Lean Malibu

Too long of being landlocked in smoggy downtown leaves anyone begging for some fresh air, so, today, I finally made it all the way down the 10 to PCH. Driving past the usual landmarks is so soothing - it's like the adrenaline of rushing down to Zuma in high school all over again. The perfect latte from Coffee Bean and a run into Planet Blue later, I thought it might be nice to see what was on the other side of the sandbox [literally] of the country mart. I vaguely remembered an art space once being there; I think I ran into it by accident while looking for the mail stop a few years ago. Well, the space turned out to be McLean Gallery, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

The current exhibit is called Quiet Spaces, a sublimely perfect fit for my afternoon away. Galleries in commercial spaces usually terrify me with their cheesy and painfully cliched landscapes, but David Skinner has landscaped California into something fantastic. Very early Thomas Hart Benton. The gallery attendants may be a little pushier than usual with trying to sell the work, but it's Malibu, so nothing can really be too pressing. It'll be open until April Fool's Day, and if you end up not being into it, there's always Nobu, Madison, James Perse or Ben & Jerry's right over the bridge to fall back on.

Palazzo Reale

I feel like I am constantly reminding people that Milan is so much more than a fashion hub [well it is wonderful for that too] - it has been one of those cities that has drawn more from Peggy Guggenheim's vision than her actual museum in Venice. I'm not talking about the Museo civico di storia naturale... I passed it almost everyday for half a year and didn't care to go in once. The Palazzo Reale right in the middle of the city, pretty much adjacent to the Duomo, is one of the best spaces I've ever been to. They are constantly opening the most fantastic shows. A tribute to Italian futurist Umberto Boccioni just closed, which from curator Laura Mattioli Rossi looks like it did really well. One of the sculptures they showed is pictured here with the artist himself.

My favorite yet has been 'Helmut Newton: Sex & Landscapes', which showed into last summer. The advertisement postcards were soft black with a flash of hot pink block text, complete with a portrait of a masked nude woman holding a cigarette on the reverse. The image of the crowd on opening day is forever imprinted in my mind. It was a mild day in late February, but the piazza, completely filled with people [as Italians have no idea what a line is] and spilling over into the courtyard of the Ufficio del Turismo, upped the temperature by a few degrees. I am still taking notes on how to get a whole city to be interested in an art show. Americans work so hard to get celebrities and investors to come to every exhibit; what is forgotten is the rise of modern art to make it for the people.

I think the show shocked the city a bit. My marketing professor seemed traumatized after having to bear a first date in the company of aisles of naked women. A sales associate at Viktor & Rolf kept telling me how he never thought Helmut Newton could be so violently vulgar. I loved the reaction. I loved that there was actually a reaction. Taking notes on this one, too. I believe they followed in July with a Botero retrospective, and the change is so swift and substantive, you hardly even remember what came before it. I can't think of any way to say it better than Aldo Nove did - Milano si dimentica, si trasforma, per sopravvivere a se stessa.

Damien Hirst Superstition

I always love love love rain, but it was really terrible that one of our few California downpours had to be on the night of the Damien Hirst opening at Gagosian Gallery. I take a big interest in gallery openings because they are such a great watering hole for the who's who of the art world - and you can always see the hierarchy. Thursday night was, however, a rather disappointing show. Tom Crow and his usual crowd from the Getty were there, but I think a lot of people decided to skip because of the rain. That is, unless you count the local celebs milling about - since when is Lance Armstrong into contemporary art? Kirsten Dunst decided to be completely disrespectful and come looking like she stopped by on her way to the gym. A shame, because this show is really phenomenal. I never liked much about Hirst, except his erratic and charming British accent, but his work this time around is really different than what I've seen from him, and entirely beautiful. The butterfly motif is so delicate and matches wonderfully with the glass medium.

It's a bit difficult to see all the details here, but I'm sure the intricate patterning can be appreciated nonetheless. I last saw him use butterflies [and motif patterning] in a wallpaper design at the Tate Modern, but usually find him to be out of his mind with the dead cows, etc. Although his work is almost always latent with religious themes, his new use of English poetry for titles is fantastic. A lot of his thinking behind this project reminds me of Colin McCahon's earlier concepts, drawing from Biblical texts and embedding the imagery in a natural exposé. I would be very excited to see more explicit focus on the text itself, which could be tied into his apparent fascination with mortality. Larry Gagosian is quite the visionary for repeatedly giving Hirst the solo shows he deserves, and having enough of a sense of humor to take his crazy antics. If you don't have time to go visit, drive by and take a glance at some of the works in the vitrine; a few circular pieces are being housed in there.

Skin + Bones

So I've been fighting it... and I know we're all supposed to be completely obsessed with Skin + Bones at MOCA, but I just don't get it. For one, the title is so dramatic it makes me think I'm walking into a Steven King novel. Should I bring my ice pick with me? I have also been really wondering what the deal is with the massive list of designers. It sounds like a child who is trying to name all their best friends.

After reviewing the whole thing, a few of them start to sound familiar: Hussein Chalayan, Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake [who they list as Miyake Issey], Yohji... wait! Isn't this all sounding a bit similar to 'Breaking the Mode'? I am starting to think the majority of this show is a rip-off of the 'construction' segment of the exhibit, with a few big name architects infused. They sure fooled a lot of people, even Demi & Ashton, who made the celeb-phile curators very happy by agreeing to attend the opening [or Opening Night Fête, as they all want us to call it].

I think the show itself is really beautiful, but is the concept really that novel? It seems most people would be able to link the structure and construction of clothes to architecture... it would be more interesting if they had a concrete show of the specific architecture that influenced each designer. Either that, or I'm still resenting them for butchering the opening room of the Rauschenberg retrospective. And please, fix the parking situation A.S.A.P.

Magritte @ LACMA

It's ending incredibly soon [March 4] so if you haven't scooted over to Wilshire & Fairfax yet, it is a must! I doubt that LACMA will open an exhibit like this any time soon, considering the extremely conservative administration, but I think the past few months have shown everyone in LA what re-thinking an art show really means. I'm sure John Baldessari [the tallest and most adorable old man] had a huge lot to do with the revolutionary setting -- not only designing it, but pushing for Magritte & Contemporary Art to be more of an experience than an exhibition.

The entrance is completely surreal, like falling down the rabbit hole! And again, I loved seeing Jeff Koons' 'Rabbit' [showing up everywhere -- even the Stella McCartney runway!] right up next to a wall of paintings in living steel color, and that huge mannequin in the red suit! Absolute craziness! Even the security guards are in bowler hats, completing the delirious alternate universe. I do think it is overpriced at $17 a ticket, but then again, lunch in LA isn't much cheaper! I am certainly an advocate of food for the mind. Just follow the cloud carpet road and cityscape ceilings, grab the Pierce Brosnan audio tour, and take your time!