HOME at LACMA

Installation view HOME - So Different, So Appealing, at LACMA. (Hermosa Journal)

   After years of thoughtful collaboration between artists, curators and institutions, the exhibition HOME - So Different, So Appealing has opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).  The exhibit brings together over 40 artists and uses a hemispheric approach to create a groundbreaking collection of work that investigates the notion of home.  While the idea has been explored before, this show incorporates works by Latin American and U.S. Latino artists to present a diverse and refreshing take on the concept.  Carefully curated by Chon A. Noriega (UCLA - Chicano Studies Research Center), Mari Carmen Ramírez (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) and Pilar Thompkins Rivas (Vincent Price Art Museum), HOME has materialized into a unique and impressive exhibition.  

Daniel Joseph Martinez, "The House America Built" (2004/2017). (Hermosa Journal)

   The show is filled with many thought provoking and stunning pieces that range from deconstructed furniture to a scale replica of Ted Kaczynski’s (aka the Unabomber) Montana cabin.  With close to 100 pieces, HOME occupies one the of the largest spaces at LACMA yet remains manageable, in part, because the vast subject matter is divided into thematic constellations.  By arranging the exhibit into smaller units that touch upon social and political issues from colonialism to migration, the show provides a new way to present Latin American and Latino art - one that steers away from concepts of identity.  There is so much to see in this exhibit that visitors would be well advised to allow plenty of time to enjoy and discover all that is on display (which also includes a fun outdoor sculpture).  

HOME: So Different, So Appealing curators Mari Carmen Rameríz, Chon A. Noriega and Pilar Thompkins Rivas standing next to an installation by the late Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled (North)" 1993. (Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)

   HOME, is the first exhibition to open as part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles/Latin America (PST: LA/LA) and sets a high standard for the entire effort.  Over 70 cultural institutions in the Southern California area will be a part of PST: LA/LA, with the bulk of the programming starting in September 2017.  It is safe to say that HOME (and PST: LA/LA) provides a deeper understanding of Latin American and Latino art while shattering stereotypical ideas of what these artists are producing.  The exhibition also addresses a glaring weakness in the collections and programming of most American art institutions: the lack of Latin American and Latino artists.

   This epic show gracefully pushes many boundaries while presenting work in a beautifully modern way.  We can’t wait to visit HOME again and again.

HOME: So Different, So Appealing is at LACMA from June 11 - October 15, 2017.