{"id":780756,"date":"2026-05-08T00:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/780756\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T00:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:08:29","slug":"all-of-the-free-pieces-to-see-at-lacmas-new-david-geffen-galleries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/780756\/","title":{"rendered":"All of the free pieces to see at LACMA\u2019s new David Geffen Galleries"},"content":{"rendered":"

LACMA\u2019s David Geffen Galleries<\/a> are finally open to the public, following two weeks of members-only previews\u2014not to mention five years of construction and two decades of development\u2014which means you can finally book a ticket and go inside. But you\u2019d be remiss if you didn\u2019t spend some quality time outdoors with the public art\u2014which includes some very photo-op-friendly pieces<\/a>. In fact, you could probably leave satisfied even if you only saw the free\u00a0pieces outside\u00a0the new building.<\/p>\n

From returning pieces to new commissions,\u00a0classic French sculptures to a playful newcomer,\u00a0here\u2019s a handy guide\u00a0to the pieces you can see entirely for free.<\/p>\n

Alexander Calder, Three Quintains (Hello Girls)
\n\"David
\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out <\/p>\n

Located right outside of the museum\u2019s Erewhon cafe, this work by Alexander Calder\u2014part mobile, part fountain\u2014has a history inextricably entwined with the museum\u2019s. It was commissioned especially for LACMA\u2019s opening back in 1965 and was one of the campus\u2019s original outdoor sculptures\u2014it even inspired a poster touting the museum\u2019s opening day. For a long time, it was installed in the now-closed Director\u2019s Roundtable Garden, and even loaned out to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, but now the kinetic work is back in the spotlight, its colorful paddles moving amid the water jets and breeze.<\/p>\n

Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden
\n\"Sculptures
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out <\/p>\n

In conjunction with the galleries\u2019 opening, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden has been reimagined, doubling in size\u00a0in order to display more world-class sculptures\u2014most by Auguste Rodin\u2014gifted to the museum by Iris and Bernie Cantor. Standout pieces include Rodin\u2019s dramatic Monument to Honor\u00e9 de Balzac, Jean d’Aire, Orpheys, Eve, Marsyas (Torso of \u201cThe Falling Man\u201d) and The Shade, seen above, all of which display Rodin\u2019s mastery of the human form. You\u2019ll also spot a bust of Rodin by \u00c9mile-Antoine Bourdelle, as well as a couple of contemporary sculptures by L.A.-based artist Liz Glynn.<\/p>\n

Tony Smith, Smoke<\/p>\n

\"David
\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out <\/p>\n

Artist-architect Tony Smith\u2019s geometric, jungle-gym-like sculpture isn\u2019t new to LACMA\u2014it used to reside in the Ahmanson Building, before it was taken apart and rebuilt outside. It now has a new starring role in front of the David Geffen Galleries, where it can be enjoyed by all. The larger-than-life structure stands at 24 feet tall\u2014rivaling nearby\u00a0Urban Light in size\u2014and serves as a dramatic welcome to the new building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeff Koons, Split-Rocker<\/p>\n

\"A
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out <\/p>\n

You might be surprised that this living sculpture, located on the south side of Wilshire, is from the mind of Jeff Koons. Offering a decidedly different vibe from the artist\u2019s iconic balloon-animal sculptures, this work, a version of which was previously displayed in New York, is more cartoony\u2014part rocking horse and part dinosaur. What you\u2019ll notice first, though, is the 50,000 drought-resistant native SoCal plants that are completely covering the sculpture\u2019s 37-foot-tall head, which have been carefully selected so that it\u2019ll bloom year-round. Its location across the street from the bulk of the museum\u2019s campus means it\u2019s just as accessible to pedestrians as museum visitors.\u00a0(Note: The\u00a0galleries had not yet opened to the public when the photo above was taken, hence the barricades around the installation.)<\/p>\n

Pedro Reyes, Tlali<\/p>\n

\"A
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out <\/p>\n

Another new commission for the David Geffen Galleries, Mexico City artist Pedro Reyes\u2019s massive sculpture of a female face both blends into and sticks out against the first-floor wall bordering the new LACMA store. Inspired by Olmec culture and Mother Earth, the work was made out of lava stone and sits against the galleries\u2019 brand-new concrete, seamlessly blending old and new.<\/p>\n

\"David
\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out <\/p>\n

Mariana Castillo Deball, Feathered Changes<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget to look down at your feet. Even the ground outside the David Geffen Galleries is a work of art\u2014literally. The 75,000-square-foot plaza level floor was designed by Mariana Castillo Deball, a Mexico City artist whose work is influenced by science and archaeology. Here, the floor calls to mind patterns drawn in a Zen sand garden (though the medium here is concrete, obviously). Look closely and you\u2019ll find footprints of coyotes, bears, raccoons and even roadrunners. The work grounds (pun intended) viewers in the history of the land and its Indigenous peoples who stood there first.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pre-existing LACMA installations
\n\"LACMA\"
\nPhotograph: Shutterstock\/Min C. Chiu <\/p>\n

All of the\u00a0newly installed outdoor artwork joins a pretty amazing lineup of existing public art around the LACMA campus. Obviously the star of the show remains Urban Light, Chris Burden\u2019s collection of 202 cast-iron street lamps along Wilshire Boulevard that in\u00a0less than 20 years has become one of the city\u2019s most recognizable landmarks. Along the 6th Street side, you can walk under the 340-ton granite megalith that makes up Michael Heizer\u2019s Levitated Mass. Or get in touch with nature amid Robert Irwin\u2019s Primal Palm Garden, consisting of over 100 palms, cycads and tree ferns planted throughout the campus in a nod to the nearby La Brea Tar Pits and its ice age discoveries. Also of note are Yoshitomo Nara\u2019s whimsical Miss Forest, a 25-foot-tall bronze sculpture, and Ai Weiwei\u2019s Circle of Animals\/Zodiac Heads that greet you when you come up the elevators from the LACMA parking lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LACMA\u2019s David Geffen Galleries are finally open to the public, following two weeks of members-only previews\u2014not to mention…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":780757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1037,648,1032,29645,1033,171,29646,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-780756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-categories-art","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-news-art","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116536050426521203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}