Elizabeth Wilson Review of LACMA
I'm sure this is a wonderful museum, when the exhi...
I'm sure this is a wonderful museum, when the exhibits are actually open. Considering the Getty is free and this museum has a $25 fee for non LA county residents I wouldn't say it's worth it at this time.
There is at 1-3 security guards per room, and some wander from room to room. It may be just because we were under the age of 40, but we had a very uncomfortable experience in many of the rooms. Being stared down like we were there to ruin the pieces. There are also a few exhibits that do not allow photography, but it's not very clearly posted. It's in small print (english only, no imagery) on sides of the wall. We didn't notice until partway through one of the exhibits and got snapped at that photography was not allowed. Several others did as well, since signs were not plainly visible and photography is allowed in the majority of the museum. Some of the security guards were very nice though, and gave valuable information on the pieces.
There are some wonderful pieces in this museum. Some Picassos that were amazing to experience in person, and many beautiful sculptures. The 150 Portrait Tone piece by Mark Bradford is chilling and a must see. However this is the most unwelcome I have ever felt in any art museum. I have been to art museums in Boston, Minneapolis, Milwauke, and many other large art museums and never seen the level of security as this one. It felt like we weren't supposed to be here. If all the exhibits were open I would imagine this is a wonderful museum. However in it's current state, I would recommend other museums in Los Angeles before coming to this one.

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