Pacific Standard Time is a remarkable collaboration between over sixty museums and cultural institutions in Southern California to showcase the birth and renaissance of our local art scene. Major cultural institutions such as The Getty, LACMA, the Hammer, the Norton Simon and MOCA are hosting major retrospectives of various time periods, and other institutions are hosting incredible individual shows, that introduce smaller topics and artists.
Whether you take in one or two shows, or make a Herculean effort to really study the period, the whole family can benefit from the in-depth and loving portrayal of our region as an important breeding ground for culture.
Favorite image, to date: The original living room of Charles and Ray Eames was moved across town to LACMA where it has been reassembled for visitors to see.
Shows we particularly loved:
The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in LA Painting and Sculpture 1950-1970 has interesting ceramic and found-object items that kids will find interesting, and an incredible room with massive Diebenkorn, Ruscha and Hockney paintings – a veritable temple to So Cal painters.
LACMA’s California Design 1930-1965, “Living in a Modern Way” surveys the types of items that you’ve seen in living rooms, record collections and vintage kitchens for decades, but presents their modern design in a way that it’s easy to understand how the myth of California living was interpreted by the rest of the world.
The Santa Monica Museum of Art’s Beatrice Wood exhibit is a gem that introduces us to one of So Cal’s most gracious artistic personalities and is a great primer on her lovely work.
The Huntington’s The House that Sam Built: Sam Maloof and the art of the Pomona Valley 1945-1985exhibit introduces the mid-Century furniture maker and his friends, painters such as Maynard Sheets.
We’ve got the Hammer’s Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles from 1960-1980 show on our list, as well the Norton Simon’s Proof: The Rise of Printmaking in Southern California and MOCA’s Under the Big Black Sun.
Click here for the PST website, including their cool PST app.
