If I am cut off close enough that I can reach out and slap this on a car, I have and will. I made stickers to specifically not damage a car in any way. This isn't about being angry it's about raising awareness.
The new Broad Museum downtown Los Angeles on Grand and 2nd right next to the Disney Concert Hall. Riding a bike up Grand is ridiculous, I do not blame anyone who walks. It is a free museum but at this point you have to reserve a ticket online. When you get to the museum you MUST go to the front kiosk and reserve a timed ticket to see Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room. Eli and Edythe Broad collect postwar and Contemporary art. This first exhibition the "Inaugural Installation," shows a bunch of famous masterworks pulled from their "vault" of over two thousand works. Lichtenstein photos well but this is has to be seen in real life. Before I got here, as part of my proposal, I asked to borrow a bike, as riding is part of who I am and therefore part of my art Finally I got it, I didn't know what to expect which was part of the fun, it is very lovely. Went to Diego Rivera's house and studio. This is artwork that I love. You do have to pay to take pictures I feel I got my money's worth.
Today I was super Excited to get out with all my fellow riders. I read they close one of the main streets, Reforma, every Sunday so I wrote down how to get to Reforma, but it didn't matter. As soon as I got out on the streets, bike riders were passing by and I followed them knowing they would take me where I needed to go. As a bike rider it is a special feeling that the city would do this and it is also very freeing not having to dedicate so much thought while riding to cars. We cruised past beautiful monuments. Amazing Street Art. The city has a tons of street art and graffiti everywhere. I like how these were blank canvases It got warm out there so I thought it was great that these women put there dogs up in crates. I saw so many panting dogs and I felt like I even saw some of them try to trip up there owners just get them to stop for some rest. I saw a beautiful clown and a community dance class, that tent is filled with people
On my way back I stopped in the Bella Arte Museum, near downtown, free on Sundays. There was an architecture exhibit on the third floor with some awesome models, you can even faintly above that little grey staircase in the center and the floor right above it the murals on the walls. And then we have the murals. I pieced them together, they have pillars blocking them. Diego Rivera, Man, Controller of the Universe, 1934 The painting was originally commissioned by Rockefeller Center in New York but because he refused to remove the image of Lenin they made him stop and painted over it. The title at that time was Man At The Crossroads. I mean Rockefeller Center has this on their ceiling so uhh. No I get it it's a business thing. But Diego's artwork is so good, too bad for them. Then we have Jorge Gonzalez Camarena, Liberacion, 1963 Also pieced together the best I could Favorite acrylic painting ever (beside the one from my brother) There's me riding home solo after a great day, love those squarish painted bikes.
Best way to get to learn my way around the city. Rode up to to Polanco, a neighborhood that reminds me of Beverly Hills, very nice, lots of shopping, but much safer to ride a bike in. Polanco is home to the Soumaya Museum. This picture makes it look small, it does from the outside. The museum is named after the founder Carlos Slim's late wife and the shape resembles her body. This museum is free everyday. Which reminds me many of Mexico City's museums are closed on Mondays. I usually plan my museum visit agenda by which days are free. These are what I consider the gems of the museum, with all do respect, to the artists who's names I didn't record (I rarely do because I always mix up that information) and to the collector. Literally right next to the Soumaya is Jumex a Contemporary Art Museum. Free on Fridays. Jumex has three floors and a book shop in the basement First floor Jerzy Grotowski, born1933 in Poland He was a performer and shaman like Beuys. His movements were based on cultural movement practices like yoga. He dabbled with peyote saying it helped free his imagination and he made art instead of worrying about making art. I felt weird reading that he had followers, ironically I was snapped out of taking most of it seriously after that. Maybe if they would have said he had super fans I would have felt differently. Second Floor Jumex IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE ET CONSUMIMUR IGN The title is a palindrome, you will find many different meanings. How about this one "We go into the circle by night we are consumed by fire." The exhibition is an exploration of "several approaches to curating that help us understand the choices implicit in forming and activating an art collection". Yep makes sense to me. All the works come from the museum's collection. An entertaining exhibit, little dark, got some good laughs and saw work by many well known artists Third Floor Jumex Gustav Metzger born 1926, Germany He developed auto-destructive art. I mean there is a ton to say about this. Destroying nature including human nature. Nature is not interchangeable with environment , which he believes is a meaningless term. We develop science for negative reasons. He thinks modern western society is burned out. He does not believe in permanent or object based art. I got his book I'm not done with it yet, maybe I'll report on it. But I feel like he reminded me of why I am an artist. In this piece people are cutting out of this pile of paper and putting it up on the board. If I would have seen a bike as I walked around the pile I would have cut it out, otherwise I didn't want to try too hard to make a statement that no one will care about. I felt that I wasn't supposed to participate. I did use the scissors though to cut a tag out of my shirt that had been pestering me all day, that was awesome for me. I like Metzger's ideas. I also think it's interesting that he mentions people haave and need to get to nature and that speaks to exactly what Jerzy Grotowski from the first floor was trying to do in his art practice. After Leaving the museums I took a nice ride through Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Forrest) which is right across the street from where I am staying. It is the hugest park in the western hemisphere. It has many places of interest, a castle, Modern Art Museum, Anthropology Museum, Natural History Museum, a zoo, many monuments, peace and quiet, a lot to do. You'll be seeing more of it.
I have read that only seven of these exist in the city, which I am glad and a little surprised that there are not more. But this is how bike riders killed by cars are memorialized, you will see this in L.A. too. Bike painted white. RIP. |
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February 2016
Live and RideThe notable experiences unique to being bike rider out in the streets Categories |