Connection behind the Artwork

Background

The Exhibition of “The Art of Our Time” is assembled by Chief Curator of MOCA Grand Avenue, Hellen Molesworth. From the title “The Art of Our Time”, we can know that the exhibition will talk about the Contemporary Art. The Contemporary Art is diverse. Therefore, it is hard for the curator to create a single theme for various art pieces. However, Hellen is trying to install the exhibition with the connection between the artwork and the artists. In the Official Website of MOCA, it says that the exhibition is a representation of the link between the artists and artwork.[1] The exhibition is carefully divided into two parts based on its topic. One of them is a connection between movements, such as abstract expressionism, pop art, conceptual art, and feminism. Another one is a connection of ideas, such as sharing, caring and reflecting, which is not the following the trend or movement. From a review by William Poundstone, the MOCA exhibition is based on time and theme. [2] From the MOCA, the link behind the artwork is based on friendships, history of art school and artists’ personal interests.[3] Through series painting, sculpture, and photography, the show expresses the topic of “Connections”.

Connection of Ideas

The first part of the show is ideas in connection. The ideas are main reinterpreted in three different ways. One is the School of Black Mountain, which contains various experimentation on ideas between the Modernism the Postmodernism. Through my experience of the walking in the gallery, the work in this connection is pretty dramatic and different from each other. For example, the Josef Albers’s work is trying to explore the idea of the perception through the color and proportion. It also leaves the room for the viewer to explore the ideas of how to understand the purpose of the work. They also have ideas of abstract expressionism, minimalism, contrast, and topology and so on.  Another type of this gallery is an assemblage, which the artist use their interest to combine painting, wood, canvas and another kind of the art media into a single piece of the art. In the connection in this room, the emphasis is also on the how to make an artwork. Some people use different holding to free their hand; some people use a different mix of the material; some of the people is using various media to express their art purpose.

Connection of Movement

From the previous part, the curator gives a glimpse of beginning of contemporary art, which is prosperous with no single style. Gradually, he moves to the time; the art started to involve into special style for a certain period.  The contemporary begun to form its connection of the movement.

The theme of connection with movement is based on abstract expressionism, pop art, conceptual art. Each category has their section of the display, which is very helpful for viewers to compare and contrast the artwork. It also made the understanding of the art easier.

Conclusion

 From my perspective, the installation of artwork reflecting the idea of connection inside of the work. The chronological order of the work is also helping people to understand the work. The two wings clearly reflect the link between the movement and ideas, which is a strong theme of the whole exhibition. However, the chronological order sometimes risks the mood of the exhibition or a certain section of space. In some parts, the gallery space and artwork should correspond to each other. For example, putting some intense artwork mixed with cool work together will disrupt the mood of the room, which is happening in the new installation. At the end of the gallery, the theme of conceptual art is reflecting this kind of problem. Another risk the curator may face works combination. In an artistic review by Catherine Wagley, she states the problem that may exist in the show is “the certain work does not fit together.”[4] However, the MOCA has many arts with different styles. It is hard for people to work together. Wagley also states that Hellen may misplace some new artwork in the exhibition, like the style of “greatest hits” in the first room. [5]

Bibliography

Molesworth, Helen. "The Art of Our Time." The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://www.moca.org/exhibition/the-art-of-our-time.

Poundstone, William. "“The Art of Our Time” at MOCA | Los Angeles County Museum on Fire / William Poundstone | BLOUIN ARTINFO Blogs." Los Angeles County Museum on Fire William Poundstone. September 21, 2015. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/2015/09/21/the-art-of-our-time-at-moca/.

  Wagley Catherine. "Helen Molesworth Upends the Permanent Hang at MOCA LA - Momus." Momus. October 26, 2015. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://momus.ca/helen-molesworth-upends-the-permanent-hang-at-moca-la/.

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[1] Molesworth, Helen. "The Art of Our Time." The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://www.moca.org/exhibition/the-art-of-our-time.

[2] Poundstone, William. "“The Art of Our Time” at MOCA | Los Angeles County Museum on Fire / William Poundstone | BLOUIN ARTINFO Blogs." Los Angeles County Museum on Fire William Poundstone. September 21, 2015. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/2015/09/21/the-art-of-our-time-at-moca/.

[3] Molesworth, Helen. "The Art of Our Time." The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://www.moca.org/exhibition/the-art-of-our-time.

[4] Wagley Catherine. "Helen Molesworth Upends the Permanent Hang at MOCA LA - Momus." Momus. October 26, 2015. Accessed February 19, 2016. http://momus.ca/helen-molesworth-upends-the-permanent-hang-at-moca-la/.

[5] IBID