Sympathetic Seeing: Esther McCoy and the Heart of American Modernist Architecture and Design September 28, 2011

FREE ADMISSION FOR BANK OF AMERICA CUSTOMERS ON 10/2!

This exhibition is the first to focus on the formidable range of architectural historian Esther McCoy's practice, and affirm her unassailable role as a key figure in American modernism. To research the exhibition, the co-curators - writer Susan Morgan and MAK Center director Kimberli Meyer - have worked closely with local archives and the Esther McCoy papers, an invaluable primary source comprised of thousands of documents and photographs which are housed at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art. Through photographs, drawings, texts, videos, and audio interviews, Sympathetic Seeing will highlight the extraordinary range and importance of McCoy's work. The exhibition covers McCoy's activist journalism focusing on fair labor practices and Los Angeles slum clearances in the 1930s; her work with R.M. Schindler first as a draftsperson and later a critic and historian of his work; the Arts & Architecture magazine years and the rise of innovative domestic architecture; her campaign to save Irving Gill's 1916 Dodge House; and her always incisive stories that deliver an irresistibly compelling, first-hand view of American modernism.

This event is part of the groundbreaking cultural program, Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. from 1945 to 1980. Starting in October 2011, more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California will come together to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene and how it became a major force in the art world.

The campaign features unexpected pairings between pop culture icons of today with artists featured within Pacific Standard Time. “Celebrate the Era that Continues to Inspire the World” is the theme of the campaign, which celebrates how Los Angeles art from 1945 – 1980 continues to inspire the world of music, art, film and architecture of today.

Check out a video of Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pop Art movement artist Edward Ruscha: http://bit.ly/PSTvideos

For more information on Pacific Standard Time, visit http://bit.ly/PSTLA