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| Installation of Henri Matisse's La Gerbe |
Last night Julia Latané, assistant director of art preparation at LACMA, hosted an online discussion of the Geffen Galleries' ongoing installation. It included photos of the installation of three large artworks. Above, Matisse's ceramic mural
La Gerbe weighs a literal ton. If I understood Latané correctly, it is the only work of the Modern Art Department that will reside permanently in the Geffen Galleries, in view of its weight. That implies that the museum will be keeping the installation of Modern art in BCAM.
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| Henri Matisse, La Gerbe, 1953, as installed |
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| Installation of John Deare's Judgment of Jupiter |
John Deare's marble relief
Judgment of Jupiter weighs 1.82 tons. Asked whether the installation of such massive works was "permanent," the preparators said that they were unlikely to be moved anytime soon. Otherwise, the Geffen's installations are expected to change regularly.
The Neoclassical precision of Deare's relief provides a particularly stark contrast to Peter Zumthor's raw concrete.
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| John Deare's Judgment of Jupiter, 1786–87, as installed |
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| Installation of Todd Gray's Octavia's Gaze |
Todd Gray's
Octavia's Gaze is a collage of framed inkjet prints that are reputed to be resistant to light. The work faces windows near one entrance.
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| Todd Gray's Octavia's Gaze, 2025, as installed |
There were audience questions about the logistics and aesthetics of hanging artwork on concrete. Latané mentioned that they had consulted with preparators at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, which also hangs its artwork on bare concrete (albeit lighter and smoother than Zumthor's, going by photos).
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| Herzon & de Meuron, gallery interior of Pérez Art Museum Miami |
Comments
> will be keeping the installation
> of Modern art in BCAM.
Whereas contemporary art can be found in BCAM, the Resnick, the Geffen, outside on the plaza and grounds, and even on occasion in the Goff-Price-Japanese building. Good thing too because LA doesn't have that many places where contemporary art is on display. Whew!
> Otherwise, the Geffen's installations
> are expected to change regularly.
I imagine that will make all the concrete walls versus drywall even more difficult to work with. Unfortunately, BCAM and the Resnick may end up being more visually hospitable in the display of artworks. But the Geffen will have more selfie moments: Windows, lots of windows.
> The Perez walls....look
> lighter and smoother in
> photos.
I'm hoping that Ted's description awhile ago of the Geffen's walls being gray-streaked eyesores is too harsh, but they very well may be. But the TikTok and Instagram social influencers won't care. Although even they may feel subtly unimpressed. Which will continue a decades-long trend of various people yawning at the quality of certain museums in LA.
Of course, that means LACMA during the Pereira-Hardy-Pffifer era didn't cut it either. But next year, history in certain ways regrettably may be repeating itself.
As the saying goes, Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
For example, the exceptional La Gerbe is now positioned on a corner that in reality is only visible outside from a very particular vantage point beneath the museum. Imagine instead if they had built a to-scale space recreating its location in the Brody home with greenery and Haines furnishings. Now its impact, while still great, is so much less than it should be.
And oh look, Adjaye's recently completed park in Detroit bears some striking similarities, but its appearance feels much more at home in its function.
https://divisare.com/projects/546642-adjaye-associates-john-d-angelo-ryan-southen-ralph-c-wilson-jr-centennial-park
Precisely.
> of Deare's relief provides a
> particularly stark contrast
> to Peter Zumthor's raw
> concrete.
Even more noticeable, the format (or look) of the black clips holding up the frieze had better be temporary. Right now, they look like sh-iet.
In the past, that would have been a given. But the aesthetics of "hip and trendy" in the 2020s have a way of treating crappola as looking nice, so nothing is certain until it is.
One of Geffen's galleries will apparently have a bit of Petersen-museum-type display, which I won't mind.
The bad thing about the Pereira buildings (and the 1980's modifications) was everything was chopped up and not easy to browse through. So - too many windows and too much concrete notwithstanding - the one-floor format of the Geffen will be an improvement.
lacma .org: The Avanti was cherished by its designer, who owned two: one that he kept in France, and this one, which he kept at his home in Palm Springs... It will be displayed in a gallery about how car culture and the landscape of the automobile has shaped California art and design.
> ...had consulted with
> preparators at the Pérez
> Art Museum Miami
Videos of that museum (I haven't been there in person) show plenty of drywall mixed in with a few concrete surfaces. In the case of the Geffen, it's concrete, concrete, concrete.
I get why the roof and floor had to be concrete, but why did all the interior walls have to be presumably immovable concrete too? For vertical strength? For structural integrity during quakes?
As for the vast concrete roof of the Geffen, that sure doesn't look too green-Earth friendly. The top of the Lucas at least will have plantings.
Also, the Broad Museum's or Lucas's facade is one material, while the interior walls aren't just monolithic concrete.