If you’re in Los Angeles on a vacation, you’re naturally going to be overwhelmed with stuff to do. You can drive around and see homes of the stars, you can go for a hike up in the beautiful hills of Griffith Park, you can spend an afternoon at the beach, or take an afternoon to check out Disneyland, just a short drive away. But what about “high culture” — the kind of thing that travelers don’t necessarily talk about when they mention Los Angeles? Fear not. There’s museums in LA too, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles is nothing to slouch at, when considering international contemporary art institutions.

Details and History of Los Angeles MOCA

MOCA in Los Angeles isn’t just an afterthought — it’s been on the cultural landscape, making an international impression since 1979.

Though there are quite a few museums in LA, MOCA is the only one that can boast a complete dedication to exhibiting and collecting only contemporary art, which essentially means art that was produced after the middle of last century (1940 or so). If you want to see some of the most important painting, sculpture, collage, photography, video and installation art that is being produced by living artists (for the most part), then a trip to the museum will quench your thirst, and maybe leave you wanting more.

You can always head back for a second visit, which might actually be necessary considering the museum has two distinct downtown locations (Geffen Contemporary at MOCA as well as the original MOCA Grand Avenue), each with multiple exhibition rooms and often more than one show taking place. For those die-hard art lovers finding themselves in need of even more, MOCA also has a contemporary project exhibition space located behind the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood (MOCA Pacific Design Center). At last count, MOCA’s collection numbers over 5,000 individual works.

An interesting fact about the museum and its home — before the opening of MOCA, Los Angeles was the only major city in the States that did not feature an institution dedicated solely to contemporary art.

MOCA Grand Avenue
250 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90013

MOCA at Pacific Design Center
8687 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90069

For full details on visiting hours and maps of each building, click on the MOCA Visitors Page.

Find out more at the official website of MOCA Los Angeles.
(Image Credit: MOCA.)