The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has a special modern art exhibit displaying the works of Rene Magritte, through March 4th. I used to be really fascinated with Magritte's art. It didn't make any sense why men in business suits were raining from the sky or why the ball was in the sky yet the sky was in the ball, but somehow, to me, it made a lot of sense.
Rene Magritte was born at the tail end of the 19th century. His mom drowned herself in the River Sambre when Magritte was 14, but the next year, he met his beautiful wife Georgette. He worked at a wallpaper factory and designed ads until he was financially stable enough to become a full-time artist. The Belgian surrealist lived a relatively happy life for an artist, at died at age 68.
Magritte's Pipe is probably the most famous pipe in the world (which, as he aptly points out, is not really a pipe but just a picture of one); his apple inspired the Apple Records logo for the Beatles' record label; and his 1964 painting, The Son of Man, is seen in movies like *The Thomas Crowne Affair *and I Heart Huckabees.
It's cool that the LACMA exhibit is displaying a bunch of his work, but... even cooler! They've painted and redesigned the whole exhibition space to make it look like you're inside a Magritte painting! The floors are painted like a cumulus cloud-filled sky, and you can walk through a door with a big hole in it.
See pictures of the exhibition space after the jump.
Magritte and Contemporary Art [LACMA Main Page]
