Still Laid off...still frustrated...still finding stuff to do on the cheap

One of the greatest free venues Los Angeles has to offer is by far The Getty Museum.

Where: 1200 Getty Drive (just off of Sepulveda)
When: Tuesdays-Sundays
What: Wide range of art including Van Gogh's Irises and my favorite current exhibit The Goat Dance a retrospective of the photographs of Graciela Iturbide. It also has an artfully designed garden/sculpture garden. (Just don't touch)
Total cost to you: $8 parking, tram ride free, admission to the museum free.

You may recognize the mural at the left "Nuestra Senora de las Iguanas" re-worked by Anne Sperling was originally a photo by Graciela Iturbide. (You can see the mural in Silver Lake just stand outside of Intellegencia and look up and to the left) I went expressly to see the Iturbide exhibit, not because of the mural but because I am a huge fan of the Mexican photographers. Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Tina Mondotti being among my favs. (You can see an Alvarez Bravo in the adjacent Nudes room) I am not the best at being an art critic, but what I love about Iturbide's work, as well as that of her mentors, is that as well as being very artfully done, there is also an element of social-political criticism to each and every photograph. (There it is again social political criticism) Catch he talking about her work in this short video Hay Tiempo/There is time on the Getty website.

Click here/haz clic aquí
I strongly recommend seeing this show, it runs until April 13th.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot enjoy all that the Getty has to offer in one day. Go often, it is so quiet and peaceful. It really feels like you are on a little retreat. Who knew that free could offer you piece of mind?

"Honest to Blog"-Diablo Cody

I mentioned recently that I wished that there were a category for best film soundtrack.
Strangely I just came across this blog called Filmtracks that is blog about nothing but soundtracks.

Basically it names a soundtrack, lists all of the songs and enables you to directly download or buy.

Yay! No more guessing. No more sitting 5 inches from your television with a magnifying glass trying to decipher black screen with white type, in hopes that you will figure out the song that you like.

Unfortunately this blog is on hiatus. I hope it comes back soon, but you will have plenty to keep you busy. Check out the redesigned cover art , re-worked by the blogger.

Free and Flat

What: Free Thursdays
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art ( MOCA ) All Campuses
When: Every Thursday, 5-8p.m.
Total cost to me: $3-I split parking costs with my friend

Thursday, Feb. 7th I had the opportunity to be one of the last people to see the the Takashi Murakami exhibit for free. I have been a fan of his ever since seeing his work as part of the Superflat exhibit at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis. His art is very complex, sexually charged, pop commentary.

You may have noticed a couple years ago that the classic Louis Vuitton brown and gold line of bags and travel accessories got a bit of a color pick me up, well that is thanks to their collaboration with Murakami. They were also selling his Louis Vuitton bags at the exhibit, needless to say I did not purchase one being laid off and all.

If Japanese anime manga superflat art isn't your idea of viewing pleasure there are plenty of other exhibits to choose from. Check their website linked above often.

Note: This photo is not part of the Murakmai exhibit it is a photo by Cindy Sherman whose work you can see as part of Moca's permanent collection. (Photo taken from internet, not sure how rights work if you want to hurt me for using it email me at fadeinmail@gmail.com)