Arts and Culture
Getty Center Presents Potpourri of Treasure Exhibits
by David Wallen & Bibi Baker for SoCal.com |
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Four exhibits opened concurrently March 31st at the Getty Center, and as the cliché goes, there’s just something for everyone. In a tour de force of synchronicity, two photographic exhibits open here within the week of the opening of the Annenberg Space for Photography, and faster than you can click a shutter, the city is buzzing with the genius of pictures and imaging techniques.
Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance, displays a body of work by this brilliant and eclectic artist,
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Drawing for a Wall Light, attributed
to Jean-Louis Prieur, about 1775 | who in the early 20th century perfected the complicated and costly process known as carbro printing. The effects and feelings that were created in both his commercial and fine arts work reveal a depth beyond the technology of the time. From still life to nudes, to advertising, Outerbridge left a lifetime of work which allows us an eye into his times.
Jo Anne Callis: Woman Twirling reveals another creative look at the everyday by this contemporary Southern California artist. Callis examines everyday and household objects in many new lights, using Cibachrome and dye transfer processes to create glossy, almost edible food photos, and moody deep views of women and household interiors. The work ranges from the thoughtful to the amusing to the disturbing, and Callis is up to the challenge of all of them. Both of these photographic exhibits will run through August 9th.
On a classical note, the Getty has raided its collections, and borrowed pieces from Temple Newsam House, an English estate in Leeds, Yorkshire, to give a new spin to looking at art, shape, furniture and function. Taking Shape: Finding Sculpture in the Decorative examines Baroque and Rococo furnishing out of context, against bare backgrounds, and simply shown as sculpture. The pieces step out from their settings to stand alone as admirable art.
And in another new spin exhibit, Made for Manufacture: Drawings for Sculpture and the Decorative Arts
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Paul Outerbridge,
Images De Deauville 1936 | we are given a peek into the making of ornaments, jewelry and household pieces by examining the production drawings of masters, who would have turned these drawings over to technicians in their shops to produce. Many of these drawings survive with the finished pieces, making this an unusual and involving exhibit. Both the latter exhibits run through July 5.
The Getty promises a spring fling of lectures and gallery talks to enhance the enjoyment of the exhibits. www.getty.edu.
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