Now Open at the Getty – Brush & Shutter: Early Photography in China

Earlier this year, several of the leading art and photography shows in Los Angeles, including photo l.a. and LA Art Show 2011, featured galleries dedicated to Asian art, exposing visitors to the latest visual art trends in countries such as China, Taiwan and Korea, among others. Now comes an exhibition called Brush & Shutter, which is focused on the origin of photography in China and curated by the Getty Research Institute (GRI), a local institution known for the breadth and depth of its photography collection and dedication to advancing the understanding of the visual arts.

A Visit to The Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War

Growing up during the last decades of the Cold War, I vividly remember the political conflict, military tension, nuclear arms race, proxy wars and competition, both economic and athletic, that played out around the globe between the Communist world, primarily the Eastern Bloc nations, and the West. But what was life really like for people living behind the Iron Curtain? The reality is that for most people in the West, myself included, that era was, and still remains, shrouded in mystery. Enter The Wende Museum.

Neon and Animal Sex for Valentine’s Day? Only in LA!

If you feel like you’ve been celebrating Valentine’s Day the same way every year, perhaps it’s time to try something different. Here are several events that promise to make this year’s celebration one that you and your loved one will remember.

Discover the Arts in LA and save

In case you haven’t heard, many of LA’s top arts organizations are offering discounts and special offers through April 30, 2011. That’s because they’re participating in the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Discover The Arts in Los Angeles program.

KCRW Presents First Fridays 2011: Nostradamus Edition at the Natural History Museum

If you don’t have any plans yet for this Friday night, give this event some serious consideration. Public radio station KCRW (89.9FM and KCRW.com) will present the First Fridays after hours series at the Natural History Museum, with KCRW DJs spinning throughout the evening in the African Mammal Hall lounge and musical performances by some of today’s best up and coming buzz bands.

LA Artworld – Interview Magazine Takes Stock

In the December / January 2011 issue of Interview Magazine, Christopher Bollen posits that “some of the most provocative, potent art being created in the United States today isn’t coming out of New York City but clear across the continent in Los Angeles.” He then sets about proving his point by profiling a number of artists who make LA their home – some with long established international reputations such as Chris Burden and George Herms, and others who have more recently begun making a name for themselves, such as Zackary Drucker, Kaari Upson and Matt Chambers.

LACMA Student Tours – Turning Kids Onto Art

One reason I became an avid museumgoer as an adult and developed an appreciation for the arts was because I was regularly taken to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and other museums when I was a child. Many kids aren’t that fortunate and the only opportunity they have to visit a museum is if their school arranges a field trip. Moreover, many of these same students have little or no exposure to art within their classrooms.

To help reach a largely unserved audience and fill this educational gap, LACMA offers free admission and free Docent Council tours to student groups of varying ages and grade levels. The museum also provides students who visit the museum on a school tour a NexGen membership, which entitles them to visit the museum with an adult guest at no cost until their 18th birthday.