May 18th is Art Museum Day!

A free museum visit and a beautiful spring day…that sounds like a perfectly simple recipe to kick off the weekend!  In partnership with the International Council of Art Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors is celebrating Art Museum Day.  Over 170 museums are participating by offering discounted or FREE admissions!

The 2013 theme; “museums (memory + creativity) = social change”  plays on the role of art as a catalyst to inspire, innovate and motivate our own creativity to influence and impact our world.  My own memories of museums have inspired me in countless ways, dating back to my first visit to the San Francisco Natural History Museum and the Academy of Sciences at 5 years old.  I’ve always found solace in them, and have been inspired by the way museums expose me to work that either resonates with my own realities or introduces me to concepts beyond my wildest imagination.  A museum visit can expose  new, old, exciting, scary, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and cringe inducing themes; if your lucky, a single visit can combine them all leaving you in a hopeless state of culture shock.

For more information and inspiration, here’s a list of participating museums.

https://aamd.org/our-members/from-the-field/art-museum-day-2013

The Final Countdown

Arrested Development. May 26. Netflix. Something’s gone right…

Urs Fischer @ MOCA

I have two distinct reactions to exhibitions.  I either love it so much that I immediately come home to write about it, or I sit on the experience and let it ruminate in my mind for weeks.  I went to the Urs Fischer exhibit at MOCA a week and a half ago, and I am still thinking about it.

The artist  defies a cogent description.  All I knew of Fischer prior to the show was that he had a gallery show in NYC where he excavated the gallery space.  Within 2 seconds of walking into MOCA it is clear that Fischer likes to destroy and morph every aspect of his exhibition space.  From  slow melting wax sculptures and suspended fruit to  blown out holes in the gallery walls, Fisher eschews stasis.

Weeks later, I still struggle to mentally synthesize the raindrops in “Horses Dream of Horses” with the “Bread House” (yes it was a house made of bread which certainly curbed my craving for carbs for a day or two).  What I saw was quite remarkable.  Every inch of the gallery space provides an opportunity for commentary, from the slick black vinyl floors to the sloppily whitewashed walls.

MOCA’s triumph with this show is that they chose to go “all in” with Fischer and opened up the Geffen Contemporary to “Yes”, a collaborative project that transformed the Geffen into a claymaking studio.  Over 1,500 people were invited to mold clay in the museum with the results now on display.  Here’s a great video of the process.  This is one of the best curated shows I’ve seen at MOCA in a long time.

If I Had Gone to the Met Gala

If I Had Gone to the Met Gala by cultureshockart featuring charm jewelry

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I wasn’t a fan of the sartorial choices at the Met Gala where the theme was

“Punk: Chaos to Couture”.

So of course I started thinking about what I would have done.

I would have tried to channel the NY Art Scene between 1975-1985:

a mashup of Hip Hop, Punk and Street Art with a contemporary twist…

First, I would have someone like Retna tag up some Dr. Martens

(because really this would be the one time I could get away without heels)

I also would have rocked a mean FROHAWK…(like this blonde one).

As for a accessories?  I would have made a clutch out of vinyl

records or a spray paint can…

“I said don’t stop, do punk rock”.

What about you?  What did you think of the Met Gala fashions?

What would you have worn?

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Update: Sure enough, thanks to the interwebs, you CAN make a bag out of

records!  What would we do without Pinterest?  :)

Color Your Mood

I know, I know, tangerine was so 2012, but there’s something about orange…  We’ve got a serious case of “May Gray” today in L.A., but whenever I see this color it makes me happy!  Orange has become one of my favorites.  It has been said that the color orange stimulates enthusiasm and creativity, so to continue the orange color story from my last post, here are some more slices of orange to conjure up good vibes on this gloomy day.

My desk with some lovely Tulips, Tank Magazine and my Clare Vivier wallet clutch.

My “other” Living Room and Mark Rothko’s “Yellow and Orange” at MOCA Grand Avenue.

This memoir + a cup of tea makes for a lovely afternoon…The only things missing are the macarons!

It’s spring, and that means it’s time for squash blossoms! These remind me of my favorite pizza…

Squash Blossom Pizza! My absolute favorite from Pizzeria Mozza. Oh, I wish I had a slice of this now!

Move over “Fishnet Stockings”! Essie’s “Meet Me at Sunset” is a vibrant shade of Orange.

Source: and-other-stories.tumblr.com via CultureShockArt on Pinterest

Orange Crush

Orange Crush by cultureshockart featuring a cape dress

Alexander McQueen cape dress
alexandermcqueen.com

Marni duster coat
1stdibs.com

Paul & Betty two tone shoes
yoox.com

MeDusa blue handbag
boticca.com

Kelly Wearstler cuff bracelet
kellywearstler.com

Paris Photo LA

Photo, Ed Ruscha

It’s not every day that you can celebrate Paris in New York and LA at the same time, but thanks to the Paramount Studios NY backlot, you can!  Paris Photo Los Angeles made its debut this weekend.  For 17 years Paris Photo has cemented a strong presence in the photographic art fair market and it has taken the show worldwide with its debut U.S. show in Los Angeles.  Over 60 galleries will be presenting their works alongside book publishers and  food trucks.  The majority of the works are staged in pavilions (studios), while some of the New York brownstones lining the streets of New (Faux) York house some of the galleries.

It’s a fun two-for one to see some beautiful photography while strolling the streets of New York, without taxi horns, fast walkers and the smell of garbage.. Here are some pics:

JR at Perrotin Gallery, Paris

 

Man Ray X JR, Vevey, Switzerland. Perrotin Booth @ Paris Photo LA

Andy Warhol designed BMW M1 Art Car #4 circa 1979

The fair closes today, if you’re in LA, go check it out!

Paramount Studios

5555 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles

http://www.parisphoto.com/