Roundup: Ellsworth Kelly dies; L.A.’s worst neighbors; a 19th century ‘boob selfie’

A master of Color Field painting has passed away. A study shows the important role of performing arts in cities. And a look at how L.A. freeways are serving the improbable role of shelter. Plus: L.A.’s worst neighbors, the intriguing history of a 19th century “boob selfie” and a MOCA curator gets name-checked on an animated show. Here’s the Roundup:

— Ellsworth Kelly, one of the 20th century’s great Color Field painters, has passed away. Read obituaries by Suzanne Muchnic for the Los Angeles Times and critic Holland Cotter for the New York Times.

— How MOCA chief curator Helen Molesworth got name-checked on “BoJack Horseman” and other ways in which popular culture borrowed from the world of art in 2015.

— Catherine Wagley rounds up the L.A. art spaces that closed in 2015.

— And Curbed rounds up Los Angeles’ 10 worst neighbors. Juicy!

— “Creative Class” theorist Richard Florida says a new study shows that the presence of performing arts organizations can help cities attract knowledge-class workers.

Crowds line up for the Broad museum in September. The nearly 4-month-old institution will have drawn an estimated 200,000 people by the end of the year.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

— Good news for Grand Avenue: Downtown L.A.’s new Broad museum is set to receive 200,000 visitors by the end of 2015.

— Cleanings of old Dutch Master paintings are turning up naughty bits.

— Beijing’s epic smog is inspiring art.

— Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham of the soon-to-be launched website Black Futures look at the year in art, race, gender and popular culture. It’s an excellent overview.

— Plus, critic and essayist Josh Kun offers a terrific take on the role of the U.S./Mexico border in popular culture.

— The fascinating story behind America’s first “boob selfie” — which, thankfully, has nothing to do with the Kardashians. It’s a 19th century miniature in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (This is a very highbrow selfie.)

A man pushes his belongings over the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. The areas around the city’s freeways are increasingly serving as camp sites for the city’s homeless.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

— L.A.’s traffic-clogged freeways are increasingly turning into sites of habitation by the homeless. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne has an interesting essay on how the role of our city’s iconic transitways is evolving.

— The construction of a sanitation department garage and salt shed in downtown Manhattan shows that municipal infrastructure can be remarkable to look at.

— One of the most insightful year-end wrap-ups I’ve read: Design writer Alice Rawsthorn gives a wide-ranging look at the good and the bad in the world of design in 2015, from medical apps in Africa to Assemble’s architectural Turner Prize in England to an impromptu exhibition organized by students in a Beijing hutong.

— And speaking of design: The New Yorker has a photo essay on the blazing buildings of Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani, whose work, recently featured in a music video by Chilean pop star Gepe, I wrote about earlier this month.

— Picking apart the question of copyright in architecture.

— Plus: How Southern California has missed its chance to make the most of the water delivered by El Niño.

— “We have lost a part of our selves in the process. Knowing where you are in the world is fundamental to knowing who you are.” Gene Tracy on how our relationship to the stars is broken. (ArtsJournal)

— Because the holidays are a perfect time for some horror: Erik Piepenburg has put together a pretty spectacular list of holiday-themed horror flicks. Because nothing says “goodwill to all” like a late-night double feature of “Treevenge” and the “The Gingerdead Man.”

— And last but not least, your moment of You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again: A fictional story by Allison Silver brings together the unholy crucible of a downwardly mobile studio head, Bruce Nauman and LACMA. (Weisslink)

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.