Girl with a Pearl Earring – Exhibition Website

de Young Museum

I have not seen this exhibition (because I have neither renewed my FAMSF membership, nor managed to convince the bitchy membership counter boys to let me in for free), so I’m just going to judge the exhibition website for the de Young’s latest touring celebrity, Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Lazy eye, or unfortunate screengrab?

That’s right, SHE WINKS.  Oh this is painful.  Vermeer’s iconic masterpiece (reduced to a not-even-clever gif) and other treasures from the Mauritshuis are currently touring the globe (or parts of it) while the Dutch museum undergoes extensive renovations.  Good for the Mauritshuis for making some buckets of ducats while closed, but one wonders how much the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco are shelling out for the traveling show.

Introduction (Part 2): The Veil, the Vault and the Avenue

“The museum’s ‘veil’ lifts at its corners, welcoming visitors in.”[i]
– Elizabeth Diller, Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, architects, The Broad

Conceptual Rendering of the “Veil and the Vault” by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The new, $100 million museum will be called The Broad, after its founder, local philanthropist Eli Broad.  The sure-to-be-iconic building houses 50,000 square feet of exhibition and storage space for the Broad collections, and is designed by world-renowned architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro.  It will be located on Grand Avenue in downtown, and will sit directly across from both Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).  It is a testament to Broad’s generosity and also to his ability to negotiate a public-private project.

Kenneth Anger Inspiration

Matthew Dear’s Her Pleasure Music Video

A month ago, my best friend took me to the Treasure Island Music Festival.  To prepare, I bought glitter (to throw at strangers) and checked out the lineup.  I was dying to see The Presets, whose new album Pacificahas been on a constant loop in my life.  The Gossip was also performing.  I’m a huge fan of Beth Ditto (video involves vogueing), but had never seen their video for Move in the Right Direction. It made me scream: “Barbara Kruger!” within the first ten seconds.  Okay, Kruger doesn’t have omnipresent claim to ALL use of bold text in black, white, and red, but the video is undeniably similar to Kruger’s installations at L&M Arts, her elevator at LACMA, and basically her entire oeuvre.  At least The Gossip creative team was clever and animated the Kruger-like text: cheeky things like “guitar solo” flash during a bridge, and the words “fadeout” appear at the end of the song. Cute.

Elliott Hundley

Every Museum in L.A.

One of my favorite blogs is William Poundstone’s Los Angeles County Museum on Fire, it keeps me updated about L.A. and is always witty, and sometimes sassy. Poundstone recently blogged about the Broad Art Foundation’s new acquisition: Glenn Ligon’s Warm Broad Glow, which was in the recent Ligon show at LACMA.  The news made me curious to see what else the Broad Art Foundation has been acquiring.

“the high house low!,” 2011, acquired by the Broad Art Foundation.

Four Facts: Light Years at the AIC

I’m going to experiment with a new, more regular (hopefully) feature to summarize the exhibitions I come across.  (I still plan on a series of posts about private collectors who build museums for their collections, because “that shit cray.”) Also meet my colleague and art world partner in crime: Bonnie O; she’s going to be blogging about her art adventures (of which she has many).

Trying to get a few more days out of my leather Jacket.

This Week’s Four Facts:

Light Years: Conceptual Art and Photography, 1964-1977
At the Art Institute of Chicago, through March 11

1 – Early Eleanor Antin work is in the show, and it’s great to see something other than her historical tableaus.  Although a personal goal of mine is to be in one of those photo shoots.  I look great in a toga, Eleanor!