For years he was the bad boy of the art world, known for his sawn-in-half cows, his pickled sharks and his diamond-encrusted skull that cost as much as the national debt of a small third world country. There were also the medicine cabinets full of pills and surgical...
SHOPTALK with Scarlet Cheng
The Broad Is Here Inaugural Show is a Highlights Survey Here comes The Broad! The striking white cube with diagonal perforations holding the contemporary art collection of Eli and Edythe Broad finally opened to the public on Sept. 20—after a delay of nearly a year due...
SHOPTALK
BIENNIAL OF THE AMERICAS 2015Denver Biennial focus on NowDenver has been trying to put itself on the map through art and culture, and one path has been the creation of the Biennial of the Americas. The third edition of the biennial (June 14–August 30) was launched...
OP-ED
LACMA is moving forward on the funding and eventual construction of the controversial $650-million-plus Peter Zumthor–designed building project that will replace three of the existing buildings and will bridge over Wilshire Boulevard.Zumthor has done superb work on...
SHOPTALK
Photo Time in LAParis Photo and photo independentParis Photo (May 31–June 3) hit its third year—the final year of its lease agreement with Paramount Studios, wherein it takes over several soundstages and the “New York” backlot for an art fair. This year there were 79...
SHOPTALK
SNEAK PEEKOpen House at The Broad on a Sunday AfternoonI was lucky enough to get in on the one-day preview of The Broad, the new museum in LA that will house the important contemporary art collection of power philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. There was a viewing...
SHOPTALK
GALLERY MOVESIn and Out, Back and ForthTwo of our longtime Los Angeles galleries are closing: Angles Gallery is shutting down its La Cienega space, and Frank Lloyd has vacated Bergamot Station with its final show—of two legendary figures in postwar LA art, Peter...
SHOPTALK
Los Angeles was treated to some remarkable public conversations this fall. In early October The Broad conversations series presented a fascinating dialogue between artist Kara Walker and filmmaker Ava DuVernay. A few weeks later the Hammer Museum offered up a...
The Rauschenberg Foundation’s Expanding Vision
If you follow current art world news, no doubt you’ve noticed the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation popping up more frequently. Two of their initiatives, the Emerging Curator Competition and the Artist as Activist grant program opened for submissions in September and...
SHOPTALK
Gallery MovesIt’s a Californian Kinda ThingBy Scarlet Cheng It’s hard to keep up with the rash of new and relocated galleries this year—is this because of the economic rebound, or because Los Angeles continues to become more important in American’s cultural...
SHOPTALK
BOON OR BUSTPost Rail Plan on Wrong Track at Bergamot “They’re basically destroying Bergamot Station,” says Wayne Blank, who holds the master lease on the galleries and art institutions at the Bergamot Station arts complex. (He’s also the “Wayne” of Shoshana Wayne...