LACMA previewed a new exhibit Wednesday night, and if you happened to pore over the guest list thinking it was a roster for a summer music festival, few could blame you.
The museum hosted Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Olivia Rodrigo, Jared Leto, Machine Gun Kelly, Lana Del Rey, Kelly Rowland, Karen O, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Alexander 23 and members of No Doubt, among others, for the unveiling of Artists Inspired by Music: Interscope Reimagined. Timed to coincide with Interscope’s 30th anniversary, the exhibit is comprised of more than 50 pieces created by visual artists as inspired by albums and sounds of Interscope’s stable of artists.
There’s a reason many of the aforementioned names were making the rounds inside the Resnick Pavilion as Eilish, Rodrigo, MGK, Nine Inch Nails and No Doubt are among the stars that inspired artworks. Also on that list are 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Juice WRLD, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige, Selena Gomez, Snoop Dogg and U2, among others. The works were created by such leading visual artists as Cecily Brown, Julie Curtiss, Shepard Fairey, Lauren Halsey, Damien Hirst, Rashid Johnson, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Kehinde Wiley, and others.
The project was shepherded by Interscope co-founder Jimmy Iovine, chairman John Janick, Pulse Music Group co-founder Josh Abraham, and Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman, who worked closely with all of the music and visual artists. Also in the mix was LACMA associate curator of decorative arts and design Staci Steinberger. All were in attendance along with Brian Grazer, Deborah McLeod, Fergie, Ferrari Sheppard, Finneas, Genesis Tramaine, Henry Taylor, Hilary Pecis, Nine Inch Nail’s Ilan Rubin, Jeffrey Deitch, Jennifer Guidi, Jeremy Erlich, Justin Lubliner, Larry Jackson, Liberty Ross, Lucy Bull, Max Lousada, Megan Fox, Nick Zinner, Shepard Fairey, Steve Stoute, Ted Field, The Game, Umar Rashid, Willow Bay, Zane Lowe, Tom Whalley, and No Doubt’s Adrian Young, Tom Dumont and Tony Kanal.
The exhibit, which officially opens Jan. 30 and is on view through Feb. 13, arrives with a few raised eyebrows. The Los Angeles Times posted a commentary from art critic Christopher Knight that questions why an institution like LACMA would partner on such a project, one he criticizes as art conceived as a corporate marketing tool. “Strip away the diverting celebrity names, and what’s left is just a museum show of a corporate collection,” he writes.
— v (@ViralMaterial) January 27, 2022
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
