The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles acquired 100 artworks by 63 artists during 2023 for its permanent collection of nearly 8,000 objects.
The acquisitions range from works by blue-chip artists like Ellsworth Kelly (five lithographs), Anselm Kiefer (two mixed-media works), Jeff Koons (one sculpture), and Raymond Pettibon (nine drawings) to ones by rising artists like Diane Severin Nguyen (five C-prints), Aria Dean (a 3D-printed sculpture), Kahlil Robert Irving (one ceramic), and Rachel Jones (a 8.5-foot-long painting).
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Additionally, deceased and established artists were among the mix, like Alonzo Davis, Simone Forti, Roger-Edgar Gillet, Barbara Kruger, Suzanne Lacy, Robert Morris, Robert Overby, and Hannah Wilke. The oldest living artist in the cohort is LA-based Barbara T. Smith, who turns 93 in 2024, and the two youngest artists are Dean and Louise Giovanelli, who were both born in 1993.
Among the more sprawling works that were purchased are the late artist Pope.L’s massive waving American flag, Trinket (2015) and Jacolby Satterwhite’s Reifying Desire 7 – Dawn (2021–22), which comprises a two-channel video, a video game, 53 ink-and-marker drawings on paper, and vinyl wallpaper. An untitled 2020 bronze sculpture by Henry Taylor was acquired from the artist’s survey that was organized by MOCA and is now in its final week at the Whitney Museum.
Several of the works in the collection come as gifts from several collectors who have appeared on ARTnews’s Top 200 Collectors list over the years, including Brad Pitt, who donated a Mark Bradford painting; Beth Rudin DeWoody, who gave a Karon Davis sculpture; the late Chara Schreyer, whose estate donated the Dean and Morris works, a Buck Ellison video, a Mohammed Sami painting, and a Josh Kline sculpture; Warhol Foundation president Joel Wachs, who gave a mixed-media fiber work by Channing Hansen; and new addition Pete Scantland, who gifted paintings by Giovanelli and Louise Bonnet.
Similarly, Janelle Reiring and Helene Winer, the founders of the now defunct gallery Metro Pictures, gifted a photograph by Isaac Julien, whom the gallery previously represented, while LA dealer Marc Selwyn donated a David Smith work on paper.
Glaringly missing from these acquisitions, however, was work by Latinx artists. The museum acquired a video and three sculptures by the artist collective My Barbarian, which includes one Latinx member, Alexandro Segade; two Latin American–born artists who are now based in LA, Analia Saban and Jill Mulleady, were also among those whose work was acquired. According to the most recent census data, LA’s population is estimated to comprise 48.1 percent of the city. Similarly, the museum only acquired work by two Indigenous artists, Ishi Glinsky and Dyani White Hawk. A museum spokesperson said that the museum does not collect demographic data on the artists in its collection, but they are able to voluntarily self-report during the acquisition of a new work.
In a statement, MOCA director Johanna Burton said, “This year’s acquisitions at MOCA illustrate our unwavering commitment to celebrating a wide breadth of artistic expression, as always with an L.A. point of view. These works not only enrich our collection but also reinforce our mission to continually explore the contours and boundaries of the art of our time.”
See below, to view some of the works now in MOCA’s permanent collection.
Source: artnews.com