I finally had a chance to check out LACMA's new building devoted to modern art. The Broad Contemporary Art Museum opened to less than favorable reviews, but for someone like me who had never had a chance to witness these famous works up close, I was glad that they made this.

The BCAM comes from the collection of Eli and Edythe Broad, who have collected famous works from a selective group of artists for the last forty years. Among those artists are Andy Warhol, Mike Kelley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman and recent Academy Award nominee, Julian Schnabel.

The architecture of the building is pretty amazing. The elevator shaft that runs through the entire three-story building is an installment in itself, courtesy of Barbara Kruger's still unfinished piece. The museum devotes the entire first floor to Richard Serra's sculptures. Band and Sequence are two separate metal sculptures that are fifteen feet in height and took over two and half years to create. Walking through them, I had the feeling I was a few centimeters tall walking through a maze of ribbon.

I am by no means an expert in modern art but I can see why BCAM has created uproar in certain art circles. For one, the art collected by the Broads is limited, no matter how groundbreaking it is. There are many great contemporary artists whose art has had more influence in society that are not included simply because the Broads aren't collectors of their work. Also, the artists are limited to just American artists, which limits the scope of contemporary art of the last forty years even further. Still, to be able see the work of these great artists up-close makes me think how much these artists have influence culture, advertising and how we view everyday life.

Here is an idea that goes into the “Why didn’t I think of that?” pile:

This is from exclaim.ca. Pretty funny as well.

Nick Cave Named Rough Trade's Inaugural "Counter Culture Icon" 
2/29/2008 By Brock Thiessen

In efforts to give hipsters their very own Walk of Fame, Nick Cave will be stopping by London’s Rough Trade East shop on Monday to be sworn in as its first “Counter Culture Icon.”

Sources from shop today told Drowned in Sound that Cave and his no pussy blues would leave his “prints” at the renowned record shop, marking the first of many enlistees to participate in the fame campaign. The Bad Seed will then reportedly be “hanging out in the store,” presumably kicking against the pricks.

Thus far, Rough Trade has remained tight-lipped over the names of future Counter Culture Icons. But we can make some educated guesses. Perhaps be Morrissey? No, the concrete would be too “icky.” Mark E. Smith? Well, maybe he’d leave a fresh butt.

And just in case you were curious, Hollywood’s Walk of Fame now has more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities, human and fictional, according to Wikipedia. The first star was awarded February 9, 1960, to Mrs. Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, star of the 1996 film Even If a Hundred Ogres...

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Yeah, I get the irony, (oh, the English are soooo ironic!) but don’t you think Amoeba Hollywood should have their very own “Counter Culture Icon Walk Of Fame?” Amoeba could hit 2000 selections in one day.

Maybe because my girlfriend makes fun of me about my supposed 'crush" on Lila Downs, I overlooked this DVD on my top ten list of last year. It was only recently that I watched Loteria Cantada and I wasn't disappointed. I have to admit, it took me a while to get into Lila's last release, La Cantina. It wasn't until the DJ's started bumping "Cumbia De Mole" at the clubs that I gave La Cantina the once over again. The concert footage was recorded in Mexico City and in her home state of Oaxaca in 2006. Each song on this DVD was edited by nine different visual artists, bringing the concert footage to life with color and imagery synonymous with Mexican art. The DVD is set up like Loteria, with each song being a different card in a Loteria deck. The footage and sound quality are broadcast quality and even if you feel the visual art maybe be too ambitious, Lila performance is top notch. If you are a fan of Lila's music and classic Mexican art like me, this is well worth getting.

Below is a clip from the DVD. It's Lila's version of the Son Jarocho standard, "La Iguana," courtesy of youtube.com.

Teatro East Of The River, from East L.A., describe themselves as: Teatro Xicano, Theater Of The Oppressed, Hip-Hop theater, spoken word, flor y canto, using theater as a form of education, inspiring, organizing, enlightening and liberating.

...and on top of that, they have a new production:

The Complex
A Theatre of the Oppressed / Rebelde Production
Investigating the Prison Industrial System in the U.S.
Part of the USC Visions & Voices 2007-2008 Program

Companion community event of
"The Press"
March 2, 2008*
2:30 - 4:30 pm
FREE ADMISSION
(bring your resistence - traite tu resistencia)

at the
24th St. Theatre
1117 W. 24th Street (corner of 24th and Hoover)
Los Angeles, CA 90007


In this play, theatre takes on the political realities of prison life and asks us all to investigate what is trapping millions behind bars, including many of our youth, often for life sentences without the possibiltiy of parole. What is really behind "the complex?" USC Senior Lecturer Brent Blair collaborates with activist/artist Mario Rocha, LA County Probation officer Rick Vidal and parents of incarcerated youth, along with other artists, activists and stakeholders from several groups within the general community affected by the "Prison Industrial Complex." This event loosely follows the framework of "forum theatre" informed by the techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed of Augusto Boal, where audience members are invited to trade places with the protagonists to derive solutions to this socio-political rupture.

One of my predictions in the beginning of this year was that this would be the year Reggae En Español would come into the forefront. Reggae En Español has been around since the early 80's but with a few exceptions it has never become popular with the mainstream Latino audience. However, late last year, one of the biggest songs on Latin Pop Radio has been DJ Flex's (formerly know as Nigga but changed his name for obvious reasons) "Te Queiro."  Other artists such as Eddy Lover w/ La Factoria ("Perdoname") and El Rookie from Panama and have been rocking Reggae clubs all over Latin America since the 90's.  However, the trend has been to change these artist's style to "romantic Reggaeton" to accommodate the audience that listen to Latin Pop radio .

A much different take comes from Alika from Argentina. Alika comes from Dancehall, Roots Reggae and Hip-Hop background with little compromise to current trends. Each of her releases shows tremendous growth and her lyrics deal with female empowerment and her beliefs in natural living. Alika has been playing all over the L.A. area over the last week with East L.A. legends Quinto Sol as her back-up band. This is must see for anyone who wants to check out what Latin Americans are bringing to the Reggae table.

LITTLE TEMPLE
4519 SANTA MONICA BLVD
(On the corner of Virgil & Santa Monica)
Cost : 10$
21 and Over/Starts @ 10