Eye for the Sensual at LACMA's Resnick Pavilion

Context: Silk Ficus with Hot-Glued Plastic Lemons

Full disclosure: I'm not a big fan of Mannerism, Rococo, or paintings of the Paris Salon, so my take here on The Eye for the Sensual: Selections from the Resnick Collection will be an impression of my own gestalt of the show rather than a nuanced look into 17th to early 20th century European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. One of a trio of exhibitions that opens LACMA's new Resnick Pavilion, the show showcases the private collection of the building's primary benefactors, Lynda and Stewart Resnick.

In Bill Lasarow's review of the new building at the Huffington Post, he offers a great depiction of "going through" the show:

The artifacts of civilization carted over from their Beverly Hills manse is hyperinflated fluff that is laid out in a series of temporary enclosures that feel like a forced march, as back and forth you go. The entire effect is so unremittingly repressive that when it finally spits you back out into the open central space in which the superb "Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico" exhibition holds forth, the spirit is immediately lightened, the mind ready to read lots of labels instructive on the subject of ancient Mexico. The contrast makes a sage of Mr. Piano.

In reality, when the show spits you out, it's into the giftshop, that other pillar of capitalism and art museum solvency.

Claudet's Cupid Playing with a Butterfly, Early 1800's bronze

 When I look at a work of art, it is fundamentally the completion of a link between the artist's intent and me the viewer. In the best art, this dialog and still be heard, savored, and appreciated over the din of the work's patron and commissioner, the history of its provenance, and the multiple contexts where the was bought, stolen, stored, or displayed. Seeing a Greek bronze in a Grecian villa means one thing; another layer of meaning gets added when the work is plundered and finds a place of honor in a Roman Villa. Still more complexity is added when a work is buried and forgotten, then rediscovered and recontextualized at a place like the Villa Borghese. When in Rome, it was difficult to see a sculpture or painting of Leda and the Swan as anything more than a thinly veiled attempt at showing off a nice set of hooters. So what should I think about a 500 year-old bust of a young Roman emperor that decorates a Beverly Hills home, carved a millennia after the fall of the Roman Empire? Work without a strong voice of its own is bound to get drowned out by the tastes and intentions of the collection's amalgamators. 

Far Left and Right:
Cordier's Said Abdullah from the Tribe of Mayac in the Realm of Darfour and African Venus, 1848, 1851, bronze
center is Lehmann's The Sirens Luring Ulysses, 1847,  observed by Diane Calder

With the primacy of Modernism, Salon painters like Henri Lehmann have fallen out of favor and now come across as hackneyed and clichéd. Ninetieth century busts of African tribal leaders may have meant something different in the era when the slave trade was falling out of favor--and the argument put forth may be that Africans can be noble and proud instead of commodities--but 160 years later these busts are also reminiscent of French Colonialism; could a pair of busts consisting of a named man and a woman labeled as an object--African Venus--speak any lounder about the subjugation of women? You wind up getting a lot of other strange juxtapositions that drown out anything approaching the artists' intentions. Consider the pairing of Ingres' Virgin with the Host and Fragonard's erotic Two Girls on a Bed Playing with Their Dogs on display in the Resnick's bedroom amidst their collection of Art Deco furniture.

Widmann's Two Gladiators in Combat, circa 1740's marble

With the 18th century Bohemian take on antiquity (above), I'm reminded of Leonardo Da Vinci's take on other artists' representation of the human form (without a corresponding understanding of anatomy), with bodies that look like "a sack of rocks." The fact that the net in the vanquished gladiator's hand looks like a hunk of tripe doesn't help matters. Knowing that the Resnick collecting  started by buying a work that was misattributed to Antonio Guardi points to the inversion of the museum's traditional process where knowledge and investigation precedes the ability to purchase a work for the collection. Another example comes from their purchase of a large marble portrait of Napoleon, bid on sight unseen, which turned out to be much larger and heavier than expected. With anecdotes like these, the primary signifiers are of affluence and power, and a return to the disposable income and economic disparities not seen since the industrial revolution.

Art Deco Decorative Arts around Maillol's Torso of l'Action Enchainee, 1905-06 bronze

There are a few small works where the voice of the artist still communicates directly with the viewer, but for the most part, it feels good to finally step out of the galleries into the fresh Olmec air.

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The Ecumenical Atheist

Image Source: Friendly Atheist

The New York Times has a story on a new Pew survey (a quiz really) asking Americans about religion.  Turns out that atheists scored the highest, with an average of 20.9 correct answers (out of 32) and Hispanic Catholics pulling up the rear averaging only 11.6 right. Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists is quoted in the article:

“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people. Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”

This makes me wonder if the relationship between knowledge and belief would hold true for politics as well. Are anarchists more politically astute than your average Federalist Papers-reading Tea Partier?

On the September 28, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone, reporter Matt Taibbi makes a strong case for an "us versus them" reminiscent of the Old Testament:

The individuals in the Tea Party may come from very different walks of life, but most of them have a few things in common. After nearly a year of talking with Tea Party members from Nevada to New Jersey, I can count on one hand the key elements I expect to hear in nearly every interview. One: Every single one of them was that exceptional Republican who did protest the spending in the Bush years, and not one of them is the hypocrite who only took to the streets when a black Democratic president launched an emergency stimulus program. ("Not me — I was protesting!" is a common exclamation.) Two: Each and every one of them is the only person in America who has ever read the Constitution or watched Schoolhouse Rock. (Here they have guidance from [Dick] Armey, who explains that the problem with "people who do not cherish America the way we do" is that "they did not read the Federalist Papers.") Three: They are all furious at the implication that race is a factor in their political views — despite the fact that they blame the financial crisis on poor black homeowners, spend months on end engrossed by reports about how the New Black Panthers want to kill "cracker babies," support politicians who think the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an overreach of government power, tried to enact South African-style immigration laws in Arizona and obsess over Charlie Rangel, ACORN and Barack Obama's birth certificate. Four: In fact, some of their best friends are black! (Reporters in Kentucky invented a game called "White Male Liberty Patriot Bingo," checking off a box every time a Tea Partier mentions a black friend.) And five: Everyone who disagrees with them is a radical leftist who hates America.

My sense is that the standard liberal arts education that American universities dolled out from the G.I. Bill through the seventies used the humanities as  an armature on which to hang some essential critical thinking skills. When institutions of higher learning became what are essentially vocational tech schools to learn business, art, lawyering, nursing and the like, a good chunk of the human mind went fallow, allowing for a return of things like mysticism and  xenophobia. More and more, it seems like the beginnings of the second dark ages.

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College Night at the Getty Villa

Back when I was an undergrad (and J Paul Getty was a living miser, instead of a dead philanthropist) my art school classmates and I would attend the Malibu Getty's Thursday evening lecture series. Some visiting scolar would wax about their current interest, and afterwards a floor of the museum would be open to the small crowd, and a wine and snacks (dinner for starving artists) would be served.

One of my favorite nights--feeding my fetish for the obscure and esoteric--was entitled, "Warts, Wrens, Moles, and Carbuncles: The Skin Blemish as a Sign of Infamy in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Art." How could I ever forget a title like that?

In the spirit of enticing college kids to look at art by offering free food, the Getty Villa in Malibu is hosting a night for college students on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.

More on the point of this post: if  art institutions are in the business of supporting the the arts,  shouldn't they be encouraging new, younger audiences and the next generation of artists by letting them in free all the time? Generally speaking, todays poor college students will be tomorrow's museum members, donors, patrons and trustees. Why not cultivate and encourage their interest by letting them in for free when they can least afford it? Take a clue from the music industry. Kids don't buy a tune or a concert ticket until they've heard it first for free. Or take a clue from drug pushers, who give away the first hit of herion. In the cacophony of creative media, there are plenty of opportunities for kids to cultivate other interests that will develop into a lifetime of expenditures, by creating financial hurdles for young audiences, museums are then forced to stoop and pander and offer shows of motorcycles, video game screen pulls, and celebrity-photographs-as-art (both of and by).

Both LACMA (which charges ten bucks to students) and MOCA (which charges five) should follow the Hammer's lead, and offer free admissions to students with ID. And in the same spirit, the Getty should offer free parking (instead of fifteen bucks) for students. I can't imagine that the Getty's, LACMA's or MOCA's budget hangs in the balance by the few bucks they wring from college kids.

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LACMA's New Resnick Exhibition Pavilion

Members of the Press

 I attended the press opening for LACMA's new exhibition space, the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion.  What follows is some information about the space, some first thoughts, and a bunch of pictures.

Michael Govan

It seemed appropriate that the opening remarks were held in the open-air entrance. The space functions as sort of a nexus, connecting an incomplete spine that runs through the campus, eventually connecting the old May Company to the tar pits. The other axis allows for ingress, connecting the parking structure and eventually a subway stop (in someone else's lifetime).

LACMA's Newest Additions

The new space blends travertine and fire engine red structural elements, the sawtooth roof of the Broad, and cloisters it behind Robert Irwin's palm garden. The total effect eliminates anything that could be thought of as façade or grand entrance, and despite the fact that it is a recent addition,  the structure is completely integrated and unobtrusive--shocking qualities in the current era of look-at-me philanthropy.

Easily Adapted Space

Renzo Piano aptly described the space as ecumenical, easily adapted to light-sensitive artwork, pseudo-period salons, and the standard ethereal white cube. Expanding the museum's exhibition space by an acre, the pavilion provides much-needed flexible space, since LACMA (like most museums) can only exhibit a sliver of their permanent collection.

Science-Fiction Scenes:
Terracotta Figurines in the Foreground,  and an Olmec Head Through the Doorway

For the opening of the building, the Olmec show takes advantage of the copious amount of natural light, forming a central 'T' that deftly makes use of  the north-facing wall of glass. The right third displays part of LACMA's  costume collection, strangely displayed in shipping crates--as if their display budget was drained by the watered silk walpaper and ornate molding that frames the Resnick collection. A byproduct of this eclectic amalgam are the surreal views of a glowing Olmec head through a vitrine of neoclassical terracotta figurines.

The Saw-Tooth Roof

At some point I expect the bamboo and palms will enclose the lawn north of the building, creating an outdoor sculpture room that can be viewed through the glass wall.

Los Angeles Light

The central space makes ample use of natural light. I'm reminded of Lawrence Weschler's musings on the atmospheric qualities of Southern California light. Rezo Piano has infused the space with an expresso shot of while Los Angeles haze, palpable across the length of the room. What Geary has done to our hearing at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Piano has done to our sight. In future posts I'll comment more on the art on display, Suffice to say the use of Michael Heizer to create the sculpture stands is nothing short of brilliant.

The Resnick Exhibition Pavillion

Walking around the perimeter, I looked for some iconic ways the building may be pictured in future years.  Perhaps it will be the air conditioning duct enclosures, placed at the four corners.

The Resnick's Iconic Red HVAC System

For those interested in experiencing LACMA's newest exhibition space, member's only events will open the space. For those short on cash, the entire museum--including the new pavilion--will be open free to the public October 2nd and 3rd, 2010, and free tickets can be had on-line at LACMA's website.

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Lari Pittman’s Hysterical Seduction

Lari Pittman's Untitled, 2010

If a case can be made for a CalArts-style of painting, it would—at least superficially—include an amalgam of text and iconography from the historical past to the capitalist propaganda of Madison Avenue. More substantially, what separates this work from the modern past is a realization that the clever tropes of painting’s practice—novelties of form, representation and presentation—have played out their endgame. If there is to be a life for painting after modernism, I will only come through the re-presentation of our visual, verbal, and cultural bits and pieces, combining them in ways that articulate new meanings. Call it the triumph of substance over style. An exemplar of this methodology can be seen in Lari Pittman’s current show in West Hollywood.

It’s easy to be seduced by the meticulous skill of the artist’s technique, on display in a clutch of new work at Regen Projects. There are greater rewards for the viewer willing to look beyond the surface to the roiling stew of the artist’s iconography.  In Regen Projects second space we’re presented with a three-decade survey of Pittman’s works on paper. Like the Orangerie that protects tender citrus in harsh climates, this salon-style exhibition allows us entry into the artist’s formative process, as tender ideas come to fruition and eventually make their way to canvas.

In the main gallery, familiar Pittman tropes—from the phallus to the picket fence—are shattered and recombined in ways that make the strange reminiscent of something familiar.  André Breton was speaking of automatic writing, but the same can be said of Pittman’s canvases:

“Plunged each day into the fog of received ideas, man is led to conceive of all things and to conceive of himself through a dizzy series of quickly hidden stumblings, of false steps rectified as best as possible.”

Pittman’s method of working ideas directly onto canvas—without intervening filters of representation (photographs, preliminary drawings, and the like)—allows us access to the artist’s view of our collective unconscious, and in the process, make elements of Surrealism relevant for contemporary viewers

Before Surrealism, Breton studied under Charcot at Salpêtrière Hospital. On the 50^th anniversary of hysteria, Breton proposed this new definition,

“Hysteria is a more or less irreducible mental condition, marked by the subversion, quite apart from any delirium-system, of the relations established between the subject and the moral world under whose authority he believes himself practically to be. This mental condition is based on the need of a reciprocal seduction, which explains the hastily accepted miracles of medical suggestion (or counter-suggestion). Hysteria is not a pathological symptom and may in all respects be considered a supreme means of expression.”

Under Pittman’s authority we can witness his subversion of the moral world and vicariously engage in some reciprocal seduction.

LARI PITTMAN: New Paintings and Orangerie
September 11 – October 23, 2010
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00
Regen Projects
633 North Almont Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90069

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