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MOCA: More than 230 works of art acquired in 2011
There’s more to see and enjoy these days at Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art.
In the last year, MOCA added more than 230 items — many from a single donor.
“Not since the economic downturn have we seen this level of generosity," MOCA chief curator Paul Schimmel said in a press release.
More than half the works come from Laurence Rickels, a UC Santa Barbara professor of German and English literature, psychotherapist and prolific arts writer. His interests are described as being in the intersection between psychoanalysis, technology and Nazis.
Rickels lived in West Hollywood for years and donated 122 works of art to MOCA after he moved to Germany. The collection includes work from the 1990s that focused on queer identity, conceptual photography and Gothic themes. The donation includes works by conceptual godfather John Baldessari and photographer Catherine Opie, known for her freeway overpass photos.
Right now the museum is showing works by Jackson Pollock and contemporary photographer Cindy Sherman, part of a gift from benefactors Beatrice and Phillip Gersh.
Correction: The headline of this story originally said that the items were added in 2012; they were added in 2011.
This story has been updated.