Summer Exhibitions
Santa Monica Museum of Art
Through Aug. 19
Once a Westside trolley station, Bergamot Station is now an art
complex. Within the center’s facade of industrial aluminium
siding resides the Santa Monica Museum of Art, which recently
debuted three distinct collections by Ken Brecher, Mariella
Bettineschi and Alvaro Siza.
The first gallery is Brecher’s “The Little Room of
Epiphanies.” The exhibition proudly displays a decade’s
worth of objects found and carefully cataloged and arranged by
Brecher.
At first glance, the room appears to be a mess of newspaper
obituaries, jars of sand and reptiles, and anti-Bush paraphernalia.
Depending on a viewer’s artistic tastes, Brecher’s work
may look like junk from his grandmother’s attic or forgotten
treasures of the everyday.
The exhibit almost assumes a democratic character as one
realizes everything in the room was either free or very
inexpensive, yet worthy of space in a museum. Brecher’s
display ultimately proposes that perhaps comfort and meaning can be
derived from overlooked items such as baseball pennants and Sept.
11 postcards.
Although it is possible to enjoy “Epiphanies” for
its novelty, one must wonder if Brecher’s work is truly art
or just the byproduct of a lifelong pack rat.
Mariella Bettineschi’s “Voyager” is the most
conceptual of the three exhibitions. Her photographic studies in
color, motion and optics are divided into two collections:
“Speed of Light” from 2005 and “Spaceship”
from 1999.
The first is a vivid series of motion-altered photographs. The
second is a group of black-and-white images exposed on Plexiglas.
Bettineschi’s work is aesthetically provocative, but the
collection is highly experimental and may be a bit too theoretical
for most viewers.
The museum’s main gallery is dedicated to Portuguese
architect Alvaro Siza, whose visionary career is brilliantly
showcased in his sketches, models and photographs.
Siza’s work is known for its modern design and
consideration for space and texture. His structures are renowned
because they easily integrate into existing landscapes, both urban
and exotic.
The exhibition’s strength is in Siza’s models and
sketches, which demonstrate his work process and his awareness of
architecture as a unique art.
Interestingly, Siza is also known for his attention to the
interiors of his buildings as he designs items such as doorknobs,
light fixtures and ashtrays.
Siza’s exhibit is by far the strongest of the three,
giving visitors a sense of his exceptional contributions to his
profession through the virtuosity and originality of his
structures.
““ Catherine Moore