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Orange County Museum of Art reopens

Updated: Jun 4, 2023

The Orange County Museum of Art reopens in a spectacular new building after a long journey.

Long in the cultural shadow of its neighbor to the north, Los Angeles, the cultural scene of Orange County (California) may finally be holding its hour of glory with the inauguration of the new headquarters of its art museum, the Orange County Museum of Art . Now located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, considered the unofficial counterpart of Lincoln Center on the California coast, this spectacular 4,900 m² building designed by architect Thom Mayne , winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2005, took 14 years of work at a cost of $94 million.


Besides the curves of a building clad in white terracotta tiles, the angular atrium bathed in natural light and the glass walkways, one of its main features is a vast external staircase thought to become, according to the architect, a gathering place in the spirit of the stairs of the Metropolitan in New York.

Thanks to a $2.5 million contribution from a Newport Beach-based jewelry company, admission to the museum will be free for at least the next decade. "We know that contemporary art can be weird or scary for people, so removing as many barriers to entry as possible is a dream come true ," museum director Heidi Zuckerman told Los Angeles. Angeles Times.

La collection comprend environ 4 500 pièces, dont des œuvres de Catherine Opie, Ed Ruscha ou Charles Ray qui avaient déjà été exposées dans le précédent espace du musée. L'inauguration du nouveau lieu est accompagnée de la présentation de cinq expositions. L'une d'entre elles, « 13 Women », présente des œuvres de 13 artistes de la collection permanente comme Agnes Pelton, Lee Bul, Hilary Pecis, Alice Aycock ou Mary Corse. Cette exposition est, par son intitulé, un hommage rendu aux 13 femmes qui en louant un espace dans le pavillon Balboa de Newport Beach en 1962 ont fondé l'un des premiers musées d'art contemporain de Californie.

In 1968, the space was renamed Newport Harbor Art Museum before moving to larger premises in 1972. It was finally renamed the Orange County Museum of Art in 1997, following renovations.

Ten years earlier, the small art museum in Newport Harbor had announced its intention to erect an enlarged building designed by a recognized architect, worthy of an ambitious and growing region such as Orange County. The institution was emerging from a decade of often energetic modern and contemporary art exhibitions that allowed it to acquire works to enrich its permanent collection. This ambition will have finally taken 35 years to materialize, slowed down by the accelerated turnover of directors.

Appointed in February 2021, the new director Heidi Zuckerman has made the Aspen Art Museum (Colorado), which she directed from 2005 to 2019, a destination of choice for contemporary art. She wants to focus OCMA's programming on California and its artists and develop the legacy of her predecessors in a region with little exposure to contemporary art.

It begins with the revival of the California Biennale, which had not been scheduled since 2017. Returning this year as " Pacific Gold ", it presents more than 60 works by 19 artists from across the world. State, whose work explores the gap between Golden State mythology and the realities of local life. The museum wishes to make this biennale an international event.

Given the recent disappointments that have surrounded the Los Angeles art scene – the controversies surrounding the redesign of the Lacma , the closure of the Marciano Foundation (3) and the Underground Museum , to name but a few – the inauguration of the new OCMA could give a new cultural impetus to the region.

Alexandre Clappe for Le Journal des arts.



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