What to Know
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Jesús Rafael Soto’s "Penetrable BBL Bleu" (1999/2007)
- The museum is temporarily closed
Scroll back, through your photos, to five or so years ago, and you might suddenly see a number of eye-popping images that are distinctly lemon-hued, even sunshiny in tone.
If you have a few such spaghetti-fun snaps on your phone, then chances are strong that you once visited artist Jesús Rafael Soto’s "Penetrable" installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The free-to-see, walk-through piece was stationed outside the Miracle Mile museum's galleries from 2011 to 2017.
And, over the course of six-plus years, the on-loan "spaghetti" sculpture, which was comprised of oodles of noodly strands, all in bright yellow, became a must-see favorite of families, offbeat art lovers, and everyone looking for a participatory, picture-ready, pose-it-up experience.
Now LACMA has just acquired another "strand" sculpture from Mr. Soto's collection, this one called "Penetrable BBL Bleu."
The yellow "Penetrable" had proven to be so popular, the museum "... made it a mission to bring back a work from the series permanently."
"Conceived in 1999, the work captures the artist’s lifelong fascination with space, color, and the importance of viewer participation to activate and complete the art." The materials are plastic tubes and metals, and like the yellow "Penetrable," this one is walk-inside-able.
No word yet on when the piece will go on display, and the museum remains temporarily closed.
But you can follow LACMA's Unframed blog for more information, dates, and background on the ethereal, kid-pleasing, pasta-like artwork.
Jesús Rafael Soto, Pénétrable BBL bleu, 1999, Painted steel & suspended PVC tubes, 143 3/4 × 177 1/8 × 551 1/8 in. (365 × 450 x 1400 cm), installation view, Art Contemporain, La Voie des Arts, Saint-Loubouer, 2009, © Jesús Rafael Soto / ADAGP, 2020, photo: Archives Soto
