Review: This Side of Paradise

f you tried to cover 150 years of Los Angeles photography, what would you include? How would you sift through thousands upon thousands of photographs and make them into a show that told the story of Los Angeles?

How about encapsulating it all into one photo, such as a heavily made-up woman waiting for her chance at stardom, as seen on banners and brochures for the Huntington Library’s new exhibit, “This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in LA Photographs.”

For Jennifer Watts, The Huntington’s curator of photographs, and independent curator Claudia Bohn-Spector the answer was to divide the exhibit in three ways: first, by displaying them in two galleries (West Hall of the library and the Mary Lou and George Boone Gallery); secondly, build a trail of photographic boards leading from one to the other; and finally, divvy up the photos into seven theme sections (Garden, Dwell, Move, Work, Play, Clash and Dream).

The show begins in the West Hall and Los Angeles-based artist Allan Sekula’s site-specific art installation of large-scale photographic billboards, “Edit Nine,” leading you to the Boone Gallery. The piece is dedicated to Louis Adamic, an immigrant from Slovenia who was a writer and labor activist. His 1932 book, “Laughing in the Jungle,” criticized the excesses of Los Angeles in the 1920s.

Los Angeles as the stage for Hollywood, of course, is one motif taken up in the Boone Gallery. You’ll see Marilyn Monroe twice; one as a young girl and still hopeful, and then again at the end of her life. Photos of young Spencer Tracy, Sammy Davis Jr. kicking up his heels and a young Harry Belafonte with Dorothy Dandridge posing together contrast the nameless hopeful starlets and other women dressed up for some opening: the famous and the wannabes.

Then there’s the seamier side of stardom, as seen in the prominently displayed color portrait of a sour-faced woman in curlers and heavy make-up on the brochures; she is a porn star.

The photographers likewise range from the famous (e.g. George Hurrell, Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Philippe Halsmann) to the totally anonymous (e.g. photos taken for the Los Angeles Health Department).

There are startling scenes that seem out of place and photographers who are out of their usual element. Robert Flora’s black-and-white gelatin silver print of an Army Jeep seems out of place — more a scene of war — until one reads the title: “Watts Riots — Army Jeep, 1965.”

Other photos deal with racial stereotypes. Photos from Harry Gamboa, Jr.’s “Chicano Male Unbonded” series (1991-2007) are shown — challenging the negative image of Mexican-American men as dangerous and disreputable by photographing poets, writers and students on dark street corners.
The dark-skinned men jumping with three light-skinned women were members of the Hollywood Negro Ballet, an old black and white photo used for the brochures isn’t just beach blanket bingo time. African Americans were once not allowed on many local beaches. Of course, with beaches there’s cheesecake and, with the legacy of Muscle Beach, beefcake as well.

Some photos inspire a feeling of déjà vu. Haven Bishop recorded the “Wreckage After the St. Francis Dam Disaster, Fillmore, California, 1928,” reminding one of the current flooding in the Midwest.
Herb Carleton (1927-1992) recorded a “Studio Fire, Warner Brothers,” on May 16, 1952, reminiscent of the recent Universal Studio fire. Ansel Adams and his contemporary Edward Weston are known for their nature photography but, in this show, their photographs portray still scenes from the film studios and freeways.

Pasadena residents might be fascinated by William Henry Jackson’s 1889 albumen print, “The Raymond [Hotel], East Pasadena, California” because it shows a large building standing out alone against an expanse of land. That scene, of course, looks very different now.

One viewer suggested how interesting it would be to see then and now juxtaposed. That would be another exhibit for another time.

The exhibit comprises 200 historic and contemporary images from several collections: The Huntington, LACMA, J. Paul Getty Museum; UCLA, MOCA and the Japanese American National Museum. Some photos are also on loan from collectors and photographers. The bulk of the photos are from The Huntington’s archives.

“This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs” continues until Sept. 15 at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Exhibit included in price of admission. For more information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit www.huntington.org.

Reprinted for The Pasadena Weekly

The Huntington: “This Side of Paradise” (Ends 15 Sept.)

On one side of paradise, you can be a star easy…no ifs ands but plenty of bare butts. As the lady with the sour face shows, you can become a media star if you’re in porn because all porn “actors” are stars. There is definitely a dark side to the paradise of Los Angeles and the art exhibit, “This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs,” tastefully considers that aspect. (By tasteful, I mean while you can’t take your kids to porn without getting arrested, you can take them to this exhibit at the Huntington).

I do wonder where that woman is. Did she ever think her face would be plastered all over Pasadena? Probably not.

We do also get to see those that made it such as Marilyn Monroe (featured in two photos although one just shows her toe tag), a young Sammy Davis Jr. and we see other less famous people. Famous photographers such as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston as well as anonymous photogs are represented showing Los Angeles as divided up by the categories: Garden, Dwell, Move, Work, Play, Clash and Dream). No photos of nearby Santa Anita as a so-called transfer center for Japanese and Japanese Americans, but race and racism isn’t ignored.

Whatever your dreams are or were, wherever in Los Angeles your work or play, go see this wonderful exhibit and remember what was and is Los Angeles.