LACMA has now fleshed out its cryptic response to my questions sent last weekend about the possible impact of the nearby tar pits on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's sweeping capital project. Consulting with its building team to provide more detailed answers to my follow-up questions, Jessica Youn, the museum’s interim communications director, sent me this: ROSENBAUM: … [Read more...] about Another Dip into the Viscous Pit: My Q&A Follow-Up on LACMA’s Crane Drain
Archives for January 2021
Govan’s Folly? Stuck in the LACMA Quagmire
In decades of covering new, expanded and renovated museum buildings, I've mostly refrained from "reviewing" a building that hasn't gone up yet. That's why I've hung back from weighing in on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's self-destructive (literally) capital project-in-progress, which has now leveled most of the museum's longstanding buildings (designed by William … [Read more...] about Govan’s Folly? Stuck in the LACMA Quagmire
Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow—a Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens
Laura Baptiste, the Smithsonian American Art Museum's (SAAM's) always helpful chief of communications and public affairs, found herself fielding misinformation disseminated in a number of news reports after Wednesday's Presidential Inauguration festivities. She scrambled to set the record straight about Robert Duncanson's suddenly famous “Landscape with Rainbow,” after several … [Read more...] about Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow—a Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens
Ominous Juxtaposition? Biden Flanked by Duncanson’s “Rainbow” & Statue of a Murdered President
In a jolting inauguration installation, marred by unintentionally dark symbolism that, hopefully, wasn't discerned by the Bidens, this afternoon's celebration after the joyful swearing-in of the new President and Vice President included a brief walk through the Capitol rotunda led by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Am I the … [Read more...] about Ominous Juxtaposition? Biden Flanked by Duncanson’s “Rainbow” & Statue of a Murdered President
Capitol Offense: Metropolitan Museum Blasts “Domestic Terrorism” by “Treasonous Rioters”
Throwing caution to the winds, the Metropolitan Museum today went beyond the more measured words of a few other museums in its angry call to "bring to justice those responsible" for the "criminal actions" at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The Met's official Statement on Capitol Desecration, signed by Daniel Weiss, president and CEO, and Max Hollein, director, began with this … [Read more...] about Capitol Offense: Metropolitan Museum Blasts “Domestic Terrorism” by “Treasonous Rioters”
The Architect of the Capitol Assesses the Damage: Our Nation’s Art & Architecture (if we can keep it)
This was a week when blogging-as-usual struck me as irredeemably frivolous. Trying to promulgate commentary about art and the artworld seemed fatuous, at a time when our nation's adherence to the rule of law, reason and humane values (and even its very existence) seemed at stake. Shell shocked and blocked, I found unexpected inspiration to continue my life as CultureGrrl … [Read more...] about The Architect of the Capitol Assesses the Damage: Our Nation’s Art & Architecture (if we can keep it)