Digging for fire at the Getty Research Institute’s recent symposium Vivísimo Muerto: Debates on Surrealism in Latin America, I recalled Guillaume Apollinaire’s thoughts on what I believe to be the essence of Surrealism: “When man wanted to make a...
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During a tour of the new exhibition The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, curator Mary Morton stopped in front of Gérôme’s Snake Charmer and asked the audience, “What do you see?” Murmurs spread through the crowd. One brave little...
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Looking around the room, I see a virtual United Nations in the grip of soccer fever. Her parents are from Mexico and El Salvador, but her team is the Black Stars of Ghana. She was born in Nicaragua, and...
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This is the first in a series on the Iris about interesting and unusual arts careers. We begin with Rand Eppich of the Getty Conservation Institute, who has combined his skills in architecture, photography, technology, and teaching into a...
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Mexican cooking as we know and love it in the U.S.—moles, carne asada, burritos, cafe con leche, loads of melty cheese—would have been unrecognizable to the Aztecs. They didn’t have cows, pigs, sugar, cheese, butter, cinnamon, or wheat. They...
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Texting a story, talking with pictures, taking a color tour, mapping a lunchroom: these are some of the activities included in a new set of online materials for K–12 teachers and their students. Open Studio: A Collection of...
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Old media artifacts like silent films are traditionally thought of as being windows into their individual moments in time. But when they portray another era still—like the ancient world—they serve as a kind of mirror, telling the story of...
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Three o’clock is a good time to be at the Getty Villa. Depending on the time of year, the afternoon light might be streaming through the haze over the Inner Peristyle, a cool fog might be blowing in over...
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How do people of different faiths read, interpret, and depict the sacred texts known in the Christian tradition as the Old Testament? Come explore the question with us this Sunday as Reverend Alexei Smith, director of the Office of...
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For six months, I lived up the hill from Sunset and Coronado in Silverlake. I'd go to Mariela's for burritos—always a little too watery, always with salsa not quite spicy enough, but cheap, and the size of a brick....
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Jennifer Lisowski’s ninth-grade English class from Westchester Senior High recently enjoyed a visit to the exhibition Urban Panoramas: Opie, Liao, Kim with a special guide: photographer Soo Kim. The visit was part of Community Photoworks, a partnership between the...
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On a rainy afternoon at the Getty Center, two dozen students and teachers anxiously awaited the arrival of Natalie Merchant. Stopping at the Getty on her national tour, the singer-songwriter had invited them to attend a workshop on the...
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