The Gagosian gallery in Beverly Hills recently wrapped up an online virtual Art Basel Hong Kong show signaling a new way to view and even buy art, at least for the time being during COVID-19.
Works by Georg Baselitz, Jennifer Guidi, Tetsuya Ishida, Jia Aili, Takashi Murakami, Mary Weatherford, Tom Wesselmann, and Zeng Fanzhi can be viewed via gagosian.com or the Art Basel app.
Other local galleries are following suit, such as Annenberg Space for Photography, which is offering an audio tour of “Vanity Fair: Hollywood Calling.” Led by the calming voice of Vanity Fair’s creative development editor and exhibit co-curator David Friend, the audio tour features engaging behind-the-scenes stories about how the selection of celebrity portraits from the pages of the magazine was compiled.
Friend’s narration includes the stories behind Annie Leibovitz’s iconic image of a pregnant Demi Moore; Jackie Nickerson’s chartreuse cover of Lupita Nyong’o; Steven Meisel’s memorable portrait of Madonna, and more. Browse the full audio tour at https://annenbergphotospace.org/vanity-fair-hollywood-calling-audio-tour/.
While Art Angels on Beverly Boulevard has decided to inject a little cheer into the neighborhood with a vibrant exterior butterfly mural by PUNKMETENDER, they are also offering an online viewing room for all their existing artworks at https://www.artangels.net/.
Bergamot Station, with over 20 galleries in its Santa Monica creative arts complex, is taking the normal Saturday night wine viewing parties online. “Love in the Time of Corona” is an ongoing social distancing virtual exhibit that debuted on March 28 via live streaming on Zoom, Facebook and Instagram. The artwork price list is available at bGGalleryshop.com.
The Getty compound continues its online education in the form of art books, exhibitions, podcasts, and videos. Delve into “Michelangelo: Mind of the Master” or “Bauhaus: Building the New Artist.” Also, check the Behind the Scenes at the Getty vertical for more fascinating reads. http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/.
For car buffs, the Petersen Automotive Museum has its famous vault tour of 250 rare and historic vehicles now available online. A donation is suggested for viewing. https://www.petersen.org/vault/.
Art for the Whole Family
Families looking for ways to expand their minds and discover new cultural experiences digitally can look no further than The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC). The organization that also includes La Brea Tar Pits and William S. Hart Museum just launched the NHMLAC Connects portal for exploring natural and cultural wonders safely and digitally from home.
With the mission to inspire discovery, culture and responsibility for our natural worlds, the museums are opening new doors to natural history virtually while physical doors are closed. Think social distancing but with dinosaurs and mammoths and connecting with nature and community science in your own home.
Visitors to the NHMLAC Connects portal can learn about recent paleontological discoveries by NHM scientists, such as the world’s tiniest dinosaur. Specific family-focused activities include how to make a fossil skull puppet with a clothespin and opportunities to go behind the scenes with time-lapse videos of exhibition installation including the only Tyrannosaurus Rex growth series featuring a baby, juvenile and sub-adult.
With more than 35 million objects and specimens in their collections, the museums are also rich with local history and culture.
From creating and building alters to naming streets and the story behind Aunt March’s cape from the 1949 version of “Little Women,” the fact-finding information is endless from your living room sofa. https://nhmlac.org/connects.
