him two-and-a-half years to develop. At 12 feet high and more than 70 feet long, the work is vast even by Serra’s monumental standard. Careening aesthetically between bravado and elegance, Band bespeaks the ambitiousness of Serra’s artistic vision and his commitment to its physical realization.”
Some of us were amazed by the sheer scale of the piece…
…others less so.
A visit to Chris Burden’s Metropolis II is a must for big and little kids alike.
“An intense kinetic sculpture, modelled after a fast paced, frenetic modern city. Steel beams form an eclectic grid interwoven with an elaborate system of 18 roadways, including one six lane freeway, and HO scale train tracks. Miniature cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour; every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulate through the dense network of buildings. According to Burden, “The noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars produce in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21st century city.”
The Julie Mehretu exhibition is a little more grown up, but no less impressive.
Her vast, abstract, mixed media paintings are almost like Rorschach Tests, plunging visitors into heated debates about their deeper meaning.
Don’t miss Kirsten Mosher’s Soul Mate 180° outside.
“Antipodes, the parts of the earth diametrically opposite to each other, have been an important part of Kirsten Mosher’s work, which includes painting, sculpture, video, and text. Soul Mate 180° is an installation comprising two elements: a marble sculpture nested in the garden outside of BCAM, and a short story displayed on a beam outside BCAM, Level 2. The sculpture depicts a wave in the Indian Ocean—the opposite side of the world from LACMA—created from data collected from high-resolution radar, ships, aircraft, satellites, and buoys. The story mentions first kisses and global warming, and is excerpted from Mosher’s ongoing novel in which the sculpture is character.”
Or Thomas Joshua Cooper’s pictures, if you’re into photography.
For lunch we thought we’d go to Republique, but couldn’t face the wait so opted for Drago instead.
Hidden away inside the jaw dropping Petersen Automotive Museum.
Where we thought Lily may be excited by all of the cars on show, but as she was fast asleep we didn’t mention them and settled in for a long lazy lunch.
Followed by an afternoon beside the pool.
Not a bad first taste of LA, what should we show her next?
