By Chris Alexander
If you live in California or are part of the museum world, you’ve no doubt heard of the large scale art initiative called Pacific Standard Time happening in Southern California. Led by the Getty, the initiative is a region-wide collaborative of museums and galleries, described as:
“an unprecedented collaboration of cultural institutions across Southern California coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. Beginning October 2011, over 60 cultural institutions will make their contributions to this region-wide initiative encompassing every major L.A. art movement from 1945 to 1980.”
Toura is pleased that three of the participating institutions have used Toura’s Mobile App Producer to create their apps. New Toura clients The Getty and LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) along with previous client the HAMMER have all release apps which are either focused solely on the initiative or have a section of their app devoted to it.
The Getty
The Getty has four exhibitions featured in their app, all of which are part of Pacific Standard Time. The app features images, audio and didactic text for dozens of works of art in the exhibitions.
Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950–1970 charts the rise of the L.A. Art scene from Post-WWll where artists started developing their own forms of modernism. The exhibition continues into the 60’s with variations on Pop-Art and then into the 70’s where artists started experimenting with new techniques, subjects and approaches.
Greetings from L.A.: Artists and Publics, 1950–1980 focuses on the way these artist disseminated their work to the public. Art schools became “innovative forums for artists”, while other artists exploited mass media to reach their audience. The exhibition features photos, ephemera and art from the period.
From Start to Finish: De Wain Valentine’s Gray Column features a large scale sculpture by artist De Wain Valentine who became recognized for his innovative use of polyester resin in the 70’s. This sculpture will be on display for the first time and the exhibition tells the story of how this work was made through images, video and studies.
In Focus: Los Angeles 1945–1980 has 25 photographs - some that are iconic and others that are relatively unknown - by artists whose careers are defined by their association with the city of Los Angeles.
Download the Getty iPhone, iPad or Android app for Pacific Standard Time at: http://a.toura.com/3179
LACMA
LACMA presents the first major exhibition on modernist design in midcentury California, California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way”. Spanning all areas of art and design from ceramic to furniture to fashion and textiles, the exhibition “aims to elucidate the 1951 quote from émigré Greta Magnusson Grossman that … California design “is not a superimposed style, but an answer to present conditions…It has developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way.”“
The app created for the exhibition contains over a hundred high resolution images and over a dozen never before seen video interviews with highly recognized California designers. Learn about design history in California with an interactive map highlighting artist studios, schools, past exhibitions and more.
Download the LACMA iPhone, iPad or Android app for Pacific Standard Time at: http://a.toura.com/3194
HAMMER
Existing Toura client, the HAMMER Museum, has updated their app to include new features along with a new section devoted to their Pacific Standard Time offering. The exhibition Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980“chronicles the vital legacy of the city’s African American artists.” With subject matter drawing to an extent from the civil rights and Black Power movements, artist such as Betye Saar, David Hammons, and Noah Purifoy became largely influenced by Southern California movements like assemblage, “finish fetish”, and California Pop. The exhibition features 140 works of art.
The HAMMER app contains many images from the exhibition along with audio recordings of the exhibition curators discussing the work and exhibition in detail.
Download the HAMMER app for iPhone and Android at: http://a.toura.com/11
Toura wants to thank our Pacific Standard Time clients for choosing Mobile App Producer and hope that their exhibitions and their apps are are great success!
