Reflections on LACMA's New David Geffen Galleries and Artistic Impermanence
Artist Pilar Zeta visited the new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, designed by architect Peter Zumthor. The gallery's stark brutalist style draws inspiration from Mexico City’s Museo Nacional de Antropología. Visitors can view a diverse array of art, including Egyptian mummies and a 1961 Studebaker Avanti by Raymond Loewy, alongside Todd Gray’s homage to author Octavia E. Butler. Zeta will unveil her sculpture, Mirror Gate II, in Venice in 2026, having created it in Egypt and finished it in Paris. The piece reflects on the recent passing of several artists, echoing themes of loss.
Key facts
- David Geffen Galleries at LACMA designed by Peter Zumthor
- Building evokes Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City
- Curation allows visitors to choose their own path through art history
- Pilar Zeta is an Argentinian artist creating monumental marble installations
- Mirror Gate II (2026) conceived in Egypt, fabricated in Paris, exhibited in Venice
- Artists L, Jasmine Little, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, and Hilde Lynn Helphenstein have died
- Philip Larkin poem 'The Mower' quoted
- LACMA building described as a 'middle finger to God'
Entities
Artists
- Pilar Zeta
- Francis Bacon
- Lucian Freud
- Raymond Loewy
- Todd Gray
- Octavia E. Butler
- L (formerly Laz/Lazaros)
- Jasmine Little
- Celeste Dupuy-Spencer
- Hilde Lynn Helphenstein
- Philip Larkin
- Dorothy Parker
Institutions
- LACMA
- David Geffen Galleries
- Museo Nacional de Antropología
- Biennale di Venezia
Locations
- Los Angeles
- Venice, California
- Venice, Italy
- Egypt
- Paris
- Miami
- Mexico City
- Giza
- Place du Louvre
- Wilshire Boulevard