February 2012

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents A Tribute to Mike Kelley, an exhibition dedicated to the work and legacy of Mike Kelley (b. 1954, Detroit; d. 2012, Los Angeles) on view at MOCA Grand Avenue from February 18 to April 2, 2012. Since the late 1970s, Kelley has had a far-reaching influence on the Los Angeles art community, whether through his groundbreaking performances, installations, sculptures, and works on paper; his insightful critical writings; or his deep commitment to artists, as a peer and a teacher. Over the last three decades, his influence has extended to MOCA, with donations of his own works as well as those by local and international artists that have profoundly shaped the museum's permanent collection.

In 1946, the tabloid photographer known as Weegee relocated from New York City to Los Angeles. In moving west, he abandoned the grisly crime scenes for which he was best known and trained his camera instead on Hollywood stars, strippers, costume shops, and naked mannequins, sometimes distorted through trick lenses and multiple exposures. “Now I could really photograph the subjects I liked,” said Weegee of his life in Los Angeles. “I was free.” Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles is the first museum exhibition devoted to the work Weegee produced in Southern California.

Kenneth Anger: ICONS will showcase the films, books, and artwork of one of the most original filmmakers of American cinema. A defining presence of underground art and culture and a major influence on generations of filmmakers, musicians, and artists, Anger's films evoke the power of spells or incantations, combining experimental technique with popular song, rich color, and subject matter drawn equally from personal obsession, myth, and the occult.