The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) invited The Sundial for a preview of its latest installations and upcoming exhibitions, set to open in the upcoming weeks.
PST ART is an initiative presented by the Getty, which gathers 800+ artists, 70+ exhibits, under the theme of “Art & Science Collide,” which has been their theme since 2019. LACMA is showcasing three exhibitions for this preview that revolves around this fascinating theme.
We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art
is an exhibit that revolves around the cultures of artistry itself, and the colors used in these works of art in the age of ancient Mesoamerica.
A landmark art piece of the exhibition is a wall of textiles, that was paired with the sounds of the rain. Hung from the ceiling and walls as if drying, it demonstrates how nature’s influence the dyes and pigments available for fabrics.
Artist, Porfirio Gutiérrez, expressed the importance of his work and this exhibit as he said, “My work, is my family legacy of me and my interaction with this information is to look deeply into the science and chemistry, but also, share what that means in this context.”
The exhibition also features a range of art pieces of craftsmanship, with a variety of ancient sculptures, tools, and instruments that illustrate the ingenuity of the Mesoamerican people. The pigments and colors used in these works blend the work of nature and the vibrant culture that the Mesoamerican people held dearly.
“We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art,” brings a colorful exhibit with a hint of cosmology to Los Angeles, and is open until Sept. 2, 2025.
Josiah McElheny: Island Universe
is a sculpture inspired by the concepts of the multiverse and parallel universes.
From a distance, they look like chandeliers brought down to eye-level, but up-close, the sculpture looks like stars, branching out, being the motive of the “Island Universe” name.
Curator Stephan Little explained the sculpture’s significance in Los Angeles, noting the city’s historical advancements in cosmology. Little specifically mentioned physicist Albert Einstein, discovering the effect known as gravitational lensing with the telescope on Mount Wilson Observatory, located in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The marvelous piece, “Josiah McElheny: Island Universe,” is now open and will feature in the “Mapping the Infinite: Cosmologies Across Culture” exhibiting, starting on Oct. 24, 2024.
Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film
showcases contemporary digital art, inclining visual editing and production in film, music videos and commercials.
The exhibition extends from early works of computer-generated imagery (CGI) from the 1970s and 1980s, with Rebecca Allen’s work with the German electronic group, “Kraftwerk,” with human-like computer-generated characters based on the group members.
It also reaches to modern works, such as the use of deepfake technology in Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5,” where the Grammy Award & Pulitzer Prize winning artist, transforms into African-American celebrities such as Kobe Bryant and Will Smith.
Curator, Staci Steinberger, introduces the digital art exhibition by stating, “We hope to capture the visual revolution in the broader culture. We look for both visual connections, but we also trace threads of continuing debates, as each new technology both excitement, the aesthetic potential, and concerns about misinformation, and the continued viability of creative labor.”
“Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film,” and its history in digital advents will open on Nov. 24, 2024.
PST ART continues to be a culturally significant initiative in Southern California, with LACMA set to introduce two more exhibitions and a program under the “Art & Science Collide” theme soon.
