The Marciano Art Foundation (formally named the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation) was a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

arts foundation located on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

in the

Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bounda ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was established by the co-founders of

Guess A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...

, Maurice Marciano and

Paul Marciano Paul Marciano (born ) is a French-born American fashion designer, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of Guess? Inc; his black-and-white advertisements have won numerous Clio awards. Initially run by all four Marcia ...

. The Marcianos opened the museum on May 25, 2017Deborah Vankin (23 February 2017)
Marciano Art Foundation sets L.A. museum opening date for May
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. as an exhibition space to display their 1,500-piece collection of contemporary art.Kelly Crow (18 November 2016)
Guess Co-Founder Maurice Marciano is Opening LA’s Newest Museum
'' WSJ. Magazine''. The museum closed indefinitely in November 2019 after workers attempted to

unionize A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. The Marciano Foundation released a statement a month later that the closure was permanent. Reservations to view the collection opened again on February 21, 2023.

History

Following a recommendation by artist

Alex Israel Alex Israel (born October 1982) is an American multimedia artist, writer, and eyewear designer from Los Angeles. His work includes large, colorful airbrushed paintings of abstract gradients and Los Angeles skies, his self-portraits, painted on s ...

in 2013, the Marciano Art Foundation paid $8 million to buy the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard. The building was converted into an exhibition space by contemporary architect

Kulapat Yantrasast Kulapat Yantrasast (born in Bangkok) is a practitioner in the fields of architecture, art, and design. Originally from Thailand and now based in Los Angeles, he is the founding partner and Creative Director of wHY, a multidisciplinary design pra ...

of Why Architecture and Design. With over four floors, it was as large as the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...

and

The Broad The Broad () is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, who financed the $140 million building that houses the Broad art collections. It offers free general ...

.Ian Lovett (25 August 2013)
A Bigger Closet for Their Art: Maurice and Paul Marciano, of Guess Jeans, Plan a Museum
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. A sculpture garden by the entrance featured works by

Oscar Tuazon Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, Danh Vō and

Thomas Houseago Thomas Houseago is a British contemporary artist. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also has American citizenship. Much of his work has been figurative sculpture, often on a large scale, in plaster, bronze or aluminium; his large plaster ...

, among others.Deborah Vankin (29 December 2016)
L.A.'s art world eagerly awaits 2017 opening of Marciano museum
''

''. In order to avoid any conflicts of interest with Maurice Marciano's subsequent co-chairmanship of MOCA, the project was temporarily put on hold. The museum’s inaugural show, ''Unpacking: The Marciano Art Foundation'', was organized by guest curator Philipp Kaiser.

Collection

About 90 percent of the Marciano Art Foundation’s collection has been amassed since 2010. Today, the foundation owns works by

Yael Bartana Yael Bartana ( he, יעל ברתנא; born 1970) is an Israeli artist, filmmaker and photographer, whose past works have encompassed multiple mediums, including photography, film, video, sound, and installation. Many of her pieces feature polit ...

Wade Guyton Wade Guyton (born 1972) is an American post-conceptual artist who among other things makes digital paintings on canvas using scanners and digital inkjet technology. Early life and education Guyton was born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1972, and grew ...

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

Albert Oehlen Albert Oehlen (born 17 September 1954) is a German artist. He lives and works in Bühler, Switzerland and Segovia, Spain.

Mai-Thu Perret Mai-Thu Perret (born 1976 in Geneva) is a Swiss artist of Franco-Vietnamese origin. Perret's work is multidisciplinary, installation-based, and performative, combining feminist politics with literary texts, homemade crafts and 20th century av ...

Seth Price Seth Price (born 1973 in Palestine) is a New York City-based multi-disciplinary post-conceptual artist. He lives and works in New York City. Early life Price was born in the village of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, Palestine in 1973. His pa ...

Sterling Ruby Sterling Ruby (born January 21, 1972) is an American artist who works in a large variety of media including ceramics, painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, video, and textiles. Often, his work is presented in large and densely packed installatio ...

Barbara Kruger Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist and collagist associated with the Pictures Generation. She is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captio ...

Mimi Lauter Mimi or MIMI may refer to: People * Mimi (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Constantin Mimi (1868–1935), Bessarabian politician and winemaker * Mimi (footballer, born 1996), Bissau Guinean footballer * Mohanad Ali (born ...

KAWS Brian Donnelly (born November 4, 1974), known professionally as Kaws (stylized as KAWS), is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his c ...

, Charles Ray, Mike Kelley,

Jonas Wood Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of t ...

Paul Sietsema Paul Sietsema (born 1968) is a Los Angeles-based American artist who works primarily in film, painting and drawing. His work addresses the production, consumption, and proliferation of cultural objects, reflecting his interest in the possibility of ...

Rudolf Stingel Rudolf Stingel (born 1956) is an artist based in New York City. Stingel was born in Merano, Italy. His work engages the audience in dialogue about their perception of art and uses Conceptual painting and installations to explore the process of cr ...

, Kaari Upson,

Adrián Villar Rojas Adrián Villar Rojas (born 1980 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentinian sculptor known for his elaborate fantastical works which explore notions of the Anthropocene and the end of the world. In his dream like installations he uses aspects of drawin ...

, and

Christopher Wool Christopher Wool (born 1955) is an American artist. Since the 1980s, Wool's art has incorporated issues surrounding post-conceptual ideas. He lives and works in New York City and Marfa, Texas, together with his wife and fellow painter Charline v ...

, among others.

References

External links

* {{authority control Art museums and galleries in Los Angeles Arts foundations based in the United States Arts organizations based in California Contemporary art galleries in the United States Modern art museums in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Los Angeles 2017 establishments in California Art museums established in 2017 Art in Greater Los Angeles Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles Wilshire Boulevard