A Day at LACMA and The First-Ever Los Angeles Art Parade
By Mary Singh
What better way to celebrate the opening of the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art than with the pomp and circumstance of an art parade? Conceptualized by famed gallerist Jeffrey Deitch in New York about 20 years ago, the Art Parade recently made its LA debut.
On a temperate June afternoon, I took the subway—my first time "riding the D," the new metro line—and ended up at the Wilshire/Fairfax station, a few minutes' walk from LACMA. Upon arriving, a beaming smile overtook my typically stoic appearance as I spotted the colorful, glittering, parade floats parked on the street like costumed starlets awaiting the spotlight backstage at a play. After snapping a few pictures, I headed across the street toward the action.
I was initially intimidated by the swarms of people and long lines for food, drinks and the recently opened David Geffen Galleries, but I quickly found that there was an alternate entrance with practically no line. Standing in front of the colossal building is an attraction in itself. Gazing up at the modern brutalist concrete structure, refined with sinuous walls of glass, I felt a bit small in scale, like Wayne Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
Once inside, I couldn't wrap my brain around the interior where so much delicate art was placed so close to the windows. I'd never experienced anything quite like it. I was a bit taken aback by the number of unruly guests who proceeded to lean on and touch the artwork as if they'd never before been to a museum or learned etiquette, but because everyone was in good spirits I tried not to focus on that.
Walking through the building was a treat, from the grand pieces exhibited in the outer hallways to the inner, darker rooms housing the smaller ones and, presumably, those more sensitive to light. There was a mix of so many time periods and mediums all at once, jumping from photography to sculpture, textiles to paintings. I was able to gain an appreciation for some of the freestanding antiquities that allowed visitors a 360-degree view, unlike the many museums that showcase such artifacts on a shelf behind glass.
It was a pleasant surprise to turn one corner to see a performance art piece consisting of a person riding a bicycle while another danced with a soccer ball, which I later learned was This entry, by Tino Sehgal.
After meandering through the entire building, I made my way outside to secure a front-row seat to the parade.
Soon enough, things got underway, with Kenny Scharf's cavemen-towed car and lofty red ballooon bobbing along. Some standouts were the life-size puppets by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, the politically poetic statement dresses of Maria Flores, El Triste aka the saddest puppet in Los Angeles, Javiera Estrada's larger-than-life Twister, Merissa Mann's vividly strange Salmon L.A. River Dance and the vibrant Auntie Multiverse Altar, celebrating South Asian aunties.
The energy was incredible. People were smiling, laughing, clapping and cheering for the artists. There was so much joy that I wished this could happen every weekend.
