OUT OF TOWN

by Andrew Collins

WESTERN ART

Museums in this half of the nation have queer art, too
Gay-popular vacation destinations have often grown out of both informal and established artists' colonies. These kinds of communities have traditionally been among the most visible enclaves to welcome, and often embrace, lesbians and gay men, and so it's no surprise that many of the nation's best museums of art contain works in their collections or often mount exhibitions of specifically gay relevance. In fact, you could probably find some work of at least nominal queer significance in just about every major art museum in at least the Western world.

What follows are descriptions of just a handful of the many stellar museums in the western United States, using the Mississippi as the boundary, with especially strong ties to the lesbian and gay community. (In September, we visited museums in the eastern half of the country.) Gay interest aside, these are all museums that any devotee of visual-especially contemporary-art would enjoy visiting.

Amon Carter Museum, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Dallas may draw the bulk of the visitors to north central Texas, but some of the world's top art museums are found in the neighboring self-described "cow town" of Fort Worth. First, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which in mid-December will move into a new 153,000-square-foot space designed by Tadao Ando, has one of the nation's top contemporary collections. You will find major works by Mark Rothko, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, and David Hockney, among many others. Next, the Amon Carter Museum, whose photography collection includes works by Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Laura Gilpin, is a shutterbug's dream. Also note the many fine Western bronzes and paintings, including the Thomas Eakins painting Swimming-controversial in its day for a somewhat homoerotic depiction of young nude men frolicking in a lake. This museum underwent a dramatic expansion designed by gay architectural wonder Philip Johnson, which was completed in 2001 and tripled the size of the original facility. When in Fort Worth, also be certain to visit the definitive Louis Kahn-designed Kimbell Art Museum, an exceptional collection best-known for its famous Caravaggio work, The Cardsharps, plus creations by El Greco, Goya, and Rembrandt.

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
Fans of the avant-garde and the experimental have long lauded this fine arts and film venue at the left-leaning University of California Berkeley. The museum earned notoriety in 1995 for its exceptional and provocative exhibition In a Different Light, which explored the gay and lesbian experience through an extensive and eclectic display of 20th-century artworks. Since that time, the museum has continued to present acclaimed rotating shows, including many with gay relevance (such as Continuous Replay: The Photographs of Arnie Zane of couple of years ago). Look to the Film Archive as well to host the kinds of events and lectures that challenge conventions. And keep in mind the museum's 7,000-piece permanent collection, which includes an unrivaled trove of paintings by Hans Hofmann, numerous French Impressionist works, and a superb assemblage of Asian art.

Museum of Contemporary Art and the Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles
While it has been said, quite accurately, that downtown Los Angeles lacks soul, it does possess the vaunted Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which has amassed a greater collection in its 63-year existence than many museums have in several centuries. Holdings include works by such diverse artists as Cindy Sherman, Jackson Pollock, Susan Rothenberg, and Frank Stella. Nearby MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary (named in 1996 for gay media magnate David Geffen, a huge benefactor) presents cutting-edge rotating modern-art exhibitions. Finally, right in the heart of gay West Hollywood, smaller shows are mounted at the MOCA Gallery at the Pacific Design Center.

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe

Opened in summer 1997 near the historic Plaza in the artistically rich city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this museum traces the life of the bisexual artist, who resided during the last half of her life in the village of Abiquiu, about 50 miles to the northwest. This is a relatively small facility, with nine galleries displaying various works from a permanent collection of about 135 paintings and sculptures. Sometimes criticized for providing relatively little biographical information on O'Keeffe or context on the works shown, the O'Keeffe is nevertheless a must for any fan of the artist, and it presents some excellent rotating exhibits that bring in many works you won't see anywhere else.

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

As much as any city in the Midwest, Minneapolis consciously embraces the daring, the emerging, the unexpected, and the innovative. Nowhere is this sensibility more evident than at the Walker Art Center, which has earned a reputation for presenting both the visual and performance works of both acclaimed and up-and-coming artists. You'll find paintings and sculpture by Marcel Duchamp, Sherrie Levine, and Jasper Johns gracing the permanent collection, but you might also catch a movement workshop by Bill T. Jones or a performance by the Urban Bush Women. And just outside the museum, you can traipse through the 11 landscaped acres that comprise the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. In fact, with one of the nation's leading theater districts, a bevy of slick galleries and design shops, the Leviathan Minneapolis Institute of Arts, St. Paul's Minnesota Museum of American Art, and the Walker, the Twin Cities collectively offer one of the most impressive cultural arts scenes in North America.

Andrew Collins authored the Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and six regional gay guides for Fodor's. He can be reached at GayFodors@aol.com. For more Out of Town, visit www.gaytravel.com

The Little Black Book
Amon Carter Museum. 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, 817/738-1933, www.cartermuseum.org

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, 510/642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. 217 Johnson St., Santa Fe, 505/946-1000, www.okeeffemuseum.org

Kimbell Art Museum. 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, 817/332-8451, www.kimbellart.org

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. 1309 Montgomery St., Fort Worth, 817/738-9215, www.mamfw.org

Museum of Contemporary Art. 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, 213/626-6222, www.moca.org

MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary. 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo section of downtown Los Angeles, 213/484-3350

Walker Art Center. Vineland Place at Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis, 612/375-7622, www.walkerart.org