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Arts and Culture

BCAM-Broad Contemporary Art Museum Opens at LACMA
By Bruce Wildstein

Los Angeles has a new art museum. Not just any museum, but a major addition to LACMA that catapults Los Angeles into the forefront of the contemporary art world. With a donation of some $60 million from billionaire collector Eli Broad, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, or BCAM as it is called, was built in just two years time. The building is situated between the original LACMA campus on Wilshire Blvd and the former May Company building known as LACMA West at the corner of Fairfax Blvd. The structure adds some 60,000 square feet of exhibition space, and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. The building stands about six stories high but has three floors since each floor has high ceilings to accommodate large sculptures. The exterior is beige travertine marble similar to that used for the Getty Center. Bright red metal stairways, which have a contemporary look themselves, are attached to the outside of the building although these are actually fire escapes. Entry is from the rear on the third floor, with visitors gaining access by using an outside escalator. The first artwork most people will see, however, is on a plaza just east of BCAM. Artist Chris Burden has permanently installed 202 lampposts that were collected over the past 8 years. The lamps, which come from different cities in Southern California, have been completely refurbished and placed in tight rows. At night, with the lamps lit by solar power, the installation creates a unique visual experience that unlike anything I've seen before. The plaza is further enhanced by artist Charles Ray's bright red life size "Fire Truck," and Jeff Koon's huge "Tulips" sculpture.

An important aspect of BCAM, however, is what it does to the entire LACMA collection of buildings. BCAM sits on land that formerly housed a rather ugly parking structure on Ogden Drive. That street, as well as the parking lot, were razed for the museum and the adjacent plaza. Further, the west most wall of LACMA's Ahmanson building was opened and given an entrance. A covered walkway now runs from the new entrance behind BCAM all the way to LACMA West, thus creating a unifying whole to the entire series of buildings. The entire project, which will eventually include a major renovation to LACMA West, has elevated LACMA into a true world-class destination facility.

A museum is nothing without its contents, and BCAM is stocked with handpicked treasures from the world of contemporary art. Eli and Edyth Broad began their collection over 40 years ago, and they have amassed over 2,000 paintings, sculptures, and other art objects in their vast holdings. The initial BCAM installation features about 200 works, mostly from the Broads, but also about 40 from LACMA's permanent collection. The ground floor houses two massive steel structures by Richard Serra, each weighing about one hundred tons. Consisting of high curved walls, they were commissioned for BCAM, and are so massive one wonders if they were installed before the building was complete. Walking through the second and third floors is like taking a trip through time and seeing prized contemporary art works by the acclaimed masters. Warhol Soup Cans, Robert Rauschenberg "combines," Jeff Koons famous balloon dog are just a few of the multi-million dollar pieces on display. One room is dedicated to the color-saturated photographs of New York artist Cindy Sherman; while another features; avant-garde works by British sensation Damien Hirst. Other American art icons like Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, and Jean-Michel Basquiat also have landmark works on display. And while most of the art has been shown in past exhibitions at various venues, seeing it all in one building makes for a rather overwhelming experience. In all, BCAM has transformed LACMA into a new destination museum that will attract crowds from around the world.