Today was Free Museum Day and I spent the day at two museums! Free Museum Day is on the second Tuesday of every month. Please take advantage of going to great museumes like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the first Thursday at the Huntington Library! I highly recommend the Chinese American Museum and this is the first time (and not the last) that I’ve been to the museum! It is located at 425 North Los Angeles Street which is across from Union Station. The grand opening was on December 18, 2003. It is the historic Garnier Building, the oldest Chinese building in Southern California and the former part of Chinatown before it was moved. Check out: https://camla.org/.
It has a red brick courtyard and just turn to the left to open the door into a local treasure. I took the recommendation of taking the elevator to the second floor. This had the current exhibition, The Icon: Anna May Wong, it runs until August 30th so there is still time! I think I first realized Anna May Wong’s groundbreaking work from the PBS documentary series, Asian Americans, recommended! She is dubbed “The first Asian American Movie Star”, posters of her films are on the walls, including her crime film, Dangerous to Know (1938). I think she transcended the stereotypical roles. In Daughter of the Dragon (1931) that had the yellow face Fu Manchu, but also starred Sessue Hayakawa, Hollywood’s first sex symbol!
We first see her, stunning, in her Princess Ling Moy outfit, and she says in perfect English, Wong was born in Los Angeles!, “Thank you Mr. Wentworth.” Then, lapses into broken English for wealthy guests. The films of Anna May Wong play on the side wall and the facing wall has a incredible painting of her by Rachel O’Donnell. There are also a cookbook and example of her writing. Her theatrical programs, 2009 stamp, and even Barbie doll! Movie actress, she starred in the first Asian television show, theater actress, fashion icon, writer, a phenomenon like the actress we will get to later. The museum had works of poetry and an art exhibition, Seasons in Cosmos: Works by Diana Shulu Wong. I highly recommend the museum for this art exhibit alone. I could see how Wong’s work had a touch Impressionism.
I would stand back and just soak into the yellows of her summer painting and just let the images wash over me, several panels like snapshots of a season. Love the Twelve Seasons Table with the twelve months and twenty-four solar terms with the yin and yang symbol. I missed some of the first floor so I will definitely return. There was a firehouse next to the museum. Impressive engines and a photo of Blackie, the last fire horse (1902-1939). The Academy Museum was busy on Free Museum Day. More info, especially with The Horror Show exhibition that fills the entire fourth floor, stars on September 26th!, here: https://www.academymuseum.org/ The museum was busy, and one of the highlights was Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo. It began on February 14th of this year and runs to March 21st of next year. Again, this is reason enough to go and don’t wait until the last day, just go and have fun!
I attended the Hayao Miyazki exhibit at the museum and at that time, no pictures were allowed, for Ponyo, please don’t take flash pictures. I asked and a museum worker told me that the artwork is in the collection of the museum. One of the text pieces, “Bringing The Movie to Life” explained the difference between hand-drawn to computer animation. Miyazaki said, hand-drawn art “gives the audience room for imagination.” Computer animation uses “perfectly uniform images.” There are numerous Studio Ghibli artists, “each displaying subtle differences” with Miyazki as director checking consistency with character and form. Disney returns to hand drawn animation with Gatto in 2027. I highly recommend Hayao Miyazaki’s book, Starting Point, 1979-1996 (2014) which goes from where do artists get their ideas and form them into stories and into a medium, in this case film.
There are long art boards by Noboru Yoshida on display in what looks like submarine portals. Across from it is a big photo op and activity where you can slide Ponyo across the waves. In the next room was a video of voice actors and following that long revised key animation drawings, it’s great to see sketches, detailed characters, character action and the flow of the film in these drawings. In the middle is a Studio Ghibli animation drawing desk, this was the one thing that I wanted to take a pic of with the Hayao Miyazaki exhibit. Though that exhibit had some tiny goat statues around the desk. There was a photo of Miyazaki with a exploding word balloon, “Get rid of straight lines. Use gently warped lines that allow the possiblity of magic to exist, liberating us from the curse of perspective drawing. A world where even the horizon swells, dips, and sways.” At that room there are Japanese theatrical release posters for the movies.
Plus, a green pipe photo op! Another section had several galleries including the Bong Joon Ho exhibit. In the Identiy section are make-up and costumes. Here’s the trick with the central display, The costumes are set on a short black platform. It set off alarms, beep beep beep, almost constantly! Guests have to stand about a foot away from the platform or set off the alarms. There is not rope cordoning off that area. The museum worker had to keep reminding visitors about being careful. The end of the platform was the costumes of Elphaba with her broom and the sparkly costume of Glinda from Wicked (2024). You have to see Glinda’s dress in person to see the sparkly. Against the wall was a glass display of costumes including the costume of Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), a favorite musical.
Marilyn Monroe’s White Subway Dress, Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon exhibit, photo by the author.
On the third floor was another highlight, Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon. The exhibit started on May 31st and runs to February 28th next year. This exhibit is extensive with a hallway and five rooms. The hallway is filled with her movie posters. Many visitors point out things like experts, but there are close-up tours with museum experts. A hallway has displays of Marilyn’s dresses, on the right, her dress from her brief cameo in the Marx Brothers comedy, Love Happy (1949). On the other side, is Marilyn’s gold dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). There were two side galleries, one for the white subway dress from The Seven Year Itch (1955) with the marketing of that image.
There is also Marilyn Monroe’s pink dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) which had design sketches and an unused costume after the release of her nude photos. The back wall has a hallway with her pin-up, personal, movie photos. Also, the calendars with her nude photos and Playboy magazine. The costume hallway also turns to a make-up display and then personal items like her 1942 University High School yearbook as Norma Jean Baker. The opposite wall has displays of her coats, hats, and dresses that she wore for appearances sometimes using the same outfit several times. Two Hollywood icons with Anna May Wong and Marilyn Monroe in one day! Free Museum Day allows visitors to experience many local museums. The Chinese American Museum had many artworks and history of L.A. and the Academy Museum's displays the best of movies with costumes and props!
#FreeMuseumDay, #LosAngelesCountyMuseumOfArt, #HuntingtonLibrary, #ChineseAmericanMuseum, #GarnierBuilding. #TheIconAnnaMayWong, #DangerousToKnow, 3DaughterOfTheDragon, #RachelODonnell,#SeasonsInCosmosWorksByDianaShuluWong
#TwelveSeasonsTable, #AcademyMuseumOfMotionPictures, #StudioGhiblisPonyo, #HayaoMiyazaki, #NoboruYoshida, #BongJoonHo, #Wicked, #SinginInTheRain, #MarilynMonroeHollywoodIcon, #LoveHappy, #GentlemenPreferBlondes, #TheSevenYearItch
No comments:
Post a Comment