Marciano Museum/ Ai Weiwei

In the center of the Ai Weiwei installation at the Marciano Museum is  Black Box.  It represents an inflatable boat used by refugees to come to Europe.  

Among the passengers

are figures that 

represent the animals

of the

Chinese zodiac.

Museum Visit

At the Marciano Museum is an installation by Ai Weiwei.

In the lobby is a sculpture of fused bicycles.

In the theatre gallery 49 tons of porcelain sunflower seeds are spread across the floor.

Thousands of antique teapots spouts are piled together.

Some are 9 centuries old.

Suspended from the ceiling are mythic Chinese creatures made of bamboo and silk.

They are

made by

kite makers in the Chinese city of Weifang.

A Visit to LACMA/Folk Art

At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the "Outliers and American Vanguard Art"  exhibition is a collection of Folk Art.

Here are wood carvings of the story of Adam and Eve.

Also in the show are some Gee's Bend quilts

made by African American women in 

Gee's Bend, Alabama.

Exhibition at LACMA

All these paintings

are from the

exhibition at the 

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

"Outliers and

American Vanguard Art."

The paintings

are loaned from various

museums and

private collections

across the country.

A Visit to LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a series of buildings.

From the top of the stairs is a view of part of the museum.

This is looking out at the Museum of Motion Picture Academy, under construction, with the Hollywood Hills in the background

I am here to see the exhibition: Outliers and American Vanguard Art.  This is a sculpture by Elie Nadelman.

Most of the artwork is American,  but here is French artist Henri Rousseau, with one of his jungle scenes,

a forest and

a portrait.

The work is done by artists considered by some to be

outsiders in the art world.

The Cup of Gold Vine

Blooming now in the corner of my garden is a Cup of Gold vine (Solandra maxima).  Its flowers and leaves are very large.

It is native to Central America and Mexico and is known there as Copa D'Oro.

It sends long branches high into the trees and makes my yard look like a tropical jungle.

Old Textiles

I have been looking for flower motifs in old textiles.

Tulips?

Spring blossoms?

Here are four variations of almond blossoms in a vase

from a 16th century

Persian

weaving.