Pacific Standard Time: What to Expect From Los Angeles' Big Art Moment

The museum extravaganza, supported by the likes of Will Ferrell and Jerry Bruckheimer, puts SoCal art and design in the limelight.

Pacific Standard Time is the art equivalent of a citywide film festival, so big and sprawling it might be impossible to see everything on show. Conceived nearly a decade ago by the Getty Trust (which ponied up $10 million in grants), the colossal initiative will see the rollout of more than 60 exhibitions. The shows, many opening Oct. 1 to 3, offer a sweeping look at the region's at-times-unappreciated creative contributions from 1945 to 1980.

It has won major support from the industry, with Will Ferrell and wife Viveca Paulin-Ferrell helping fund a LACMA design show, The Green Mile producer David Valdes sponsoring a Chicano art exhibit at UCLA and Disney backing a showcase of Mexican modernism at Long Beach's Museum of Latin American Art. Jason Schwartzman has taped a film-noir-like short, helmed by Jesse Dylan, promoting PST. "I saw someone who said she was going to do every show, and I thought, 'That's a pretty good goal.' I can't wait," Matt Groening said at the Sept. 24 opening of the Hammer Museum's show of African-American art.

The big kickoff is an Oct. 2 invite-only blowout party at the Getty Museum, but it's only one of many events during the weekend, including openings at LACMA and MOCA; the inauguration of a new art fair; and VIP-only tours of blue-chip private art collections (including those of Michael Ovitz and Leonard Nimoy). In all, PST is poised to create a picture of the many seminal moments that have made L.A. the art capital it is today. "You don't have to fly to New York to see something exciting," says Paulin-Ferrell, an auctioneer and LACMA board member. "It's right here."

Santa Monica Museum of Art
Beatrice Wood: Career Woman

The museum recently opened a retrospective of the late Ojai-based potter's work, with about 70 examples of her sensual, luster-glazed ceramics. Wood, who died in 1998 at 105, is collected by Jerry and Linda Bruckheimer, who loaned two pieces to the show. (2525 Michigan Ave.; through March 3)

Getty Museum
Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970

The blockbuster PST show is the Getty's major survey of L.A. modern art. The 45-plus artists include Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari and Judy Chicago. Investor and former E! Entertainment CEO Jarl Mohn loaned one of John McCracken's signature plank sculptures. (1200 Getty Center Drive; Oct. 1 to Feb. 5)

Palm Springs Art Museum
Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography

What better place than the desert for a look at that SoCal icon, the swimming pool? The museum will show photos of everything from a dripping-wet Rock Hudson to Michael Childers' 1978 shot of a swimmer in David Hockney's L.A. pool. (101 N. Museum Drive; Jan. 21 to May 27)

Museum of Contemporary Art
Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles

In addition to its comprehensive exhibit of 1970s art, Under the Big Black Sun, MOCA presents a first-ever show documenting the years famed tabloid photographer Weegee spent in L.A. shooting starlets, strippers and more. (250 S. Grand Ave.; Nov. 13 to Feb. 27)

LACMA
California Design, 1930-1965: "Living in a Modern Way"

The creation of the modern indoor/outdoor California home gets the spotlight at this exhibit of furniture, decorative arts, fashion and more. Ferrell and Paulin-Ferrell were among a group of donors who helped purchase this Kem Weber desk and chair for LACMA. (5905 Wilshire Blvd.; Oct. 1 to March 25)

VIP Access: From Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, an invite-only program is giving tours of the private collections of such names as Ovitz, Nimoy, attorney Alan Hergott and producers Gail and Tony Ganz (Participating museums are designating the VIPs.)

For more exhibits, go to the next page.

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Jan 17, Lost in Thought: Journey Back to the Present Moment - Visitor's Story

by Chuck Koehler
(Westchester, CA, USA)

At an early age, unbeknownst to my conscious mind, I started forming a belief system that I was a mistake, unlovable, worthless, somehow flawed, and that other people would only reject, hurt, or abandon me; therefore, I never had any close friends as I never let myself love or be loved by other human beings throughout my life, until recently. This is a story of suffering followed by the healing and recognition of my spirit, which allowed me to forgive myself and my mother, when actually there was no ?one? to forgive.

My beliefs were due to my misperception of my dysfunctional family environment as having something to do with my ?value? as a human being on this planet we call earth. Continued parental neglect, abuse by others, and traumatic events seemed to confirm that human beings can?t be trusted and that there was something wrong with me?I was inherently defective and wasn?t ?good enough?, which further strengthened my beliefs. Also, a couple of traumatic events seemed unique only to me as I have never personally known anyone else who has gone through the same things, such as growing up with a deformity that I tried to keep hidden from the rest of the world as well as developing a chronic myofascial medical condition, which only further entrenched my beliefs as I felt even more different, distinct, and defective.

These early core beliefs as well as my anger towards myself and others eventually manifested into numerous psychological disorders such as social anxiety & phobia, depression, addiction, dissociation, OCD, and BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) throughout my life. I now realize that my beliefs were formed from early thoughts and feelings of mistrust and not belonging in this world as I felt worthless and helpless. I felt extremely unsafe and wasn?t taught to express my thoughts and feelings by and to adults as well as having them explain to me that those thoughts and feelings could be challenged, let go of, and didn?t represent who I think I truly am? a loving, spiritual being having a human experience.

Therefore, I have been a virtual prisoner most of my life as my pain and loneliness became my constant companions due to being lost in thoughts created by my egoistical left-brain, which did everything in its power to protect, defend, or enhance ?me? by attempting to control ?me?, others, and my environment based on my core beliefs. It thought there was a ?me? that needed protecting, defending, or enhancing as a way of surviving in this world as a distinct, deficient ?me?. I also became very comfortable with my pain and suffering as it seemed ?normal? and ?all-I-knew? throughout most of my life.

Eventually, my life became so painful, chaotic, and unmanageable that I could no longer live with the ?me? that I though I was and found the inner strength to seek out help from therapists and other people through various spiritual-based avenues, which allowed me to express the emotional pain that I kept pushing down and running away from my whole life.

If I had only intuitively sensed then, what I intuitively sense now, that I am an eternal, infinite, loving spirit or awareness that is intimately connected with and a part of everyone and everything in this universe. Awareness is formless and always available to me only in the present moment or I?m lost in regrets and resentments of the past, future worries, judgments of yourself and others, or being concerned with the judgments by others, so either living in the present moment with joy and peace or imprisoned by my thoughts causing unrelenting suffering in my life.

How I have been caught up in my delusions and illusions of what I deemed the universe, you, and me to be as I never investigated my assumptions, opinions, and beliefs until recently! My intuitive sense is that everything is connected together, a Oneness if you will, at an energetic, spiritual level. Can I prove it? No! Do I want to prove it? No! That is just more egotistical-questions feeding and reinforcing themselves.

What am I really certain of? Only that ?I exist? or ?I am?, which is constantly aware of my thoughts, my body, and my immediate surroundings whether I believe it or not, so it?s not a belief. Other than that, nothing except mystery and uncertainty as anytime I try to understand or explain the unexplainable I lessen the beauty or essence surrounding it as well as possibly cause more suffering to myself, or the possibility of others causing suffering to themselves, as my ?egoisticic? left-brain wants to be ?enough? by being more right or knowledgeable than others. Would I rather be kind or would I rather be right? I always wanted to be right until now.
In ?My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist?s Personal Journey? by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, she describes the left-brain as displaying analytical, narcissistic behavior; whereas, the right-brain tends to have selfless behavior, feelings, and uses the senses to interpret ?the big picture?.

After further contemplation, I realized that more than likely my right-brain had started shutting down at a fairly young age as I dissociated more-and-more from the world and my surroundings due to the emotional pain I wasn?t able to process or express to others, so I decided to write about my journey back home?to the present moment?and the insights that I have gained from my suffering through introspection, spiritual teachers, workshops, books, and therapists.

By forming close connections with family and friends, finding a meaning and purpose in my life; expressing and sharing my feelings with therapists, friends, and support groups; engaging in spiritual books and movies; and intuitively sensing that there is no ?thing? or no ?one? to forgive was I able to dissolve my core beliefs and finally get in touch with who I think I really am and have always been?awareness. A loving, eternal, infinite spiritual being having a human experience that is much more vast and wondrous than I could have ever imagined, helping me to realize that human suffering is pervasive in our fast-paced, over-stimulated, and technology-driven society. I now realize that my suffering and the beautiful souls who I?ve met along the way, were my greatest spiritual teachers. I personally do not follow any religious beliefs or doctrines, only use spiritual teachings as pointers to what I think is the Truth.

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