By now, you’d have to have been under the giant rock land art piece outside LACMA to not know the museum premiered its 720 million dollar Peter Zumthor brutalist Geffen Galleries last week, after two decades of planning. The 900 feet of concrete structure, winding over the traffic on Wilshire Boulevard, was dubbed “a curvaceous concert sandwich” (NY Times) – the Wall Street Journal seemed dumbfounded, even disappointed. It’s provoked two utterly opposing views among the inner art world: complete confusion over its (purposefully) winding halls of painting, sculpture, furniture and ancient wardrobe pieces, often from different centuries and locales, without the obvious chronological structure of museums of yore.
But this is not an art library folks: the building,
the way it’s structured with windows peering out at the entire city, the eclectic art on view (outstanding: a Francis Bacon triptych
dedicated to artist Lucien Freud)), ranging from modern all the way back to ancient Egyptian – this is all of an intentional plan on part of LACMA CEO Michael Govan and renowned Swiss architect Zumthor. “We want you to wander; to have an experience of art in an artful environment,” Govan said at the press preview. The museum guide is even titled “Wander.” Every individual visitor will have their own unique experience. (Cont…)
