On the Town ... Nights in Los Angeles

Upstairs

at the

Ace Hotel

From looking at my blog, it might look like I'm out every night. Truth is, most nights I'm perfectly happy to go home after work, kick back and watch Netflix. (6 out of 7 nights?) Once I am home it would take a crane to get me out of the apartment.

But, here and there (usually if I'm planning ahead and bring a change of clothes to work, or if I am committed and/or have tickets to something) I get out and about, on the town. Remember, these are over the course of 4 months.

Here is a view from the bar at the top of the Ace Hotel back in January. I was more interested in taking pictures outside than the loud party music inside. Pretty sure it was a DJ but I can't remember. That tells you something! Love the view, especially of the Eastern Columbia Building.

And apparently on warm nights, people do get into the jacuzzi!

Here is another night, I made it out of the house!

The lovely folks I work for have this fabulous view in Echo Park. They had a lovely gathering and my boss made fabulous crawfish etouffee. (She's from Louisiana so it was authentic!) What a gorgeous night it was!

This was a cool, and different thing to do, in February. I rarely get to the events at the Instituto Italiano di Cultura because usually they are mid week, on the other side of town, and at 6:30pm. Not convenient. But, this one was on a Monday! (My private student day.) It was a birthday celebration for Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) with selected performances of his work.

The introduction was by Maestro Carlo Ponti, of the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra. (And son of the elder Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren.) And, just as an aside, this man was a total babe. Seriously, google him. And, yes I checked, he's married.

The recital had pieces from Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Barber of Seville) and  Les Soirées Musicales. 

 Pianist Brian Pezzone, Soprano Elisabetta Russo, Baritone Roberto Perlaz Gomez ...

Look, someone was recording at the event!

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of her doing Una voce poco fa, but here's Maria Callas doing it. Go big, right?

The IIC is in Westwood, so we walked around the corner to 800 Degrees for pizza and del vino rosso after the show, to continue with the evening's Italian theme. The pizza with truffle cheese was very tasty!

The Rain Room

So, the "Rain Room" was apparently very popular in NYC at MOMA, so I wanted to check it out when it came to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I waited a bit too long though, and unless you were a member it was impossible to get tickets, so I figured it was time to finally renew.

My parents were already members, so we all got tickets for an evening in March, and our reservation was for a Tuesday night at 8:45pm! So we met at the museum and ate at Ray's, the restaurant there before heading in. The food was great, but the portions are small by U.S. standards.

from thewebsite:

"Random International’s Rain Room (2012) is an immersive environment of perpetually falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected. The installation offers visitors an opportunity to experience what is seemingly impossible: the ability to control rain. Rain Room presents a respite from everyday life and an opportunity for sensory reflection within a responsive relationship.

Founded in 2005, Random International is a collaborative studio for experimental practice. They use science and technology to create experiences that aim to question and challenge the human experience within a machine-led world, engaging viewers through explorations of behavior and natural phenomena. In the decade following the studio's inception, the focus of Random International’s artistic practice has continuously evolved and today encompasses sculpture, performance, and installation on an architectural scale."

Mom and dad in the rain room ... a very fun place to photograph, as it turns out and you have about 15 minutes in there.

It is light sensitive, so if you are in light clothes and being hit by the light, you don't get wet as walk through ... slowly. At least that's the idea. Apparently, little kids get soaked because they are too quick for the sensors! (Raincoats are recommended for little ones.)

My dad took this of me ...

My parents ...

My dad took this one of me, as well. We actually took a lot of pictures! After Prince died they made it purple in his honor.  Love that.

"Rain Room will close as previously announced on Sunday, April 24, 2016. Following conservation efforts, it will reopen on Thursday, May 19, for a limited engagement. While that block of tickets is sold out, we will release blocks of tickets for additional future dates.

Rain Room is a specially ticketed, timed-entry experience. Advance tickets are required. Tickets are not refundable or transferable."

Leaving the museum ...  looking through "Smoke," the huge sculpture by Tony Smith and painting by Alex Israel, called "Sky Backdrop."

And just last week ...

Rooftop Film Club

The Montalban 

I'm sure I must have mentioned my love for the Italian film Cinema Paradiso (1988). I know I talked about Ennio Morricone doing the score, before the Oscars, because he hadn't won yet. Well, Cinema Paradiso was either my first or second foreign language film. It was that or Camille Claudel (1988), with Isabelle Adjani. (Another great film.)

Anyway, I saw it in Santa Barbara when it came out in the late 80s with my sister and my friend Erin. I loved it then, but loved it even more after seeing it the second time, catching it late at night on cable in the early 90s after I'd moved to L.A. Somehow as the years go on it becomes even more poignant and moving. (It's also been a litmus test for boyfriends.)

When I saw the list of movie tickets being released for spring at the Rooftop Film Club, I immediately got on the horn to see if anyone wanted to join me! My friend Lauren who was with me for the Rossini event as well as the Ace Hotel, was up for this as well! AND, it was very exciting because she'd never seen it!

Previews! Breakfast at Tiffany's is coming!  Also, Grease, Clueless, and a bunch of others. You have to be on the Time Out L.A.  email list, because tickets sell out way ahead and fast.  You might have seen my Halloween post about seeing Beetlejuice there. 

Apparently, this group has screenings in New York and London but I know there are so many various groups doing outdoor screenings now, so you might want to Google them in your area! Cinespia is another one in L.A. that does outdoor screenings, but at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. (I saw Barbarella and Dr. Strangelove there.)

But the movie I came to see ...

My ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE ...

Cinema Paradiso

The score is so beautiful, I remember listening to it on my iPod, coming into Assisi for the first time on the train, standing at the window, wind hitting my face. Perhaps for that reason, and all the times I have seen the movie over the years, as soon as the music started at the beginning of the film I started getting weepy, and pretty much cried through 80 percent of the movie. It was awesome.

This is the trailer ...

If you have never seen it, you MUST. But warning, do not watch the "new version" or "director's cut" ... watch the original theatrical release! 

Links

Upstairs at the Ace Hotel
IIC Instituto Italiano di Cultura 
800 Degrees
LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Rooftop Film Club
Cinespia

Museum Color and Light ~ LACMA

Never lose the first impression which has moved you.

~Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

(painter, France 1796-1875)

After my visit to the Frank Gehry exhibition, I headed into the Ahmanson Building to get inspired by some masters in the permanent collection.

The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, c. 1638-40

Oil on canvas

Georges de La Tour (France)

This Magdalen above, you may recognize, as it is a pretty famous piece. In fact, it was in my art history book! You can see the influence Caravaggio had on other painters. (They are called the Caravaggisti) This painting was a gift to LACMA from the Ahmanson Foundation. It's one of the highlights of the collection and one of my favorites!

Seine and Old Bridge at Limay, 1872
oil on canvas
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Corot is my friend Rachel's favorite artist. In fact, I texted this to her after my visit! There is something kind of magical about so much of his work. Even when the palette is dark and subdued, there are these little bits of light or sparkle that give it a mystical or dreamy feel. (At least to me!) 

Here's a piece at the Getty, with commentary.

Here's a lovely slideshow of his work with beautiful music!

Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature.

I am struck upon seeing a certain place.

While I strive for conscientious imitation,

I yet never lose the emotion that has taken hold of me.

~Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

This Angel Raphael, below, is another of my favorite pieces, in the museum!

Archangel Raphael

Italy (Naples), c. 1600

Polychromed and gilded wood

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615
oil on canvas
Bernardo Strozzi (active Genoa and Venice, Italy)

The piece above of St. Catherine, was a recovered Nazi-looted painting, valued at 3 million. It's a promised gift of the owner's direct descendant, Philippa Calnan, to whom it was willed and returned. 

It turns out she is a retired public affairs director who worked at LACMA! Many times, a piece is willed to many family members who have to sell, often to pay for all the legal trouble in getting the stolen pieces returned to the family. 

I work on all parts of my painting at once,

improving it very gently

until I find that the effect is complete.

~Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Basket of Peaches, with Plums and Quinces, after 1641 (detail)

oil on canvas

Louise Moillon (France)

Art is nature as seen through temperament.

~Camille Corot

Broad building at LACMA

Jesús Soto's Penetrable 
This piece (the yellow "strings") is very interactive and you can usually see kids playing in it. Right now the platform is being repaired, to the frustration of the under 10 patrons.

Window from the gift shop!

Colorful giftsop rings and things!

Sleeping woman with Boy, 1926

Painted wood

Hermann A. Scherer 

The Locks at Dolo, c. 1735
Etching
Antonio Canal (called Canaletto)

Portrait of Marten Looten, 1632
Oil on wood
Rembrandt van Rijn (Northern Netherlands)
(even when there are other Dutch Masters in the room ... you can always tell a Rembrandt!)

The most important things in a painting are 

Form and Value.

Color comes last - 

like a friend you welcome. 

~Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Abraham and the Three Angels, c. 1750 (detail)

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk

with white heightening

Francesco Fontebasso

A Fallen Angel, c. 1952
Red and white chalk over black chalk
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Venice, Italy)

The Triumph of Alexander the Great, c. 1485 (detail)
Tempera and gilding on panel
Bernardo Rosselli, (Florence, Italy)

Reality is one part of art;

feeling completes it ... 

Before any site and any object,

abandon yourself to you first impression.

If you have really been touched, 

you will convey to others

the sincerity of your emotion.

~Jena-Baptiste Camille Corot

Hesiod Listening to the Inspirations of the Muse, c. 1890
oil on canvas
Edmond-François Aman-Jean (France)

The Hope Hygieia

Roman, 2nd-century copy, c. 130-161, 

after a Greek original of c. 360 BC

Marble

"Hygieia, goddess of health, is identified by her snake. She was the daughter of Asclepius, god of medicine (and mythical ancestor of Hippocrates), whose shrines apparently housed sacred serpents. Here Hygieia feeds one some milk."

outside the museum ...

For the LA Times article on the Bernardo Strozzi, Nazi looted painting, click here.

Hope you enjoyed the little art visit and that you are off to a lovely fall.

Blessings and light!

LACMA 50 for 50

The idea of waiting for something 

makes it more exciting.

~Andy Warhol

It's the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's 50th anniversary, and to celebrate? Fifty new fabulous gifts (promised) to the museum! My parents got the invite but were unable to attend the patron party, and though I couldn't find someone to go last minute, I decided to take myself on a little artist's date. (Did any of you do the Artist's Way?)

Normally the patrons get a little coffee/dessert reception in the patio near Ray's Stark Bark, but this was a much swankier surprise!

This is a GREAT video! Old footage and birthday messages! :)

Many more desserts, lovely indoor seating areas, flowers ... and wine!

I checked out the first room of the exhibition, then decided to have my wine before exploring the rest of the works. I'm such a cheap date, one glass of wine and I have to wait around. Anyway ... on to the art!

Roy Lichtenstein

Interior with Three Hanging Lamps, 1991

Oil and Magna on Canvas

Serpent Headdress

(a-Mantsho-na-Tshol)

Republic of Guinea, Baba peoples,

possibly late 18th century

Wood with pigments 

At one point this piece of African art was in Matisse's studio!

I like to pretend that my art has nothing to do with me.
~Roy Lichtenstein 

Claude Monet

France, 1840-1926)

Two Women in a Garden, c. 1872

Oil on canvas

The richness I achieve comes from nature,

the source of my inspiration.

~Claude Monet

Standing in front of this lovely Monet, I suddenly became very emotional at the idea that this beautiful painting and all the others were going to be gifted to my museum, my city. I took it very personally ... in the very best way.

François Boucher
France, 1703-1770
Leda and the Swan, 1742
Oil on canvas

Nature is too green and badly lit.

~Francois Boucher

(hahaha!)

Albrecht Dürer
Germany, 1471-1528
Melencolia I, 1514
Engraving

If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided 

that happens other if one is idle.

~Albrecht Durer 

Andy Warhol
United Staes, 1928-1987
Two Marilyns, 1962
Silkscreen ink and pencil on linen

Don't think about making art.

Just get it done.

Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad.

Whether they love it or hate it.

While they are deciding,

make even more art.

~Andy Warhol

As you can see, there is quite an array of works, which is pretty representative of the museum as a whole. A bit of everything and something for everyone. There were also some great old photos from Hawaii and Duke Kahanamoku's surfboard!

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

France, 1780-1867

The Virgin wight he Host, 1860

Oil on canvas

Drawing is the honesty of art.

~Ingres

Hans Memling
Active Flanders, c. 1430-94
Christ Blessing, 1480-85
Oil on Baltic oak panel

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini
Italy (Rome), 1598-1680
Portrait of a Gentleman
c. 1670-75

One of my greatest influences the Italian artist

Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

~Frank Gehry

James McNeill Whistler
United States, 1834-1903
Black Lion Wharf, 1859
From the "Thames Set," 1871

An artist is not paid for his labor

but for his vision.

~James Whistler

(love that!)

Janus Reliquary Guardian Figure
Gabonese Republic or Republic of the Congo,
Kota Peoples, Ndassa group
Mid 19th century
Wood, copper, brass, iron and cowrie shell

Painting relates to both 

art and life.

Neither can be made-

I try to act in the gap.

~Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg
United States, 1925-2008
Monday Duck (Urban Bourbon)
1995
Acrylic on mirrored and bonded aluminum

Value the process.

~Robert Rauschenberg

Evert time I'v moved,

my work has changed radically.

~Robert Rauschenberg

I wasn't aloud to take pictures of this bequest but they gave us a beautiful program. The bequest is the largest ever to LACMA by far ...

It includes Toulouse-Lautrec's Jane Avril: Profile of a Woman (1893), Dance by Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, Edouard Vuillard's Sacha guilty in His Dressing Room, 1911 (LOVE!), Nude study for Little Dancer by Edgar Degas modeled 1878, and the gorgeous Degas piece At the Café: The Song of the Dog, 1875. Amazing! This is a photo collage I made with my iPhone from the program.

I have tried to do what is true and not ideal.

~ Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Another piece is this Kees Van Dongen ... which I also LOVE!

Painting is the most beautiful of lies.

~Kees Van Dongen

It's all very inspiring and exciting that all these pieces will be in my town!

Back to have to the reception to have an herbal tea in the reception ...
Groovy chairs, huh? I sat on the sofa though.

DeWain Valentine

Red Concave Circle, 1970

Outside ... under Chris Burden's "Urban Light." (2008) Chris Burden passed away last month. To read more about him, click here.

'Limits' is a relative term.
Like beauty, it is often in the eye of the beholder.
~Chris Burden

Here's an very interesting interview with Michael Govan about the future of LACMA and about the collections. They show slides of the future building, as well as the the new acquisitions. 

I love LACMA. I remember driving from Ventura when I was little to LA, having breakfast at the old IHOP on Wilshire and seeing the King Tut exhibition. It was a huge deal. I remember when I was maybe 19 going to the huge Hockney exhibition and falling in love with color ... and when I moved to L.A. it was a huge gift to my life. And then, 17 years ago I moved about 6 or 7 minutes away from the museum. Lucky lucky me!

To read about the Perenchio bequest and see more of that collection, click here.

To see all the gifts in the 50 for 50 show, click here.

Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, 
as if it were necessary to understand, 
when it is simply  necessary to love.
~Claude Monet