Through January and February 2018, the Getty Center will honor Latin American and Latino art as part of a funded initiative, termed Pacific Standard Time LA/LA, to bring greater cultural awareness to Los Angeles.
With nearly fifty percent of Angelenos being comprised of those who have a Hispanic heritage, this initiative is an invaluable step in highlighting the remarkable history of Latinos, which can be appreciated at seventy cultural institutions across the Southland. One of these is, of course, the Getty, which has four ongoing exhibits.
The first installation, titled The Metropolis in Latin America: 1830-1930, can be viewed through January 7th, and features plans, photos, and maps, underscoring the architectural advancements and impressive industrialization involved in making Havana, Buenos Aires, Rio De Janeiro, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, and Lima what they are today.
The second one, which is called Photography in Argentina, 1850-2010: Contradiction and Continuity, will run through January 28th, and examines not only the history of Argentina as a colonial power, but the hodgepodge of culture that has resided there for a great many years. With three-hundred works of art by sixty artists on display, one will be able to observe both the transformative impact of photography as an iconoclastic device, and as a pedagogical tool to impress upon the observer significant notions of social change and progress.
Another one – called Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas – might be the most prized exhibit of the bunch. From a historical standpoint, it is, at the very least, the most wide-ranging, going as far back as 1,000 BC and as recently as the 16th century. The well-maintained pieces that can be seen, much of which include exquisite stone sculptures, gold masks/crowns, and other breathtaking ornaments, must be experienced in person. This exhibit ends on January 28th.
Last, but not least, is the Making Art Concrete exhibit, which will continue its residency at the Getty through February 11th. It was developed via a partnership with Venezuelan art collector, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, and takes a compellingly scientific approach to the cultivation of techniques and the geometric patterns seen in concrete art throughout Argentina and Brazil between 1946 and 1962.
For more information about these exhibits, please visit getty.edu/pacificstandardtime and pacificstandardtime.org
