Engaged with art at LACMA

I arrived at midday, having caught the Metro 20 bus from downtown, stopping at almost every junction of Wilshire Boulevard along the way! I was greeted by the classic Urban Light exhibition (by Chris Burden) which includes rows of 202 cast iron antique street lamps. I had considered planning my visit through the website for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and had been slightly overwhelmed by the number of exhibitions that were interesting to me! So I decided to be flexible and let my visit evolve.

As it happened, I thought I was going to see the Carravagio exhibition first, but ended up catching the elevator up to the third floor of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum. I was sad that the fog made it impossible to see the Hollywood sign from the landing - but that has been the theme of the last week... Anyway I became entranced by the Surrealist drawing exhibition on the second floor. Having enjoyed some recent encounters with the Surrealists beginning last December in Vienna, I was keen to see the lesser known drawings. I loved the concept of automatic drawing, letting the pen flow and I really loved the way Joan Miro personified his squiggles - this was so liberating for me...perhaps I can be more inspired with my doodling!

However, one of the treats of this exhibition is that I found surrealist drawings of some of my favourite artists, of course I expected to see some Rene Magritte, but I was impressed to see a small Rothko, a tiny Giacometti drawing and several drawings from Louise Bourgeoise. So after this little indulgence, it was almost time to attend the free Docent Lecture about Caravaggio and his Legacy.

It was wonderful to have the real Caravagios demonstrated on slides and hear the stories behind them all, while learning about the defining features of a real Caravaggio. I do love the way this young artist rejected making the classical paintings that were expected of him at the end of the 1500's. He painted with such reality and clarity that it was like enhanced photographs with light either emphasised or selectively withheld. I learned a lot about the challenge between the holy religious world of classical painters and the reality of brothels and card dens.

It was great then to see the actual exhibition and compare the real Caravaggios with the other Carravagio inspired artists who painted similar classical scenes of the betrayal of Peter, Christ throwing the mercenaries out of the temple, and the placing of the crown of thorns of Christ's head. And then I enjoyed the pottery sculptures of Ken Price, also displayed in the Renwick Pavillion. This man's blobby sculptures are so impressive in style, colour and texture.

So I walked out of the Renwick Pavillion past the Walter de Maria "The 2000 Sculpture", which is comprised of hundreds of white wooden blocks positioned on the floor. By now it was time for sunset drinks! Then I had time to visit the operational Metropolis II, also by Chris Burden. This reconstructed city was populated by toy cars on constructed freeways and functioning toy trains; totally mesmerizing. So by now I was running out of time. I had missed seeing the outdoor installation of the gigantic Levitated Mass. I was confronted by Robert Mapplethorpe's XYZ black and white photographs - his artistic and sexual expression of black men! I just had enough energy to enjoy the very interactive and very LA Stanley Kubrick exhibition. Sadly, I realised that I had not seen any of his classic films, but this did make me want to revisit that...

Finally, I had to leave as they closed the museum. It was good to catch the express bus Metro Rapid 720 back downtown, to then catch a train back to my hotel...what a day, what a plethora of cultural experiences!