Word: govan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...years as the premier policy architect of a post-apartheid South African state, first as deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999, then as head of state. But despite his demeanor, it was a bitter moment for a man who, as the son of ANC liberation hero Govan Mbeki, has often said that he was "born into the struggle...
Change is everywhere. In the museum's ancient Greek and Roman gallery, for instance, the floor-to-ceiling windows had been walled up for 20 years. Comparing the light of Los Angeles to the light of Rome, Govan took down the wall. He also weighed in on the placement of key sculptures and, when it came to the gallery floor, encouraged curator Mary Levkoff to look at the ebony stain on the wood floor the director was having refurbished in his own home...
While he expresses particular interest in Latin America and Asia, given LACMA'S West Coast location, the museum has also recently made important acquisitions of work by such masters as 17th century painter Pietro da Cortona, early 20th century artist George Bellows and contemporary sculptor Richard Serra. Govan's notion of collecting iconic houses by such architects as R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra and Frank Gehry remains under discussion, but Govan concedes it may not be realistic to expect such big-ticket donations. He seeks to preserve them, he says, but indicates as much interest in initiating the idea...
Better to concentrate on the LACMA campus, a place Govan envisions as the city's town square. "If you're going to rethink the encyclopedic museum for the 21st century, Los Angeles is the place to do so," says Govan. "This is a city that speaks a hundred languages and which everybody says lacks a center. The encyclopedic museum holds something for everyone, no matter where you come from...
...Annenberg Foundation has given the museum funding to study engineering and begin design of Koons' dangling Train, according to Govan, who is already calling the artwork his town square's campanile. "What a metaphor," says LACMA trustee Lynda Resnick, "for the way the West is chugging forth into the new millennium...