10 Most Memorable L.A. Art Events of 2012
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| Miriam Newcomer |
| Kurt Mueller with the sculptures of Jose "Papa" Claustro |
6. When the exhibit "James Lee Byars" at Overduin and Kite gallery opened, you could tell why the artist, who used to sign letters "The Great James Lee" and made his first "artwork" when he moved all his mother's furniture out of the house and replaced it with spherical stones, awed and confused people during his lifetime. The work seemed both lordly and crowd-pleasing -- especially the ceiling-high, red silk tent with the gold Tibetan throne inside.
Overduin and Kite James Lee Byars' The Red Tent (1989) and The Chair for the Philosophy of Question (1996)
7. When Michael Heizer's 340-ton rock arrived at the Los Angeles County Museum's back lot and become part of the outdoor sculpture Levitated Mass, another exhibition of Heizer's work opened and made the artist's preoccupation with size and insistence on making huge art more understandable than the rock's transport had. "Actual Size" at LACMA featured life-size photographs Heizer began taking in 1970, documenting massive rocks he found in various states and countries. The photos spanned from floor to ceiling, and no visitors to LACMA's galleries could take photos, because then, in their photos, the rocks would no longer be "actual size," which would defeat the point.
Courtesy of LACMA Installation view of Michael Heizer's "Actual Size"
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