In This Zumthorian Light

Look, I think we all get it: the light in LACMA sucks for paintings. It’s modernist curtain walls and curtains all the way down: @arthistory.bsky.social on LACMA But if there’s one work in the whole blasted out place where a reflection so strong you can take a selfie with Peter Zumthor’s wall of artisanally curtained windows in the surface doesn’t support the critique, it is Veronika Kellndorfer’s giant 2007 triptych photo, Ocean Vista. Veronika Kellndorfer, Ocean Vista, 2007, screenprint on glass, 293 x 357 cm or so Kellndorfer’s photo of the south-facing wall of artisanally curtained windows of the Eames House, one of the most iconic modernist houses in Los Angeles, screenprinted and annealed on glass, is such a perfect embodiment of the Geffen Galleries Experience, I’m sure it’s spent 20 years on Zumthor’s museum moodboard. From the artist’s website: The perception of the viewer changes while moving around the work as the glass reflects its surrounding environment of visitors,…