A Free Look at L.A. Art in the ‘90s

The scene: A case of what if you gave a party and everyone came held at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Temporary Contemporary facility in Little Tokyo Saturday night. The zoo-like event was a free--with free possibly being the operative word--members’ preview party for the exhibit, “Helter Skelter: L.A. Art in the 1990s.”

How-many-people-can-you-stuff-in-a-Volkswagen file: The museum holds 1,600, and 3,000 were anticipated; by a MOCA rough count more than 5,000 showed. That does not include the people who couldn’t find a place to park or left in frustration, refusing to stand for an hour in a two-block-long line.

Buzz: Severe displeasure about driving all the way downtown and never making it inside the show; techniques for sneaking through security barricades; mixed feelings over whether the evening was like an exciting “ ‘60s art happening” or an event gone totally out of control; how the people-watching was as good as the art; the aggressiveness of the art’s imagery and colors.

In summation: “Look what they’re dealing with--sex, procreation, religion, death, faxes. . . . It’s fabulous,” opined art consultant and collector Merry Norris.

Chic accouterment: A baby. Let’s just say that baby sitters must be very hard to find on Saturday nights, based on the vast numbers of adults with sleeping babes in tow. Among them were Dennis and Katherine Hopper, who carted along 16-month-old Henry Lee. “We brought him because he just wouldn’t stay home,” said Papa. “It’s the ‘90s.” Meanwhile, MOCA chief curator Paul Schimmel said, “If I’d known so many people were going to bring kids, I would have brought mine.”

Chic accouterment--not! If babies at art openings are in, strollers are out. Better to carry your child on your shoulders.

Chow: None. (Although there were unconfirmed reports of peanuts.) Open bar.

For your listening pleasure: Outside the gallery, the bands Drance, Ethyl Meatplow and Sandy Duncan’s Eye played. The emcee was a 7-foot transvestite in a miniskirt.

Dress code: A fashion free-for-all, including biker chic, funny hats and combat boot and overcoat ensembles.

Famous last words: “If you want to see the art, now is not the time to do it,” advised a MOCA staffer.