basquiat

MOCA is free on Thursdays after 5pm. It was a great excuse to get away from the L.A. heat and see Basquiat's Exhibition. Honestly, I didn't know much about him. I read an article in the Calendar section and became interested in seeing his work.

On my way to MOCA, I noticed a tourist circling Hill and 2nd St. She asked me where the contemporary museum was located. I gladly accompanied her since I was going to the same place. We chatted up a bit, asked her where she was from. She said she is from Barcelona, Spain. I was so giddy to meet the Spainard. I told her how I love Spain and enjoyed experiencing her culture when I was abroad last year. A true Barcelonian (I know it's not a word), raved about how Barcelona has an ocean. They never like Madrid because it's surrounded by terrain. It was a short conversation, but very refreshing to meet a new person, especially a tourist from Spain. She is enjoying her holiday, and is loving California. She is excited about Big Sur this weekend. How lovely.

Isn't the Disney Hall beautiful? I just love this structure.building.sculpture.art. I had the pleasure of making a book in my 3d class when they were constructing this building. I have awesome pictures of the support systems (the skeleton) of Disney Hall. It's so refreshing to walk and just see the environment.

::The Basquiat Exhibition::

Here is a short bio of Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and displayed talent in drawing like every kid. He was not trained in art school, but quickly became prominent in the art scene in New York. He was famous for painting on walls of buildings because he was too poor to buy a canvas. The art fucks thought this media was so revolutionary. Come on, it's called graffiti! Nevertheless, the hipster mingled with various famous artists and even collaborated with Warhol. There was a piece shown at the exhibition of a silkscreened canvas with his paints mixing with Warhols logos of pop culture. Basquiat lived a short life because he died of a drug overdose when he was only 27 ( I know, such a cliche). He mananged to paint 70 paintings and 50 works on paper.

These 3 paintings happen to be my favorites from the show. It showed more of a progressive style and were more captivating than the rest. There was a thought process put in these images, such as references to African masks and the human body. Some of his works had no business to be on a gallery wall. They were obviously scribbles, which were nicely framed and matted (stupid art fucks!). Seeing those scribbles... I rolled my eyes to a seizure! There were plenty of interesting art though, such as the actual doors and windows he painted on were being showcased at the exhibition. I also love how his paintings and drawings were massive. Some paintings were 6 ft. tall canvases which commanded your attention. Overall, it was an artstyfarsty day.