Sorry MoLAA, LACMA Awaits...

The Tate Modern, New York's Modern Art, the Smithsonian--I could chat with you extensively about any of these fine artistic establishments. But I have a confession to make: I never been to Long Beach's own Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA). Still that is not in fact the topic of this blog.

To be honest my knowlege of Chicano art is pretty much based on the 2002 film Frida and Barnes and Noble calendars of Diego Rivera's work. I don't think I'm alone in the ignorant assumption that MoLAA is probably filled with oil portraits of tan women with briaded hair holding straw baskets of crops.

In order to remedy this fallacy of Chicano arts next week I'm going to check out Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement at LACMA which opens on April 6. If your like me and can't afford (or even really want to) Cancun it up over vacation then I suggest you make the trip to LA as well (by the way LACMA is free every Tuesday).

Phantom Sightings will feature 31 artists and 120 works some of which were newly commisioned for the show. In a press release from LACMA Micheal Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director at LACMA explained, "The artist in this show consciously position themselves within the broadest developments of contemporary art."

Now that doesn't sound like briaded basket ladies to me. Some of the pieces that I'm looking forward to include pieces by Alejandro Diaz, Shizu Saldamando and Margarita Cabrera. First, Diaz has a piece in which he stands in front of Tiffany & Co. on 5th Avenue in New York City with a cardboard sign that reads "Looking for Upper East Side Lady with nice clean apt. (must have cable)."

Cabrera's work on the other hand is more political according to the release what looks like simple Cacti sculptures are actually composed of recycled uniforms of boarder patrol agents.

Finally I most excited about Saldamando who uses pano arte which is essentially the stylized ballpoint pen creations that we associate as prison art. In his work Saldamando makes portraits of alternative music stars like Morrissey.

My overall goal though is to get a good grasp of what's been going on in Chicano art and Phantom Sightings boasts itself as "the first comprehensive consideration of the legacy of Chicano art in almost two decades."

So, even though I've never been to MoLAA and have no immediate plans to check it out, in a way I hope that this excursion up north does spark some interest and understanding and bring me one step closer to someday appreciating what MoLAA has to offer.