Where industry meets the arts
E.O. Hoppé, Large Alternator, Siemens-Schuckert werk, Gartenfeld, Germany, 1928 Unknown photographer, GE Plant in Schenectady, 1934. Features Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers (Shawn at center) Hoppe photo credit: E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection, courtesy Graham Howe Shawn photo courtesy, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archive, courtesy Norton Owen Like this? Read more: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival ...
Julian Stanczak’s op art at the L.A. Art Show
Jan
20
2012
Capturing my eye at the L.A. Art Show opening last night, the optical art of Polish-born artist Julian Stanczak, on display by Santa Fe’s David Richard Contemporary art gallery. The show, at the Convention Center — L.A.’s own contribution to urban blight — is on through the weekend. Shifting Square, 1973 acrylic on canvas 30 ...
L.A. traffic jam inside Caroline Graham’s home 2
Super-publicist Caroline Graham’s holiday party in Santa Monica last night was akin to the 405 freeway bumper-to-bumper. Navigating the human traffic-jam conjured Blake Edwards’s party scene in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” It took a full forty minutes to cross Caroline’s cozy living room to greet a friend. It took just as long in the other direction ...
Julius Shulman’s 1936 shot of Griffith Observatory — and beyond
The other evening, touring the Pacific Standard show at the L.A. Municipal Gallery on Olive Hill, I was caught off guard by a four-inch square print of this precious, heroic Julius Shulman photograph dating from 1936. It almost made me cry: the two caps, shape of building [it was then only years old], hills and ...
Quiz: Who got the best gig @ MOCA gala, dancer or bartender? 3
Rehearsals 15 hours none Performance four hours four hours Competition 800 applicants me & my buddy Training MFA in performance from UCLA California bartender license Interactivity Stare like a zombie while guests gnaw on foie gras Chit-chat & flirt all night Drinks Bottle of water after four hours Free drinks all night long ...
The courage of Sara Wookey 4
The subject is the so-called performance art featuring nude dancers on display as dinner-party decorations at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s fundraising gala in mid-November. Some poked heads thru tables as patrons dined; others lay inert with skeletons draped on their bodies. All women decorating tabletops, mind you. No men. It’s a tired idea that ...
WeeGee shoots “Newark with palm trees” — Los Angeles
Nov
26
2011
arts·meme visual arts correspondent, Liz Goldner, contributes this review. “Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (part of the Pacific Standard Time initiative), brings out of near oblivion 200 photographic artworks and a few films, from the late 1940s through the 60s, by and of tabloid photographer, “Weegee” (real name, ...
Go south, PST people — to Long Beach and Orange County
Pacific Standard Time got you overwhelmed? Me too, guys! But here’s a way to break it up, geographically speaking. The weekend of 3-4 December you can lose the L.A.-centricity and check out what’s going on Down Under, you know … Behind the Orange Curtain, er… I mean, you can visit our dear neighbors to the ...
The Greatest at his best, courtesy of photographer Michael Brennan
Nov
21
2011
We enjoyed seeing art photos of the sweaty Muhammad Ali muss up the otherwise pristine Design Within Reach’s furniture-exhibition halls. The sports-and-boxing theme was an odd fit for the tony Beverly Boulevard retailer, but a good crowd milling ’round the rooms made it all work. Even a glimpse of Ali gives everyone a little more ...