MOCA

During his most recent trip to L.A. Mike visited the Museum of Contemporary Art, located on Grand Avenue. The featured exhibit was a 30-year retrospective of the museum's collection.

As Mike wandered through the exhibit halls he was slightly disappointed to find that there were no photorealist painters represented, although there were a few representative specimens of Pop Art. Perhaps photorealism doesn't fit into the museum's aesthetic.

There were also a number of photographers in the show, most notably and successfully images from Robert Frank's The Americans. Mike was slightly disappointed to find that there were no West Coast photographers represented (with the sole exception of Lewis Baltz, a number of whose photos were jammed together against one wall with no space between the frames, top or bottom . . . quite impossible to view.) No Edward Westons, Max Yavnos or Minor Whites. Perhaps these kinds of photographs don't fit into the museum's aesthetic.

In honor of the nature of the show, Mike took a blurred self-portrait photo in the vicinity, then messed with it in Photoshop to give it that contemporary look.

Photos: Ticket Office (MOCA)—Los Angeles, 2010; Self-Portrait (Downtown)—Los Angeles, 2010