L.A. Phil Subscribers Open House on Saturday

Colleen and I attended a delightful afternoon open house at the Disney Hall. 

We began with a "Out of the Archives" tour that included the garden on the roof with beautiful mature trees that were moved there 10 years ago into 30 foot deep wells.  Many were donated including two that the donor insisted be planted together just as they have been since there were very small.  We then went into the archives where there are videos, photography and other items from the L.A. Phil's beginnings.

Next we went into the concert hall for a talk from the CEO Deborah Borda, a concert from 3 members of the strings followed by a question and answering session.  Then we ate a tasty free boxed lunch with wine and listened to interviews with members of the orchestra.

We were then on an "Insider Tour" of the back stage, Gustavo's office, visiting conductors and artist's quarters and the 'green room' with green furniture.

Finally we were back to the concert hall for a presentation by Chad Smith, VP of the Artistic Planning department.  He travels the world to identify potential visiting musicians and conductors.  He then introduced four members of the string section who played a delightful chamber piece.  After interviews with them it was opened to questions from the audience.  One question coming from the audience was their impression of the differences between the present conductor, Gustavo Dudamel and the previous conductor who was in the hall for 2 weeks of performances...Esa Pekka Solonen.  One said that it was like the difference between tropical Venezuela and the Nordic Finland.

Lunch and Gallery Roaming with my friend Chris

Chris greeted me with special gifts including two of her newest poems.   One entitled "Time Step Tango" begins:

"just a minute,
  measure your words,
    count your blessings.

yet, it's the moments in between,
  that give us reason, give us rhyme"

ChrisKay is a poet, artist, and photographer.  Thank you Chris for your many gifts.

After a very nice lunch at Tiato's in Santa Monica...a beautiful outdoor garden lunch spot with a Viet Nam flavor...but they do have a nice burger and fries... we went to Bergamot Station to roam the galleries.

We made our way to the William Turner Gallery to view the paintings by Casper Brindle Azimuth.  He uses automotive paint, acrylic, resin on panels.

Next we went to the Latin American Masters gallery to view new paintings by Jose Alberto Marchi who was born in Argentina in 1957.  There we had a long talk with the owner of the gallery who gave us a wonderful docent led tour of the exhibit. 

"Hidden Gold" by Casper Brindle Asimuth

"Transhumante," 2013 by Fernando de Szyszlo, Peru, b. 1925

"Mesa Ritual (Study)," 2013 by Fernando de Szyszlo

"Muerte Bujando Elefante Rojo/Azul," 2011 by Fansisco Toledo, Mexico, b. 1940
(oil and watercolor on laser-cut paper)

Jose Alberto Marchi's "Sacrificio." 
"Marchi's exhibition is inspired by 'The Sacrifice' (1986) by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.  Tarkovsky's protagonist, in an unexplained act, sets his own house on fire.  Marchi takes this image of a burning house and combines it with images of anonymous characters taken from late 19th century photographs, creating strange new paintings that allow for a multiplicity of interpretations."

This painting of a 19th century classroom scene seems to suggest that the teacher is provoking "fiery" ideas.

The men seems to be burning framed canvases.

What's your interpretation?

These women seem to be sewing while the house burns...sewing seeds of destruction?

Notice all the paintings have the same smoke coming over the top of the painting from left center to upper left.

Security Versus Privacy? RAND Forum on Wednesday

"Does homeland security mean a person can't be secure in their own home?  Government data on phone and electronic communication of private citizens is scary or is it needed to insure our safety?  And the spying on our allies is making many other countries angry and dissolving their trust in the U.S.  Is this needed?  Where do we go from here?"

These are some of the questions discussed by a panel at the RAND forum last week.  Henry Willis, director of the RAND Homeland Security Defense center was the moderator for the discussion.  Peter Bibring is a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California represented the view that Americans rights are being violated.  Rafael Garcia, Jr., is a special agent in charge of the Intelligence Division at the FBI in Los Angeles.  He represented the view that intelligence is needed to insure the safety of the people and that they are very careful in how they gather intelligence in order to not violate rights.  Cameron Munter is a retired career diplomat and served as ambassador to Pakistan, 2010-2012, ambassador to Serbia and served in embassies in the Czech Republic and Poland.  He is now a professor at Pomona College.

The Boston Marathon Bombing reminded us that terrorism could happen anywhere at any time.  We need security because of a greater threat.  We must cooperate with other nations and do diligence and balance surveillance with civil liberties.  This was the view of Mr. Garcia from the F.B.I.  He also said that oversight is being provided by congress and the courts.  We must balance surveillance tools with personal rights. 

Mr. Bibring said that this shift to collecting tons of data is more that the F.B.I. can handle...like adding hay to the hay stack and then searching for the needle.  This has led to greated ineffectiveness.  He said the government has gone too far without public discussion and policy making.  He said that people ask:  "If I am not doing anything wrong, why does it matter?"  He said the government can piece together small amounts of information and blow them up into investigations and arrests.  This has been used on political groups.  He said that we need to be concerned about intimidation and search and the information gathered at public peaceful rallies and demonstrations.

Mr. Munter said that we must have an international dimension.  He is concerned about the denial of due process to Americans and those around the world.  In order to continue our extraordinary cooperation with other countries, we must understand and respect foreign cultures.  He asked:  "Where are the limits of trust and judgement?"  Surveillance of foreign governments has broken trust.  We need to develop policies together with our allies.  Snowden's release of information was a violation of trust also, but it has brought this issue to the table and needs to be resolved.  He said we are in deep trouble with our allies and our reputation has been damaged.  We have learned the hard way and we have to do something about it now.

The F.B.I. is in a bind.  They are expected to prevent bad things from happening but to do this they need to use surveillance and information gathering on potential bad guys. 

Monday at the Norton Simon with Bonnie

It was a beautiful day for lunch by the lily pad decorated pond and sculpture garden at the North Simon with my friend Bonnie.  We then strolled through some of the galleries to visit old friend art pieces and to examine some of those we had missed in the past.

Here are some of what we enjoyed:

Sam Francis, American, 1923-1994, Basel Mural I 1956-58

Sam Francis Basel Mural III, Fragment 1 & 2
These murals were painted in Paris as a part of three murals hung in the Basel Kunsthalle where they were hung until 1964.  However, Swiss institutions declined to purchase them and one was sent to Amsterdam  and the other two sent to the U.S.  During shipment and storage, they sustained water damage.  Basel Mural I was treated and then donated by the artist to the Pasadena Art Museum but the third was too difficult to repair.  It was cut and and the portions that were undamaged were re stretched and donated to the museum in 2009 by the Sam Francis Foundation. 

"Woman with a Book,"  by Pablo Picasso

"Three Standing Figures," 1953 by Henry Moore

"Still Life with Musical Instruments," 1918 by  Georges Braque, French, 1882-1963

"Woman with a Guitar," 1913 by Pablo Picasso 1881-1973.  Picasso and Braque were colleagues and founded the Cubist movement...the representation of the tree-dimensional world on a two-dimensional picture plane.

"Girl," 1931 by Angel Bracho, Mexican, 1911-2005

"Design," 1985 by Roberto Matta, Chilean, 1911-2002

"Blue Boy with the Banana," 1931 by Diego Rivera, Mexican, 1886-1957

Aime Mpane: Artis in Conversation at LACMA on Sunday

Aime Mpane, artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, born in 1968 and active in Belgium was interviewed by Dr. Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts from UCLA and curator of the exhibit.  Her husband Al,  also a PhD at UCLA, translated from French to English.  They had lived in the Congo for 4 years studying Tabwa and Luba art. The figures below are ones that were shown to us by slide show as well as the "Shadow of a Shadow" that was on display.

The artist at his outdoor studio in the Congo carving images of children's faces in plywood

The effects of Nike and other commercialism is major in the Congo

The flags of the colonial nations are thrust into the chest of the African figure with and Ax.

The masks similar to those that Picasso painted show the outside expression and the inside feelings on the other side.

Aime Mpane

The carvings on plywood expose the different layers and colors of the wood on the faces.

Wood and paint on wood

The artist in front of one of his art creations.

Below is a picture of the exhibit of his work entitled "Congo, Shadow of the Shadow," 2005.  "The full size standing figure of a man is formed by 4,652 matchsticks (fire destructs and builds) to express the paradoxes of human strength and fragility and the resolute ability of Congolese to transcend the horrors that have befallen their nation from 1885 to the present.  Decades of tragic and ongoing civil strife have taken countless lives, as reflected by wooden silhouettes of a pregnant woman and child that lie near the figure.  The artist writes that they are the shadows of the dead and then there are their shoes...when a village in Congo dies after an attack by rebels or gangs, sometimes all that is left behind is their shoes."

Aime Mpane divides his time between Belgium and the Congo.  This installation addresses the complex histories during and since the colonial era.  The Berlin Conference of 1885 to which Mpane alludes on the cross, led to the partition of Africa by colonial powers.  It was then that King Leopold II of Belgium, who reigned from 1865 to 1909, was granted the immense Congo Free State as his personal property.  Because of the scandalous, violent exploitation, Belgium assume control of the colony in 1908 and held it until Congolese independence in 1960.

The Luba Masterworks from Congo at LACMA

On Sunday I attended an interview with the artist Aime Mpane from The Democratic Republic of the Congo by Dr. Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts the curator of an exhibit entitle "Shaping Power."  The exhibit displays art work from the 19th century from the Luba Kingdom, a highly influential Central African state that flourish for several centuries in what is now Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  This is in a new gallery for the arts of Africa. 

"Luba royal culture expanded as people in outlying areas sought to participate in the aura of kingship.  Rather than a militaristic "empire" realized through conquest, Luba influence spread more subtly, through strategic gift-giving, intermarriage, and spiritual empowerment."

Below are pictures of some of the 19th century artworks:

Caryatid Stool, Luba Peoples, Wood and glass beads.  The Caryatid stools served as thrones.

Male Mask is iconic of Luba royal culture and serves as the logo for the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium.

Hermaphrodite Figure, Kalundwe Peoples who are western Luba people. 19th century



Buffalo Mask, Tabwa Peoples, 19th century. 



Memory Board:  Lukasa, Luba Peoples, 19th century, made of wood, glass beads, acacia thorns, and mental

Anthropomorphic Water Pipe, Luba Peoples, 19th century

Culinary Artist Don Boline at Claud Restaurant

On Saturday night, Colleen and I attended a Five Acres event where board member Don Boline created a wonderful five course dinner with wine parings and with the assistance of Chef Claud at the Claud restaurant in Pasadena.  These are amazing artists...and the food was delicious.

The Paella Masterpiece

Don Boline The Artist/Chef

Thursday Night at City Hall with UCLA

On Thursday night I attended a program sponsored by UCLA honoring their community partners for their commitment to improving the quality of life in L.A.  The UCLA Chancellor Gene Block was there and giving the awards along with council members Tom LaBonge, Jan Perry, and L.A. Times writer Steve Lopez. 

The first award, UCLA Tom Bradley Local Leader of the Year, went to former council member Bill Rosendahl.  Other awards went to the Riordan Programs at UCLA Anderson School of Administration and the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Scholars Summer Academy for youth in foster care.

The reason I was there was to seen Al Aubin receive the Bruin Caucus Advocate of the Year award.  I know Al from church and I joined in congratulating him for this achievement. 

The evening was very enjoyable with a reception in the rotunda with the program in the Council Chambers of the City Hall whose first image I saw on "Dragnet" a t.v. show in the 1950's.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block addressing the audience

Exposition Park Visits with Vets

On Thursday, I visited Exposition Park with the vets to view the exhibitions at California African American Museum (CAAM).  As a bonus we viewed the air planes out side the museum and went into the Science Museum to see the space shuttle Endeavor.  I reported on CAAM exhibits last week and the Veterans seemed to be very interested.  But it was our entry into the Science Museum and seeing the space shuttle that amazed us all.

The Science Museum has created a very interesting exhibit including videos of the Endeavor in space, flying on the back of a 747 around L.A. skies, and a fast forward video of the shuttle going down the streets of L.A. from LAX to the museum with thousands of people cheering it as it went by.  The exhibit also show life inside the shuttle including the toilet...what we all wanted to see.  But it was seeing the shuttle and walking under and around it that was the most amazing.  Below are photos of the visit.  

Weekend of music and sipping the Wineries

Colleen and I made a couple of winery visits in the Santa Ynez Valley and enjoyed wine and tasty eats along with music.  At the Lincourt Winery we heard the Second Class Citizens band made up of guys from the Vandenberg Air Force Base playing 80's style rock.  Later we arrived in Templeton for the weekend with daughter Ginny and son-in-law Lars.  Sunday we visited some wineries including Daou...one of the fancier in the Paso Robles area with great views.  We also enjoyed a burger and wine at the Alta Colina and Villicana Wineries with great country/folk music with a singer that reminded me of Joan Baez or Judy Collins from the 1960's.  Later we strolled the shops and galleries of Paso with some very impressive local artists.  This is definitely a destination town for music, art, food, beer and of course wine.

All three pictures are of Daou Winery

The Second Class Citizens band at Lincourt Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley

The vinyards at Lincourt

More Music on Wednesday and Thursday

On Wednesday, the UCLA Extension class on Puccini was all about La Boheme my favorite opera.  We enjoyed 2 and a half hours of learning about this opera and viewing a DVD with Pavarotti playing Rudolfo and Scotti playing Mimi....neither looking like starving artists in Paris but singing up a storm to this beautiful music.

On Thursday I was back to the L.A. Phil for a Beethoven night conducted by Dudamel.  It began with an overture to "The Ruins of Rome" followed by Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian Pianist, playing the the 2nd piano concerto with the orchestra.  After intermission Andsnes was back to play the 4th piano concerto.  He was very well applauded so came out and played an encore.  It was another great night at Disney Hall with Gustavo and friends.

Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes (He played the piano without the fish)

California African American Museum on Tuesday

After a delightful lunch with my friend Margaret at Smitty's in Pasadena, I roamed to the Exposition Park area of L.A. to visit CAAM.  The museum now has several excellent exhibits of Art by African Americans.

The first one I visited were photos by Roberto Chile entitled "Afrodescendents."  These are photos he took in Guanabacoa, Cuba which was the site of where ships carrying captured Africans docked and sold into slavery.  Most of the Africans brought as slaves were sold in South American and the Caribbean.  Up to two-thirds of the population of Cuba identify as part African. The pictures are meant o show "the sublime beauty of certain aspects of Afro-Cuban culture while inviting you into the emotional intimacy of daily life."

Roberto Chile

The next exhibit I visited is entitled "The Legacy of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company:  More than a Business.  This is a savings and loan company that was founded by African Americans under the leadership of William Nickerson, Jr.Norman Houston and George Beavers.  Their one room business grew and they built a a new office on Central Avenue and later a new building designed by African American architect Paul Williams in 1948 on the corner of Western and Adams Blvds.  At the same time they commissioned two historic murals for the lobby by artists Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff and hired artist William Pajaoud to curate and collect what became the largest U.S. collection of corporate-owned African American art.  Many of the items were sold in a bankruptcy in 2009.  But many were collected for this exhibit and can be seen below.

The Embrace by Elizabeth Catlett

Photos of the large murals are being exhibited.  The one above is called Colonization and Exploitation by Charles Alston.  Below is Settlement and Development by Hale Woodruff.

Other exhibits at the museum are "Soul Stirring:  African American Self-Taught Artists from the South," "Things That Cannot Be Seen Any Other Way:  The Art of Manuel Mendive," ""Diverted Destruction 6" and "The March on Washington A Tribute, 50 Years Later."

Above a painting by Roy Ferdinand born in Gert Town New Orleans 1959 died 2004..."The Goya of New Orleans."

Below are Manuel Mendive's works.