Contemporary Sculpture in Beijing

Started going through my pictures from the trip. Here are some I wanted to share from our time in Beijing, the 798 Arts District to be exact. I want to blog more about this place and the fact that there's a great contemporary art scene in Beijing, China at all, but first here are some cool sculptures. I like how it at once pulls from traditional themes and comic book styling (Jim Lee-esque?) .

LACMA & the BMW Art Cars

Stopped by the LACMA to check out the BMW art cars and the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum. I really like this light installation at the entrance (Chris Burden's Urban Light). It's nice and somewhat surreal to pass by it while driving down Wilshire.

Renzo Piano designed the new LACMA expansion, BCAM. Without any pretense of knowing much about architecture, I think it's such a let down from the Wilshire side. It could have been a landmark, something to really draw people's attention to LACMA. Instead, to me, it looks boring and already dated. On the other hand, I think the east and north sides are much better.

The east wall obviously borrows from Piano's Pompidou Center design in Paris, and the north side has a cool long escalator that brings you up past an industrial red and grey staircase structure and to the top floor of the BCAM, where you are to begin your visit. Nice.

So we were there because W suggested that we go to see the BMW art cars. Four of the cars are making two stops in the US, and LACMA is one of them. These rarely leave Germany so it was pretty exciting for W to see them. They are apparently legendary cars in their own right, then made even more significant by being given to famous artists (such as Andy Warhol, above) to have their way with them. Really cool.

Roy Lichtenstein (1977)

Frank Stella (1976)

Robert Rauschenberg (1986)

Andy Warhol (1979)

Street Art

Saw this the other day while driving through downtown. "Keep Our City Clean & Safe... Do Your Part." Who doesn't like a little irony?

I personally don't mind the idea of graffiti. I just wish that everyone who graffitied actually had some artistic talent. When I see good graffiti, I [usually] think it adds character to the area. It's really impressive. In Buenos Aires, I loved all the random graffiti art covering the walls in San Telmo; I did not appreciate the crude lettering that tarnished the obelisk in their main plaza. Or consider what British street artist Banksy has done with the 'medium.' I guess, in my layman view, it comes down to whether it was done to express & enhance vs. just to make a mark and desecrate. Obviously this is no eureka on my part, as there is a thriving culture of street art.

Good (Buenos Aires)

Still Good (Buenos Aires)

Borderline, but I still like this (Buenos Aires)

I love Banksy

Imagine if all the graffiti along the walls of the "LA River" were thoughtful, creative pieces. It could actually be something amazing to see..

Henry Yan

I discovered this artist while browsing for art books on Amazon last night (I love Amazon, btw... probably #2 time-waster after Google reader). He teaches art at the Academy of Art in SF. I love his style, both in painting and drawing.


His book has amazing reviews and I hope to purchase it soon.


Visit his website: Henry Yan Art

I hope to post about more of my favorite artists later. I am thinking about using this blog to keep me accountable on pursuing my interests/hobbies, e.g. art (both history and technique), Chinese, and filling the [wide] gaps in my general knowledge... maybe on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Such discipline has always eluded me though.

Gospel Stand

My picture uploads aren't working on the other post, so here are some in a new post:



This is wood and marble pulpit in the Ghent Cathedral that I was talking about in my last post. I love it.

I'm generally a big fan of Baroque/Rococo styles. I prefer the flowing, natural look to the statuesque, formal models. Although, it's more that I love to see it... but I wouldn't want a style so complicated and ornate for my own place ;)

It's amazing to see how well the two mold together, as if carved out of one piece.

The snake and the apple tree...

Meomi Desktop Calendars

Cute calendars for your desktop from Meomi! http://www.meomi.com/desktops.html


In personal news, I can't decide whether or not to extern during my Fall semester next year. It could be with a judge or an agency, so I think it would be a great and unique experience. On the other hand I'm paying $15K in tuition per semester-- I should get what I can out of school course offerings, right? There are so many courses I still want to take.

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Picture of the Post

Detail of Wat Arun in Bangkok, Thailand (12/05)

Meomi iGoogle "Tea House" Theme

I love almost all of Google's applications.

I love Meomi, creator of the Octonauts.

So of course I love this iGoogle theme!! It's so cute!! It changes throughout the day to match with the time. The little fox goes about on his daily errands.

One day I will have to write a full post of all the Google apps that I love (gmail, picasa, reader, maps, blogger, igoogle, earth...) but this will have to do for now :)







This is not even all of them... ahh cuteness overload. Anyway I was never a huge fan of the personal homepages but I really like my new iGoogle set up. I have Google News, my reader, Gmail, travel photos, weather, brain teasers-- even Super Mario World! ahaha awesome.

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Picture of the Post:

I'm on a whimsical streak: A lion fish at the Long Beach Aquarium

Downtown LA Artwalk

A free event in Downtown LA, every second Thursday of the month.
My first time... it was great. (I had to drag W along but he ended up enjoying it)

my favorite: David Grant at the Bert Green Fine Art gallery
http://www.bgfa.us/ , then click on "David Grant"