LA Touring – Art Museum Stops

 

Amidst the tacky tourist stops and sunny beaches it can be easy to forget the depth of creative talent that is located in Los Angeles. Top notch museums are a must see when visiting. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

The Getty Museum

One of the most famous LA art museums, the Getty is worthy of it’s reputation. Beautiful grounds and a solid collection. The museum itself is free but the parking is $15 so load up the car!

The Sculpture Garden near the lower tram station. Don’t miss it – look past the queue for the tram.
The Getty’s architecture is world reknowned
The Lower Garden from one of the galleries
The details in the garden are amazing
These trellises are fashioned out of rebar. A bit controversial according to our garden guide.
Looking up from the lower garden
On a clear day, Los Angeles spreads out before you.
Joel pacing the Runner
The Turner exhibit in collaboration with the Tate Museum just opened at the Getty.

 

LACMA and the LaBrea Tar Pits

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Page Museum (the official name for the LaBrea Tar Pits) are located on adjoining parkland in the heart of LA. This is one of my most frequent museum haunts drawn by excellent art work and movie screenings at LACMA. Be sure to see the James Turrell piece Breathing Light if you visit.

Childhood memories are the other draw since LA was one of our family vacations and the Tar Pits loomed large. This year with family visiting we’ve been to the Tar Pits half a dozen times. Pit 91 is being excavated and has an overlook to see the work in action. (Who knew that Game of Thrones didn’t just invent the Dire Wolf?)

The famous tar pits where thousands of animals met their fate.
Throughout the park natural asphalt is working its way to the surface
It’s always fun to poke it with a stick
The sculpture garden at this park is supposed to be more informative than decorative. And it shows…
LACMA has a more pleasing sculpture garden.
The lamps framing the Wilshire Blvd entrance are an iconic shot.
The work as it’s meant to be enjoyed. This piece was removed from UT Austin for fear of damage by students..

 

Barnsdall Park

Barnsdall Park, located near Hollywood Blvd and Vermont, wasn’t on my radar until the opening weekend for the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House. The house recently completed a renovation phase and has been reopened for self-guided tours. Check this link here for more information.

The park also is home to the Los Angeles Municipal Museum. Robert Williams: Slang Aesthetics! and 20 Years Under the Influence of Juxtapoz are two concurrent exhibits. The first is new work by Robert Williams, founder of Juxtapoz magazine, while the other showcases artists within the New Contemporary movement that was the focus of this  art and culture magazine. Juxtapoz has a cover profile of Robert Williams with detailed descriptions behind some of the works – fascinating to read!

 

Hollyhock House designed for heiress Aline Barnsdall
Details repeated throughout the house are hollyhocks. The owner’s favorite flower.
Lamp posts on the grounds also carry the hollyhock theme
Large scale work part of Robert Williams: Slang Aesthetics
A surreal jockey
The show runs through April 19th, 2015
Little Sounds Emphasizing Silence by David Cooley

 

 

Category : North America, Our Journey, Public Art, Travels and Adventures
Tags : , , , , , , ,