LACMA

So, there's lots of art in Los Angeles, or so I hear. Would like to go there, myself, if they had better public transportation.

And catching up on art podcasts last night while trying to polish, post-Oscars, a freelance story, I heard the Art-a-Go-Go peeps discussing the new Brode Contemporary Art Museum of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

They hated Chris Burden's new work outside the museum, Urban Light (some nice pics here).

I believe the Art-a-Go-Go people (who, well, I don't know who they are; Kathleen and Doug, who are you?) have a good background in art and art history (Kathleen mentions her art history classes and teaching). A couple of the things they said about the Burden piece:

Maybe you have to be there, but it was hideous.

It's crap. I know all art is art, but ... I don't know, I haven't seen it.

Um, I haven't seen it either. Still, I kinda like the restored lamppost idea. And I think it's hilarious to say how "crap" it is without having been there.

Here's a Seattle Times article on the new building, and here is the NY Times' review of it, along with some discussion of the controversy surrounding the building (and here is the Times' article on that).

In any case, if you want to see the artwork, this is a super Flickr set.

What do you think of this sculpture? Is it crap?

BTW, "Broad" is Elil Broad ("brode"), and the freaking awesome Guerrilla Girls took on Broad and his collecting policies in their inimitable fashion. (I wish they'd take on The New Yorker for its worship of John Currin, Jeff Koons, etc. Heck, they probably have, and I just don't know it, being on the left coast and all.)