Brilliant BCAM

Friday, my friends Kellis ( http://www.neublack ) and Trina ( http://www.strangeandsavage.blogspot.com ) went to BCAM, the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA.

It took us a good twenty minutes after arriving to actually enter the building. The work outside interested Trina and Kellis, but I was impressed by the architecture of the actual building. What an impressive example of architect Renzo Piano's work! Wow. It's gorgeous, and interesting. There are these stairways outside of the building, which rise and strap around the faces of it. On the East side of the building are these light fixtures hanging on long cords, gently swaying in the wind. It activates the outside surface of the building in very engaging way. The Beverly Center ( poor example ) and the Centre Pompidou ( good example ) have similarly considered exteriors, to BCAM.

The entire first floor is devoted to two Richard Serra pieces. I stood in the back of the room, and listened to people move through the interior of the pieces, as I soaked up the gently bending and twisting forms. What a trip!

The ginormous elevator is a central element of the experience. It's fun. It's huge. It's translucent. It's art ( I say so). The elevator shaft space is a commissioned work by Barbara Kruger, which spans all four floors of the building. You can only see it when the elevator car is not present. Children especially enjoyed the scale and playfulness of the elevator.

The Broad's believe in collecting deeply, when they collect. Each room in the new museum is dedicated to one or a group of two or three related artists, showing a number of pieces spanning the career of the artists. It's a distinctive quality that allows a deeper consideration of bodies of work from artists, rather than a sprinkling of one or two here and there, mixed in with a variety of others. Each room is a meditation on the themes and personalities of single artists.

Besides Piano's architecture, and the elevator (with a view of the Hollywood sign), my favorite part of the day was the room devoted to Robert Therrien's "Under The Table". A huge dinner table and chairs is in a gallery all by itself. Walking under and through the gallery brought a peaceful contemplation of days gone by, and reminded me of my insignificance in the world. Trina and Kellis had different experiences with this work. I guess that's what I find most interesting, is that each person, based on their own experiences ( particularly in early childhood ), and their ability to be comfortable in their own person, has entirely differing emotional responses to this work. More so, for me, than any other gallery in the place, the Therrien gallery left me with a good aftertaste, which I carried for hours into the evening.

Nuf said? Go to BCAM. Bring the kids.