Alexander Calder exhibit at LACMA

I roamed over to LACMA to enjoy the Alexander Calder exhibit of his Mobiles and Stabiles...the ones that move and the ones that don't.  Calder lived from 1898 to 1975 in the U.S. and Europe.  Born in Pennsylvania as a son and grandson of traditional sculptures.  He received his degree in mechanical Engineering at Steven's Institute and then went off to Paris to be inspired by Dadaists, Surrealists and other avant-gard artists like Duchamp, Miro, Mondrain, Arp and others.  In 1930 Calder moved on to Abstraction after visiting Mondrain's work.  Then his Mobiles appeared and later the Stabiles.  He moved back to the U.S. with the beginning of WWII along with many other artists. 

Below are some of his works:

Calder' designed this poster for the opening of LACMA in  1965

Calder's "Un effet du japonals" 1941

Calder's "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)" permanently installed as a fountain at LACMA in 1965

Calder's "Spiral Imaginatif" 1975

"Little Face" 1962

"Laocoon" 1947

"La Grande vitesse" 1969



"Gibralter" 1935



Chicago's Flamingo

Natures' Sky Painting over the Rose Bowl

Below are photo's of the beautiful sky over the UCLA vrs. Arizona State football team on Saturday...UCLA lost.

Yep, the Blimp was floating by too

Fowler Museum at Fifty

I roamed through the exhibits of the Fowler museum on the UCLA campus.  They are celebrating their fifthieth year of operation.  Thr brochure says that the museum collections comprise more than 150,000 works of art and material culture and 600,000 archaeological objects, which together represent past and present cultures from Africa, Native and Latin America, Asia and the Pacific..  Nearly 1,000 objects are now on display.  The roooms have sctions that are entitle with different themes such as "Intersections:  World Arts, Local Lives, Art and Action, Art and Knowledge and Art and Power."

Here is a sample of things I observed:

A wall weaving with coper wire and fabric by a Ghana/Nigeria artist in 2005

"La Calavera Don Quijote," 1980 in Papier-mache by Felipe Linaries (Mexico, b. 1936)

"Aparthied's Funeral," 1994 by Johannes Segogela (South Africa, b. 1936) in wood with paint.

""Shrine sculpture," by Ishan peoples, Nigeria, 19th-20th century in wood, pigment, cloth, string,  and fiber,.

"Headdress (ere gelede)" attributed to Labintan (Otta, Nigeria, d. ca. 1930) in wood, paint, laundry bluing.  "Headdress with motorcycle and rider," by Eloi Lokossou (Republic of Benin)

"Mask" by Tsimshian peoples, British Columbia, Canana, 19th century.

"Ship-on-wheels" is a party of the Fowler silver collection.  This adult toy of the 19th-centuiry German manufacture is modeled on the galleons of an earlier era.

"From the Sepik River to Los Angeles:  Art in Migration.  The items in this room came from a region now part of the nation of Papua New Guinea.

Canoe from Yami peoples, Botei Tobago Island, Taiwan, Early 20th century.  The Offering post in front is from the Tetum peoples, Dafala, Belu, West Timor, Indonesia, 19th century in stone.

UCLA Sculpture Gardens on Thursday

I roamed around the UCLA Franklin Murphy Sculpture Gardens on Thursday morning just after it had rained a bit.  The gardens were championed by the UCLA Chancellor, Franklin D. Murphy, who later became chief executive of the Times Mirror Company.   The garden was dedicated in 1967 and features over 70 modern and contemporary sculptures on a five-acre site designed by landscape architect Ralph Cornell.  I first visited the gardens in 1977 and have enjoyed them many times over the years.  It is fun to see the students and faculty also enjoying the gardens as it is a great place to picnic, study, nap, spoon with your partner, and just look around and enjoy.

Here are some of my favorites:

"Reclining Nude" by Francisco Zuniga 

"Oval Form" by Barbara Hepworth

"Bathers" by Jacques Lipchitz

"Tower of Masks" by Anna Mahler

"Mother with Child at her Hip" by Francisco Zuniga 

"Two-Piece Reclining Figure" by Henry Moore

 "Dance Columns I and II by Robert Graham

"Maja" by Gerhard Marcks

"Pensive" by Deborah Butterfield

One of 4 Bas-Relief panels by Henri Matisse

"Night" by Anna Mahler

"Mulier" by Eric Gill

Roy Choi and Evan Kleinman talking about food and life at Aloud on Wednesday

Wednesday night's Aloud at the central library in L.A. feature an interview of Roy Choi by food expert Evan Kleinman.  Roy has recently published an autobiography/cookbook "L.A. Son:  My Life, My City, My Food."  As Evan is an excellent interviewer, as heard on KCRW's Good Food radio show, and Roy Choi is fun, creative and an impulsive subject....it was a great night!  Roy is the creator of the gourmet Korean toco truck, Kogi, that mixes Korean and Mexican tastes.  He is also runs two restaurants, Chego! and Sunny Spot in L.A.  A new restaurant "Pot" will be opening in Korea Town in January.  As Choi is an avid pot/weed smoking fan, he didn't commit if the name was from that or a kitchen pot. 

Choi talked about his childhood, born in Korea with a Clef Lip/Palette, moved to L.A. with parents at age 2.  His parents had challenges including alcoholism and they moved around a lot.  They finally made it in the jewelry business after running a restaurant...where Choi worked as a kid.  So they moved on up to an exclusive community in Orange County (OC) in a home formerly owned by famous pitcher, Nolan Ryan.  He said that the day they moved in, his father took him to the bath room, flushed the toilet, and said this is where Nolan Ryan shit.  He thought about that often while setting on the toilet.

Roy began running the streets with Mexicans while in Junior High.  He loved low rider cars and eventually had one himself.  After some significant trouble and drifting around, he woke up on a friends couch and said that the Emeril Lagasse cooking show was on T.V.  He said that Emeril seemed to be talking to him and saying you can do this too.  So, he went to chef school....but his strong mother said if you going, you are going to the best, "The Culinary Institute of American" in Hyde Park, New York....along the Hudson River, 2 hours North of the City.  This led to good internship at Le Bernardin in New York...another mystical intervention led him there.  He has worked at The Beverly Hilton and the Rock Sugar Pan in L.A. 

He then had the idea with his partners to turn what people called "roach coaches' into gourmet dining.  The Twitter age helped them succeed, announcing their changing locations. 

He said he wrote the book, now age 43, because it was time to grow up.  So the story of his life is a way to find out about who he is and to share his recipes for cooking.  He says their business does not have a plan, they just grow like a plant, without pruning.  He said that maybe next year is a time for planning. 

I went outside the library after the program and enjoyed two tacos, short rib and chicken, with the mysterious sauces.  I also had a Blue Moon Mulita (their premiere Salsa Azul dish."  For dessert I had a Sriracha Bar...a kind of brownie with crisped rich and caramel dipped in dark chocolate.  Wow!

Tuesday night at a Camerata Pacifica concert in The Gold Room in Pasadena

My friend Judith invited me to a Camerata Pacifica concert in The Gold Room of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.  Adrian Spence, the Artistic Director, introduced the program, a solo recital of two of Beethoven's most important and difficult works for piano.  These works were written in Beethoven's later years, after he lost his hearing, and perhaps when he became even more obsessive-compulsive.

Adam Neiman

Adam Neiman, attacked and conquered these difficult pieces that required much pounding and finesse on the Steinway.  The first was the Beethoven 33 variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op.120....yes 33 variations!  I didn't count them but was amazed how Adam was pumping both his feet on pedals and was up and down the keyboard with his fingers seemingly without breaking a sweat.

After the intermission, Adam played Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-Flat Major..."set a new standard for difficulty, duration and depth."  Yes, Adam did handle all of it very well.

Tuesday roaming at the Nethercutt Museum with Jim and Bob

Jim had heard about this amazing museum in Sylmar, so we took off for an adventure.  This is where we viewed 120 antique, Vintage, Black Iron and Classic automobiles and a 1912 Pullman Private Car and 1937 Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson Locomotive.  Across the street in the Nethercutt Collection there are 50 more autos plus "the world's finest assemblage of Mechanical Musical Instruments" which we didn't see as they are only available for scheduled guided tour on Thursdays to Saturdays.  The collection was the creation of J.B. Nethercutt who moved to Santa Monica, CA in 1923 to live with his aunt and founder of Merle Norman Cosmetics, Merle Nethercutt Norman.  He and his wife Dorothy were married 70 years until her death in 2004.  J.B also died that year at the age of 91.  His son Jack and his wife Helen carry on the family collection and leadership of Merle Norman Cosmetics.  Here is a bit of what we saw:

1929 Kissel, White Eagle Speedster.  Jim tells me that at one time there were 2000 auto makers.  This one has a golf bag mount.

1937 Talbot-Lago Sport Coupe

The Engine and Private Pullman Car once owned by Clara Baldwin Stocker, eldest daughter of California pioneer E.J. "Lucky" Baldwin.

Inside the Engine

The Parlor and Dining room.  The car has two bedrooms with bathrooms and a kitchen with quarters for the cook/valet

1948 Tucker Sedan

1917 Pierce Arrow Seven Passenger Touring.  The body is cast aluminum.

1952 Hudson Convertible

1923 Voisin Sporting Victoria.  Rudolph Valentino once owned this one in Hollywood and two others that he left in Paris

Fire! Fire!

1912 Cadillac

The Hood Ornament on a 1939 Packard

The Hood of a 1938 Lincoln Touring Coupe

The Hood of a 1931 Packard Sport Sedan owned by movie star Irene Rich.