Arts & Culture
Museums
Joyful Exploration
By OCInSite Site Admin | April 03, 2012 10:09 AM
Amidst the drone of power tools and raucous hammering, I’m desperately trying to hear what Malcolm Warner, the spruce new director of Laguna Art Museum has just said in response to my question. I covertly twist my digital recorder so it points closer to Malcolm and further from the jean-clad men installing new artwork in the adjoining room. It’s a Thursday afternoon and I’m standing with Malcolm, Janet Blake and Grace Kook-Anderson—curators of “The Postwar Era”—a few feet in front of five works of art they’ve pulled and leaned against the wall for me to see.
Ocean Park at OCMA
By Daniella Walsh | February 02, 2012 2:37 PM
This is an important window into the history of art—a world-class exhibition. Many have been inspired to create great things following a move to Southern California, but few have reacted to the change of scenery with a creative output as compelling and confounding as Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park paintings.
Beyond Plein Air
By Daniella Walsh | January 03, 2012 3:59 PM
Laguna Beach, with its approximately 70 art galleries and countless artists living in its environs, continues to nurture its heritage as an art colony. Although plein air painting and California Impressionism still holds sway, high-quality contemporary art has brought diversity, quality and a refreshing unpredictability to an art scene that’s no longer dismissible as beach town cliché.
Western Impressions
By Daniella Walsh | December 27, 2011 5:12 PM
They can be seen in most California beach towns: artists, with easels and brushes at the ready, capturing the scenic beauty of coves, canyons and the coastline. These modern-day plein air painters are supported by societies and competitions, and their work is ubiquitous in galleries and annual art shows.
The Cool School
By OCinSite | November 10, 2011 11:27 AM
George Herms is 75 years old, rangy, bearded and balding. He is hilarious and intense and scatters curse words through his speech. If my mother had been having coffee with us at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana (while he took a quick break from his work at the Grand Central Arts Center where he was installing one of his many current exhibitions), she would have fallen in love with him, and most likely would have tittered and blushed. I was a little in love with him myself.
Leap Forward!
By OCinSite | September 24, 2011 8:00 AM
When Southern California decides it’s got something to prove, watch out. In October, the sprawling leviathan “Pacific Standard Time” will lumber across the state’s better half like one of those giant Transformers, leaving no museum, gallery, or backyard shed from San Diego to Santa Barbara untrampled by its giant monster foot.
Today’s Google Doodle Goes Mobile
By OCinSite At-Large | July 22, 2011 10:26 AM
Did you see today's Google doodle? The homepage celebrates the American artist Alexander Calder's 113th birthday by using a Calder mobile in place of the company logo. The mobile swings ever so gently on your computer.
Auto Showcase Is a Real Duesy
By OCinSite At-Large | July 11, 2011 11:48 AM
Gen. William Lyon’s personal collection of beautifully maintained ‘20s and ‘30s vintage luxury cars are a sight to behold, and offer an unprecedented glimpse into the regal beauty of automotive years past.
Summer Art Roundup: OCMA
By OCinSite At-Large | July 08, 2011 10:18 AM
The best art should be a moving experience, and that’s exactly the case with Newport’s top show of the summer! OCMA hosts the only West Coast ...
2011 Art Roundup: Laguna Art Museum
By OCinSite At-Large | June 28, 2011 9:40 AM
Soon after its creation, UC Irvine became home to the most innovative artists, students, and art writers on the West Coast (including Tony DeLap, above). Those days will be examined in Laguna Art Museum’s show “Best Kept Secret: UCI and the Development of Contemporary Art in Southern California, 1964 - 1971.” ...
