Our Adventure at The Broad
The Broad's window sign looking from the inside, out.
Welcome to The Broad, a beautiful Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles, California.
The Broad from Grand Ave.
General admission to The Broad is free so we signed up for timed tickets online at the first of the month. (If you don't have tickets, that's okay! There is a stand-by line that snakes around the corner on the East side of the building.)
We rode in on the Metro (the Gold line to the Red line) and quickly made our way to the front of the building where we were scanned in by a docent and let right into the main Lobby.
Escalator on up to Level 3.
In this three story building, each level is dedicated to something different. Level 1 includes the Lobby, the Special Exhibit Area (dedicated to Jasper Johns right now), the Infinity Mirrored Room and The Shop at The Broad with a giant escalator and tubular glass elevator.
View from the glass elevator tube looking up
Level 2 is mostly dedicated to storage, Administrative Offices, the screening room and lecture halls.
Once you get to Level 3 you are in the Main Galley area with these giant chrome "Tulips", by Jeff Koons colorfully there to greet you with a backdrop set by an 82 foot mural by Japanese artist Hakashi Murakami.
Tulips by Jeff Koons 1995-2004
As art majors, Mike and I learned a lot about modern art sculptures back in 2006 such as this one by Jeff Koons and were so thrilled right out of the gate!
This mural titled "In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow" has so much color and texture when you get closer and is supposed to represent the natural disasters that have happened in Japan including destructive earthquakes and tsunamis. So incredibly stylized and intricate!
In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow by Takashi Murakami 2014
In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow
Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons 1994-2000
So that you can get an idea of scale, I included Mike in this photo below and you can see these sculptures by Jeff Koons are NOT small. This dog is made out of mirror-polished stainless steel with a transparent color coating and measures an impressive 121" x 143" x 45 in.
Mike looking at Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons
The natural lighting is provided by 318 vaulted skylights that filter in beautiful diffused light from above and on the sides. I stopped to admire the view outside this particular window.
A view of the Concert Hall next door from these vaulted skylights.
Before you knew it, to the right of the Balloon Dog, we saw it. The one from our Modern Art History Books! Jeff Koons 1988 "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" made out of porcelain and gold leafing.
Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons 1988
The sculpture was bigger that we both thought it was in person. (Maybe twice life-size, or more specifically 42" x 70-1/2" x 32-1/2 in.) Michael and Bubbles looked crafted very similarly, with big wide eyes looking up innocently. Funny that 1988 Jackson would not look this porcelain white until the year 2000 something... lol
Mike was thrilled to see Michael!
Another play on proportion was this gigantic dining room table and chair set called "Under the Table" by Robert Therrien.
Under the Table by Robert Therrien 1994
You are welcome to walk right under the table, as the title implies and you feel about 3 feet tall, as if you are a little kid at a giant's dining room table set. The only thing I said was missing was the giant bubble gum found stuck under one corner or the makers mark with the red grease pen. Haha...
Single Elvis by Andy Warhol 1966
Because of the scale of everything within this museum so far, I took this photo of Warhol's "Single Elvis" at a really low angle showing the gargantuan size of this print. In Printmaking, Mike and I used to struggle with making a single pass print, so we understand the struggle of making something this large, and realistic looking!
Goldfish Bowl 1977 and Live Ammo (Blang) 1962 both by Roy Lichtenstein
There was a whole room dedicated to Lichtenstein, who often drew in dots to display comic book style images that appeared as a complete picture from far.
I...I'm Sorry by Roy Lichtenstein
When you get a chance to look at these dots close up, they appear varied in size, and not at all evenly placed (like a Bazooka Joe Comic strip might look.) These were definitely hand done and super effective, the more you back away from the image.
Achilles and the Tortise by Mark Tansey 1986
This artist, Mark Tansey works in primarily just one color at a time to portray his scenes. So much depth, dimension, light and dark can be created with just one arbitrary cyan color - wow!
I liked the subject choice of men planting a tiny tree in the foreground so that one day it will become a great and mighty pine versus that rocket ship in the background that also with lots of care and man-power can one day be launched towards the heavens with a great and mighty force. Do you see that the smoke cloud appears in the same type of shape as the tree? Great dichotomy!
John by Chuck Close
Lastly, we were both in awe over Chuck Close's photo realistic paintings. This was enormous and from a distance absolutely looked like a photograph. But the closer you get the more you realize these hundreds of corloful brushstrokes somehow capture every line of this man's face, every complex facial hair and eye color fleck. Incredible work!!!
A close-up of John by Chuck Close 1971-1972
For more images I took at The Broad yesterday, take a look at the images below:
Such an incredible trip to this museum! Mike and I were creatively inspired and reminded that art is what you make of it and it can always be interpreted it in your own way. I hope that the photographs we take, blogs we post, digital paintings we produce and creative outlets in which we take can be enjoyed by our friends, family and viewers for always!
Thanks for reading and enjoy your future visit to The Broad,
Crystal Olguin
March 10, 2018
