Wednesday, June 29, 2011

About TAM vs. About Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

About TAM:

About TAM:"The Museum encourages all people to develop and increase their understanding and appreciation for modern and contemporary artwork via a variety of exhibitions offered in its two gallery spaces, as well as educational programs, artist talks, lectures, and symposia.

Through its emphasis on contemporary artistic expression in Southern California and globally, the Torrance Art Museum brings together visual artists and community members; fosters personal and civic well being by inspiring understanding and appreciation of the visual arts; promotes meaningful experiences in the arts to strengthen creative and critical thinking skills; and builds bridges between the visual arts and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences."

About LAMAG:

"The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Associates (LAMAGA) is a private non-profit corporation founded in 1951, whose primary mission is to promote, assist, and serve as advocates for the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. LAMAGA provides financial, marketing, and public relations support for the Gallery’s exhibitions, publications, and educational programs. Its principle mandates have been to enhance the exhibition programs, promote visitor understanding and appreciation of art through the education program, and to insure the Gallery’s accessibility and involvement with City-wide audiences and the surrounding immigrant communities. LAMAGA supports the Gallery financially through grant writing and the administration of grant funds, personal solicitations, production and sale of exhibition catalogues, ancillary programs, and fundraising events developed with Gallery staff to compliment the exhibitions."

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

About TAM vs. About Norton Simon

About Norton Simon:

Excerpt, first sentence only: "The Norton Simon Museum is known around the world as one of the most remarkable private art collections ever assembled."

About TAM:

About TAM:"The Museum encourages all people to develop and increase their understanding and appreciation for modern and contemporary artwork via a variety of exhibitions offered in its two gallery spaces, as well as educational programs, artist talks, lectures, and symposia.

Through its emphasis on contemporary artistic expression in Southern California and globally, the Torrance Art Museum brings together visual artists and community members; fosters personal and civic well being by inspiring understanding and appreciation of the visual arts; promotes meaningful experiences in the arts to strengthen creative and critical thinking skills; and builds bridges between the visual arts and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences."

Monday, June 27, 2011

About TAM vs. About MOCA

About TAM:

About TAM:"The Museum encourages all people to develop and increase their understanding and appreciation for modern and contemporary artwork via a variety of exhibitions offered in its two gallery spaces, as well as educational programs, artist talks, lectures, and symposia.

Through its emphasis on contemporary artistic expression in Southern California and globally, the Torrance Art Museum brings together visual artists and community members; fosters personal and civic well being by inspiring understanding and appreciation of the visual arts; promotes meaningful experiences in the arts to strengthen creative and critical thinking skills; and builds bridges between the visual arts and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences."

About MOCA:

"Mission & Vision Statement: MOCA's mission is to be the defining museum of contemporary art. MOCA engages artists and audiences through an ambitious program of exhibitions, collection, education, and publication. MOCA identifies and supports the most significant and challenging art of its time, places it in historical context, and links the range of the visual arts to contemporary culture. MOCA provides leadership by actively fostering and presenting new work, emerging media, and original scholarship."

Sunday, June 26, 2011

About TAM vs. About SMMOA

About TAM:

About TAM:"The Museum encourages all people to develop and increase their understanding and appreciation for modern and contemporary artwork via a variety of exhibitions offered in its two gallery spaces, as well as educational programs, artist talks, lectures, and symposia.

Through its emphasis on contemporary artistic expression in Southern California and globally, the Torrance Art Museum brings together visual artists and community members; fosters personal and civic well being by inspiring understanding and appreciation of the visual arts; promotes meaningful experiences in the arts to strengthen creative and critical thinking skills; and builds bridges between the visual arts and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences."

About SMMOA:
"Mission: Through its exhibitions, education, and outreach programs, the Santa Monica Museum of Art fosters diversity, innovation, and discovery in contemporary art—local, national, and international."

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Star 69

Telephone is scheduled to close today.

The show was an experiment in deregulation, like when the courts took Ma Bell down.

This blog, for whatever its worth, wasn't impressed with the majority of the works in the show... but so what? the conceptual idea was of more interest. Any single great work in the show would be extra, like a *69 feature from a Baby Bell compared with more competition and lower rates.

Contemporary parallel: ATT / T-Mobile proposed merger.

Contemporary parallel: Mat Gleason's show.

Festival style spectacle: Adam's Telephone To Telephone Tweets.

All world tweets: About telephones.

Next TAM curatorial concept cum pragmatic crowdsource: Opening in mid-September.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Photography: Holding Its Own

Mid-exhibition run, checked in with TAM's Max Presneill for an assessment of the artists' chain-curated show, Telephone. (Closing June 25.)

The director said he's pleased with how the show turned out. Said, too, that "photography is holding its place," and "being used in a '70s conceptual way."

And said he sees in the show "a re-engagement with craft and technological prowess," noting that the videos, for instance, display high production value.

Also, the show has more drawings than he would have guessed, the artists display a greater ambition, and it would appear that "slacking is gone."

If so, what will become of Bob Dobbs?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Six Twenty Three

Telephone's artists be told: eight foot wide maximum, height can hit ceiling. Just need room for all forty artists.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Social Investment

The current TAM exhibition, Telephone, closing June 25, relied on one artist to select the next artist to select the next artist to select the next artist and so on to appear in the show.

Love, hate, or feel indifferent about the resulting show, putting it together via this conceptual curatorial outsourcing turned out to be a smooth operation, according to TAM's chief, Max Presneill, with works arriving on time and installations including artists assisting one another.

This blog: "That's because of the social contract?"

That man: "The social investment."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The City Seal As Art

This is the official seal of Torrance.

"Torrance," the text reads, "A Balanced City. Industrial, Residential, Commercial."

What would the seal look like if TAM was in charge of re-doing it?

What would the seal look like if artists whose works appear at TAM re-imagined it?

What would the text say if TAM's staff or visiting curators re-wrote it?

Is the blog the only one confused by the official Torrance history of its seal?

Have the past and present seals been created by a trustee and a fireman? What happened to the entries in 1966 by all the children? The current design couldn't possibly be by a kid -- unless the tot is history's most precocious urban planner.

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Rest of This Post Being Written by Feet

This is not the piece by Eric Yahnker that starts TAM's Telephone.

Six Miles By Car

Six miles, by car, from TAM: Freshia Market, home to digi toilets available for sale and the $1.50 tuna croquette.

Closer, still, a refinery.

Even closer, the swimming pool for youth sports.