Exhibit of the week: Collection: MoCA’s First 30 Years

Museum of Contemporary Art

Los Angeles

Through May 3, 2010

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The 30th anniversary of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art has been observed in grand fashion, said Peter Aspden in the Financial Times. Celebrities, collectors, and countless artists all showed up at the recent gala to fete an institution that’s become “one of the most important contemporary art museums in the world.” Three decades of introducing Angelenos to new art would be “reason enough to celebrate” by putting old favorites on display and dusting off little-seen works. But MoCA is also celebrating being saved from near death; its endowment suffered so badly during last year’s financial crisis that it was nearly forced to close its doors.

Happily, a few wealthy L.A. patrons stepped in to save the institution, said Mary Milliken in Reuters. They also devised a plan to put MoCA back on its feet, part of which calls for de-emphasizing traveling shows and making the museum’s “own iconic collection” more visible. This ambitious exhibition makes an excellent start, featuring more than 500 works by such artists as Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, and Jeff Koons, all culled from the museum’s 6,000-item collection. Works from before 1980 are on display at the downtown location, while MoCA’s nearby Geffen Contemporary location—which actually had been temporarily shut down—features newer works of art. Where else in L.A. can you see “eight Rothkos in a single gallery”? Or, for that matter, “enter Ed Ruscha’s chocolate room, made of chocolate on paper and smelling like chocolate”?

But this show is not just an occasion for fund­raising and civic boosterism, said Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles Times. Meticulously chosen and arranged chronologically, this selection “also tells a story”: The rise of American art in the 20th century “is paired with the simultaneous rise of Los Angeles, from shallow backwater to cultural powerhouse.” Though many artists represented here were based in New York (Pollock, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol), MoCA juxtaposes them with its incomparable collection of Southern California art. “Clear light and open space” define the installations of Robert Irwin and Doug Wheeler, while Ruscha’s and John Baldessari’s works provide an urban edge. Indeed, West Coast artists come to dominate the story as it approaches the present day. And the future? Well, MoCA clearly feels optimistic: Calling this show the “first 30 years,” after all, “implies there will, in fact, be a second 30 years.” Let’s hope.