OV has participated in some of the most memorable and historical art shows to date. Here are some highlights of 2012:

Check out our museum blog:  https://olsonvisual.com/blogs/museum/

OV participated in Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s In Wonderland exhibition in February of this year. Along with the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, this show presented a historical examination of 47 American and Mexican female surrealists.  While male artists painted themes of objectifying and fetishizing the female body, woman explored their own identity and subjectivity.  This movement allowed woman to express femininity in new and innovative ways. It was therefore, a time of liberation and self-discovery in dream like situations that represented the soul of surrealism and Olson Visual was there to illustrate these concepts.

Olson Visual printed all of the photographs in Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass at LACMA

Olson Visual was also on location with LACMA and supplied the banners, photographs, and graphic identity for Levitated Mass by Michael Heizer.  OV installed and printed the black and white large-scale images in the actual exhibition. They were actually, the preliminary photographs that showed the artist’s process and how Levitated Mass was born. Banners were donned on top of pounds of moving metal for the actual 105-mile route until the final destination of the rock at the museums north lawn. From the spectators that watched this piece of granite, they feel they were apart of history.  To others, they felt it was a question of the authenticity of art.  In it’s totality, no one can argue that it is something to be remembered and talked about for generations.  Now when someone describes “The Rock” it will not refer to the action film star but to the new star of this incredible installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Dan Olson installing the large-scale mural “Philosophy,” “Medicine” and “Jurisprudence” at the Getty.

To coincide with the 150th birthday of Gustav Klimt, the J. Paul Getty Museum presented the exhibition, The Magic of Line. You will not find a single painting in this retrospective. Instead, there were 111 drawings including preliminary sketches, illustrative nudes, and chalk portraits. The exhibition depicted Klimt’s work as the forefront of modernism from the mid-eighteen hundreds to the early 20th century.  Olson Visual created all the graphic identity and even recaptured the momentous artwork, “Philosophy,” “Medicine” and “Jurisprudence”. This reproduction was later described in The Wall Street Journal as, “It has been marvelously reproduced at the Getty by Olson Visual…” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303343404577518443403551780.html)

California Design is the Pacific Standard Time exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art showcased Modern Design in sunny Southern California from 1930 – 1965

Pacific Standard Time was a phenomenon that brought international attention to Los Angeles. It was a large undertaking that lead to a groundbreaking journey of culture and arts dating from 1945 to 1980. PST was a collaboration of galleries and institutions to celebrate the birth of the LA art scene and Olson Visual was a sponsor in over thirty of these exhibitions. Some of them included:  In Focus: Los Angeles, an exhibition that took place at the famous J. Paul Getty Center, Naked Hollywood (the first museum show of the famous tabloid photographer, filmmaker, and author, Weegee at MOCA), Pomona College Museum of Art’s It Happened at Pomona: Art at the Edge of Los Angeles 1969 – 1973, California Design is the Pacific Standard Timeexhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art showcased Modern Design in sunny Southern California from 1930 – 1965, The Words of Charles and Ray Eames at the A+D Museum, Mapping Another L.A. at the Fowler Museum along with UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC), and Greetings from L.A.: Artists and Publics, 1950 – 1980 at the Getty Center.

The space shuttle Endeavour at the CA Science Center

The space shuttle Endeavour made its last journey this year to the California Science Center. On October 30th 2012, they opened its doors to the public allowing viewers to see apart of space exploration history. Olson Visual was there to create most of the visual material for the permanent exhibition.

Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void 1949-1962 at LACMA

A viewer peering at OV’s large graphic timeline

Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void 1949-1962 is the final joint project between Paul Schimmel (who was the chief curator) and MOCA. The show was a comprehensive study of historical art from post World War II had a clear common theme, the physical destruction. Olson Visual placed all of the graphic elements.

OV’s large scale graphic of América Tropical at the Siqueiros Mural Protective Shelter, Viewing Platform and Interpretive Center.

Lastly, Olson Visual participated in the Siqueiros Mural Protective Shelter, Viewing Platform and Interpretive Center. This building was dedicated to the conservation of the mural América Tropical, by the well know Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. It stands as one of the only murals he finished that remains in the United States. Olson Visual created all of the visual elements illustrating the life of this amazing artist. They also recreated the actual mural in black and white. América Tropical is not only a staple to the culture of Los Angeles and Mexico, but to the civil rights movement. There has been much discussion between conserving the painting (keeping the original) or restoring (repainting) it. Fortunately, it was decided to keep the artists work as closely to what he had originally intended. If we had chosen to repaint the surface of the painting, we could have potentially, covered up what is sacred about the work. It is this reason that the Protective Shelter was needed to keep the honor of the Chicano Civil Rights movement and the history of Los Angelians.

This year has been astonishing for Olson Visual, as they have partaken in the most notable exhibitions. From the journey of a large rock that became an art legend to moving a piece of history with the Endeavor, OV was there to supply the visual story.

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