Elusive Paradise: Los Angeles Art from the Permanent Collection charted a broad history of important work made in or about LA between the 1940s and 1970s, and positioned a younger generation of artists within this trajectory through works from MOCA’s collection. The exhibition included paintings, sculptures, photographs, and multimedia works that were occasionally rotated over the course of the exhibition. Historic works included abstract paintings by John McLaughlin, John Altoon, and Ed Moses, who were influenced by the California landscape; anti-consumerist collages and assemblages by Wallace Berman and Edward Kienholz; “finish fetish,” “LA Look,” and “light and space” works by Robert Irwin, John McCracken, and James Turrell; and 1970s pop conceptual art by Edward Ruscha, John Baldessari, Mike Kelly, and others. Contemporary artists included painters Lari Pittman and Manuel Ocampo; post-conceptual photographers Catherine Opie, Todd Gray, and Stephen Prina; and interdisciplinary artists Raymond Pettibon, Sam Durant, Toba Khedoori.
Elusive Paradise: Los Angeles Art from the Permanent Collection was organized by Connie Butler, Curator, and Stacia Payne, Curatorial Assistant, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.