A different look at The Broad

I was downtown giving an Historic Downtown tour to kids from North Hollywood High. They were a great group of kids and the tour went very well. Since I was there on a weekday, I tried my luck and went and stood in line for standby tickets.  Met some lovely people from Seattle who had come for the Disney half marathon. Of course I recommended quite a few of our downtown gems.I’ll say it right now, I don’t like the art in the Broad, what interests me is the architecture. I want to see how the shapes and forms react both inside and out.Iconic image, going up the escalator.   As someone who studied design,  I like the focal point right above the woman’s head. How the lines just lead there.Ok, I found one piece of artwork I like. LACMA has a much more colorful version. African art, taking many pieces of tin, from cans and other objects and creating a large carpet.  A wonderful example of crafting with what you have.  As for the rest of the art, I’m familiar with his collection of 1980s art,  it leaves me cold. What leaves me angry is the newer art – if it doesn’t have an angry message, or an anti Western civilization message – it isn’t part of the collection. There wasn’t anything positive, it was all about racism, or anti war, or sexual deprivation.  I get it, we are eating ourselves and won’t stand and defend what the West stands for.  All we can do is malign and tear down.  I did shock one of the guards when I knew who one of the artists is. Doesn’t make me like her, but I’ve seen her angry anti White America art before. She should be lecturing on all college campii right now.

What this tells me is that many of the visitors don’t know art and coming here they are being ‘educated and enlightened’.  Oh for one single European Madonna and Child.Jeff Koons,  his highly reflective stainless steel, reflecting itself and the roof beautifully.  A win for building making this piece so much more interesting then when it was in other locations.So I aimed my camera at the walls, seeing the play of light and shadow on the structure itself.And found my comfort there.I had of course seen the window from outside.It took a while to find it inside, in a lecture hall.Once again on the outside, tilting my camera so the roof line is vertical.And of course peering through the windows to the street bellow.  Combining the soft edges of the window with the geometric lattice of  guard rails.And the view of both Disney Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavillon, with a shadow of the San Gabriel mountains beyond.And then this image, made my heart sing!   The Ped Xing sign, right over the skylights of the Contemporary Art Museum to the Tower of the Title Guarantee building.  This is what I love, standing in one contemporary building, looking over another to a wonderful example of Art Deco.  I love that architecture develops and changes, I wish that Art would do the same without being ugly and angry. Today positive  creativity is happening in the craft world, not in the art world. Here’s hoping they find their way back. At least Architecture isn’t wallowing in the negative.And finally, away from the Broad, looking at the upper station of Angels Flight.  This is a funicular that needs an angel. We need it to run again!