Why MOCA Had An Awesome 2011
Just when it seemed like most of the media was done with its assessments of 2011, MOCA turns around and announces that it experienced such an unprecedented year in terms of acquisitions that it's only just now beginning to get a handle on the whole thing. Over 230 pieces became a part of MOCA's permanent collection over the last year, and if there's one name the museum — and art admirers in general -- ought to be celebrating, it's that of Laurence Rickels. Renowned art professor and collector Rickels was responsible for more than half of the aforementioned works, most of which are by L.A. artists and were created between the early '90s and early 2000s. Catherine Opie, Richard Hawkins, John Baldessari, Raymond Pettibon, Stephen Prina, and Jeremy Blake are only a few of the artists represented in Rickels' gifts, which focus on paper and photography pieces and address everything from queer consciousness to a Gothic orientation.
But MOCA's 2011 haul doesn't end there. Before you've even got time to set your mind reeling by wondering what Rickels could possibly have kept for himself, you've got to realign your brain to take in items like the Richard Prince and Matthew Monahan drawings donated by Beth Swofford, the Bernd and Hilla Becher photos given by Alan Hergott and Curt Shepard, and heavy hitters by Jackson Pollock, Cindy Sherman, and Neil Jenney from the collection of Beatrice and Philip Gersh. And that's not even taking into account the items purchased by the museum with monetary gifts from other generous patrons of the arts. Naturally, there's plenty from this pile that has yet to even see an official unveiling, which means that MOCA's phenomenal 2011 acquisitions are a gift that will continue giving for some time to come.
