Exhibition - Highlights From The Collection Of The Museum Of Contemporary Art

Highlights from the Collection of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

The surprising depth and coherence of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles’s, permanent collection is due in great measure to its being a “collection of collections,” of which key acquisitions and gifts from several important collectors form the armature. This exhibition will survey the major works acquired by MOCA since the museum’s 1979 founding that have defined and continue to define one of the country’s great groupings of contemporary art. Beginning with the legendary Panza Collection acquisition, the exhibition will assemble a cohesive presentation organized chronologically by historical movements. Included will be works or groups of works from the collections Blake Byrne, Beatrice and Phillip Gersh, Robert H. Halff, the Lannan Foundation, Barry Lowen, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Rita and Taft Schreiber, Marcia Simon Weisman, Scott D. F. Spiegel, and The Buddy Taub Foundation, among others. Comprising approximately 300 works by over 120 artists-including paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper that range in date from the earliest work in the collection: Piet Mondrian’s Composition of Red, Blue, Yellow and White: Nom III, 1939 to recent works such as Maurizio Cattelan’s Charlie, 2003-the exhibition represents a span of important movements, including abstract expressionism, minimalism, conceptualism, pop art, neo-expressionism, and post-minimalism and displays its international scope. The exhibition is of particular significance because of two unprecedented occurrences: for the first time in the building’s 21-year history, the entire galleries at MOCA Grand Avenue will be dedicated to the permanent collection; and, the exhibition is occasioned by the publication of the first catalogue of MOCA’s permanent collection. The exhibition will debut the permanent collection catalogue concurrently with the opening. Collecting Collections: Highlights from the Permanent Collection of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is co-curated by MOCA Chief Curator Paul Schimmel and MOCA Curator Alma Ruiz in collaboration with architect Richard Meier.

Collecting Collections is presented by The Jane and Marc Nathanson Family Foundation.

Major support for the exhibition and publication is provided by The MOCA Projects Council, L&M Arts, the Hillcrest Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Marcia and Henry Baron, Gelson’s Markets, Dr. Nancy Moss and Mr. George Moss, Sharon and Thurston Twigg-Smith, and Sylvia Weisz.

89.9 KCRW is the Official Media Sponsor of MOCA.

Date: 02.10.08 - 05.26.08 at Monday & Friday 11am–5pm.