When it was installed at LACMA along Wilshire Boulevard in February 2008, Chris Burden’s Urban Light became an instant landmark. Composed of repeating rows of 202 historic street lamps dating from the 1920s and 1930s, originally spread throughout Southern California, this large-scale sculpture has turned into an unofficial symbol of both the museum and of Los Angeles itself. It's been visited by millions of people from around the world, who have made it one of the most photographed sites in the city, the backdrop to typical museum days, afternoon performances, and high-profile evenings alike.
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Typically, museums place artworks indoors and create distance between them and visitors for safety and preservation. Urban Light, however, is an outdoor public artwork, accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Visitors are invited to interact with the sculpture, walk among the lamp posts, sit down, and even touch and embrace them. The wear and tear of all this interaction adds up, and Urban Light periodically requires conservation work to keep it looking fresh.
It's been nearly 10 years since it was last restored, and now the lamp posts will once again be individually cleaned, primed, and re-painted. Burden originally coated them all in the same neutral gray, in order to emphasize the different forms and cast-iron ornamentation. Although the color remained the same, LACMA’s conservation team tested a range of new paint systems to find one that mirrors the original hue and sheen, applies smoothly, and stands up to environmental damage. Since then, it has proven to be durable and easy to clean, and will now be applied once again.
The cleaning and re-painting of Urban Light begins today and will continue throughout the month. Since the work will be conducted in two phases—first on the west half of the sculpture, then on the east—half of the sculpture will be open at any given time, so visitors will still be able to experience this beloved work of art even as it's being restored to its full radiance.
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