The Broad |
FEATURE by
Willard Manus Eli Broad,
L.A.s closest thing to a Medici, has put up most of the funds for
the new museum-named after himself, of course-- which just opened
on Grand Avenue. Designed by the New York firm of Diller Scofidio &
Renfro, the honeycomb-like, three-story building occupies a square block
and contains not just public exhibition space but storage that supports
The Broad Art Foundations extensive lending activities. The first-floor
galleries focus mainly on works created from the early 2000s to the present
and include important purchases that are being shown for the first time
in L.A., including Yayoi Kusamas Infinity Mirrored Room-The
Souls of Millions of Light Years Away and Robert Longos Untitled
(Ferguson Police, August 13, 2014 (a charcoal drawing in which police
advance, at night, in a fog of tear gas). The museum,
which has been fully booked since its Sept. 2015 opening, will also be
presenting public programming in the months and years to come, including
films, talks, performances and even music. Among its amenities are a plaza
landscaped with a grove of 100-year-old Barouni olive trees and a tilted
lawn. Opening soon will be a free-standing restaurant called Otium, featuring
an 84-foot-long photographic mural by the British artist Damien Hirst
(Isolated Elements 2015) |