“Ansel Adams at 100″ Los Angeles County
Museum of Art Through May 11 (323) 857-6000
You can’t walk through an office building or dormitory
without seeing an Ansel Adams print or calendar adorning the wall.
What most people know of Adams is just his pleasing black-and-white
photographs of looming cliffs or glimmering lakes. But “Ansel
Adams at 100,” an engaging retrospective at the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art, gives a comprehensive examination of the
evolution and process of Adams’ artistry, offering an
insightful look at an artist people may know of, but don’t
really know. The exhibit of 122 photographs focuses mostly on the
’20s, ’30s and ’40s, offering only a dozen of his
latter works, and includes such classics as “Monolith, the
Face of Half Dome” and “Moonrise, Hernandez, New
Mexico” as well as lesser-known works. Most intriguing in the
exhibit are photos displayed side-by-side of the same subject taken
at different times of day, showing Adams’ skillful precision
in evoking drastically different moods with each shot. Though
Adams’ portrayals of nature are often eerily anthropomorphic,
this exhibit gives a rare glimpse at a few of Adams’ photos
of American Indians. Instead of drawing a distinction between man
and nature, Adams shows the American Indians’ role within
nature. Another rarely seen photograph is Adams’ “Broad
Street, New York,” which shows a bleakly empty New York
street. While the parallel lines of the urbanized city underscore
the bygone idyllic beauty, the haunting calmness of this city gives
the serene mood of one of his photos from Kings Canyon, calling
attention both to the transience and resilience of nature. -Amber
Noizumi
“Chocolate” Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County Through May 11 (213) 763-3517
Willy Wonka, watch out ““ there’s another chocolate
show in town. Satisfying not only the sweet tooth of viewers, but
also their intellectual desires, “Chocolate,” the new
exhibit at the Natural History Museum, recalls the history of this
tantalizing seduction. Taking viewers through a time-travel
experience of the creation and evolution of this sweet and savory
treat, the exhibit starts at the early times of Mayan and Aztec
civilization with their views and uses of chocolate and continues
up to today covering the process of chocolate production. The
exhibition backdrops and pieces are carefully placed and decorated
to give viewers an accurate portrayal of the time. The Mayan and
Aztec portion of the exhibit, using block carvings and brown
shading contrasts with the European styling of white and elegant
architecture along with porcelain utensils. Walking through the
maze-like exhibition, viewers are treated and teased with pictures
of chocolate morsels while also taught about the history of the
chocolate trade. The colorful pictures and helpful tutorials (in
English and Spanish) guide viewers toward the apex of the exhibit:
the modern making of chocolate and its effects on society. Set
against the backdrop of a huge chocolate box, TVs which take the
place of a few chocolates, show people’s views and obsessions
with chocolate. Finally, at the end of this delicious exhibition is
a gift store that has an equal amount of people as the whole
exhibition does ““ all madly buying chocolate as if it was the
last substance on earth. The exhibit, catching viewers’
attention with its savory aroma as well as its rich history,
creates an environment that not only appeals to chubby children,
but also the parents holding them on a leash. -Siddarth Puri