Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

A really clean minimal space downtown that showcases a lot of alternative works usually attached to social changes or causes but not limited to. Lots of events and community gatherings organized here as well. Mostly street parking even though they have a super tiny lot that can fit like 4 cars.

Really awesome very small museum showcasing some out of the box artists with unique pieces. Only 2-3 small exhibition rooms that doesn’t take too long to cover everything. They use time tickets and there’s a small parking lot at the entrance which was pretty empty when I went. There’s also plenty of street parking nearby along the Industrial St. and even a parking garage. Best thing is free entry!

Very clever staging of some kitschy art. Don't miss the gift shop! Unique, provocative, gifts from 50 artists; running the gammut from post cards to clothing. Always avant garde.

Small-ish place but still great had a great layout with beautiful art. If you like art and are in the area definitely check it out. PLUS ITS FREE. Added bonus clean gender neutral bathrooms.

I saw an exhibit with Asian artists. It was amazing. This place is the real deal. It kind of is out there in the middle of nowhere, but it’s really nice.

Visited during IofCA's Witch Hunt exhibition. Best to get there just before the hour so you can go straight to One Big Bag or the other video displays. If you have time to watch the videos and listen to the audio feeds, I'm sure it's fascinating. Two other rooms show easy to quickly observe works. I still think the pink accented Gender-free bathroom was interesting as well.

ICA LA is a new small museum in the arts district. Admission is free, and most employees are bilingual. They have a beautiful collection of sketches and drawings by Martin Ramirez. It is a small intimate museum, and as you wander through the gallery of Ramirez's art and information his life, it's hard not to imagine what it might be like to be him. Abigail Deville's No Space Hidden exhibit was amazing. It had more impact in this tiny museum right next to skid row than could possibly be had anywhere else. The gift shop is full of children's books, some tackling the same heavy subjects as the art in the galleries. I can't wait to see what this little gallery does next.

I had written a huuuuuge diatribe about art accessibility and intentional mystique being more important than reaching your audience. Instead: videos in a museum exhibit that quotes “decolonialism” but doesn’t have subtitles? Fark off. (PS. The staff are great)

Beautiful art, the parking lot was a little small but overall an amazing experience. Also had a very quiet setting

ICA LA always has interesting exhibits. It's a small space but in so many ways that's perfect in that you can spend time truly taking in the details of a body of work. As a result, the work shown is concise, quality and very focused. This is definitely a plus. They feature a variety of modern artists, and I have found that when I make my way there, I learn something valuable. It's walkable to the heart of the arts district and is surrounded by yummy places to eat such as The Bread Lounge. It's a perfect jumping off point to a day of exploration. As you enter, you'll be greeted and it's a good idea to reserve a speck in advance on their website. They offer a small selection of souvenirs in this area, as well. Further, to the left is a room that is usually dedicated to the work of an individual artist. The rest of the space is open and is utilized really well. This place is ADA friendly and has very clean, and dare I say, immaculately clean bathrooms. There are also tables with seats for those of us who require a break in even the most small of spaces. Overall, I imagine I'll be taking trips to this place for years to come. It's a little off the beaten path but worth the trip. It has been accused of helping in the gentrification process of the area. Of course, that's a valid observation. But it combats that by featuring a variety of artists. They also have special programs that go along with themes that correlate with the artist's featured. The curation is very well thought out. I'd definitely recommend that people go in with an open mind, heart and an intellectual understanding that art is a means to understand the mind of another. I hope it continues to thrive.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA) is a neat little museum located around the southern part of the Arts District. Unlike many new museums, ICA is much cozier and more low-key, taking up residence in a renovated industrial building. I almost missed it at first when I was looking for it. Once you enter, you'll be granted by the welcome desk to one side and an arts and crafts area to the left. There is only one main exhibition room at the ICA and one side exhibition. For 2017, the featured artist is Martin Ramirez, so they compiled a number of his works from around the world. In a small side room, there is one other artwork that takes up the whole room, which was pretty neat. Overall, a relatively small but focused museum that I imagine will continue to feature unique artists from around the world. Street parking if you can find it.

It turns out L.A. has a Kunsthalle. "No sh!t, Sherlock ― I've been to Jumbo's Clown Room many times," you reply. Ah, but that's not right: A Kunsthalle is a space that displays art, but unlike an art museum, a Kunsthalle does not own its own permanent collection. And a Kunsthalle is run by a non-profit organization, as opposed to an art gallery, which is usually run for commercial purposes by an art dealer. And that Kunsthalle is the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICALA) on Seventh Street in the Arts District, located across the street from the scenic Greyhound Bus Terminal and just steps away from the nation's most dazzling assortment of narcotics addicts, schizophrenia sufferers, and typhus carriers. As it has no permanent collection of its own, a Kunsthalle like the ICALA must be judged by its rotating temporary exhibitions... and the exhibitions on display on a recent visit in early April didn't particularly wow me. A small installment of works by Maryam Jafri was more master's thesis than art exhibition: As far as I can tell, all she did was display a series of poorly-planned discontinued items (Diet Pepsi-branded baby bottles, an appetite suppressant named "Ayds," etc.) with sometimes quite lengthy text. Her entire body of work fails my two tests of conceptual art: 1. If I can't enjoy your piece simply by interacting with the artwork itself, it's not art. 2. If it takes more time to read the explanation of your piece's concept that to look at the art, your concept has failed. There is a serious of seemingly unrelated photos ― a rectangle made of hot dogs, etc. ― that are not memorable, especially as they are dimly lit. Another exhibit has a selection of random photos and crushed plastic drink bottles, with many of them lined up on one wall to make... misshapen water bottle penises? Transparent water bottle elephant trunks? I don't know, I don't care. There is a gift shop filled with lots of insanely expensive tchotchkes that look appropriately "artsy." In short, ICALA is showing... not the best in contemporary art. At least right now. Maybe that will change; that's the whole point of a Kunsthalle, after all. More visits will determine whether what I saw on my previous visit is typical of what ICALA will program regularly. The stuff on display now, unfortunately, is like a parody of contemporary art: Random objects, literal garbage on the walls, photos of strange nothing with seemingly no significance, conceptual art that requires more sign-reading than art-viewing. As it stands now, fans of the visual arts will find better work on the mannequins a few blocks away at Dover Street Market than in any of the galleries at ICALA.

For some reason, I imagined this place would be bigger. Everything inside looks completely new, from the flooring to the walls, and ceiling. There was a good amount of people perusing the exhibition by Martin Ramirez, an artist who has a truly sketched out imagination, having used crayons, pencils, and inks to create his art. I enjoyed several stories behind his pieces. Another room, near the restrooms, contained paper crafted art, pillows, and newspaper art. It was hot in this room, maybe because the sun from outside encompassed the windows. There was a very earthy vibe in this room, that I truly admired. When you first walk in, the closest exhibit is the 'No Space Hidden (Shelter)' by Abigail Deville. You walk inside, and it's like a party of collected things from dolls, to mirrors, bowls, lights, weaves, carts, and more. Regular day items, thrown together, and eclectically woven into an installation of randomness. I am looking forward to seeing other areas of this space open up, it certainly has the potential to house more, doesn't it?!

Great new contemporary art space in downtown LosAngeles. Built very recently, the building is spiffy new and the bathrooms are pink! They have a great bookstore with lots of interesting literature. I did not see if they had postcards or not. I saw the current show by this very talented sign painter who worked with a lot of artist legends.

This is a free art museum. I would only go back if I am in the area since it is small and you can finish it rather quickly. It's not worth driving to if you are far. I loved one of the artists (Maryam jafri) to me though it was more about actual product consumerism from the past than art but I still appreciated it. The other two didn't fascinate me. I loved their gift shop because they had unique gifts and also they had a ping pong table so you can play. Customer service was great. Free one hour parking in the front lot.

The exhibits were definitely contemporary! The Covid precautions were in place and I felt safe during my visit. The exhibits were nice it just wasn't as many as I thought it was going to be.

For a free museum it's good. There was a White room that was pretty cool! The art pieces are creative and made out of recycled parts which I think it's pretty Awesome. The paintings are kinda sexual.

This place was interesting to see! For a free museum, this is was cool. The only thing that kind of irked me was the security following my cousin and I around. I get it, you don't want people to touch the art, but we're grown adults who won't touch things. Other than that, the pieces by Norm Laich and others featured had great pieces. I loved the "United States off Anxiety", Prada refrigerator and the Bic lighter.

This was an interesting space. The installations were nearly all LGBTQ themed, and they were visually compelling, and the history was intriguing. I invited a friend to check it out with me and we both found a lot to talk about after (regarding the installations). There's free parking in the front and a good gift shop.

very intersectional space. went in for the first time this weekend and was able to get a good look at all of the exhibits and the shop that's in the store. I thought it was cool they had displayed the work of the staff their along with other artists. I got to find out about some of their events and look forward to attending the annual "Incognito" event the next time around. thanks to the staff and the space *forgot to include one major selling point for me was the fact that it was FREE admission. not a lot of free things in la.

Tiny museum! There was one exhibit... it was more history than art.... the best thing here is the gift shop! Thoroughly disappointed.

Sweet and swift 15 minute visit with one exhibition and two additional pieces. Not the most creative or technically skilled works, but art based more on a background story. The former Santa Monica Museum of Art now has free admission.

You can't miss the yellow building, which is unfortunately located in a rough area. I was able to find street parking. The museum itself featured a small front parking lot, but they weren't allowing visitors to park in it that day. Admission was free. The space was pretty large. It definitely could accommodate more than the two exhibits I saw that day. One was a bit strange, including an encased spinning suitcase with random artifacts strewn in it, with stacked TVs in the foreground. The other exhibit I was quite fond of. Curator, Harald Szeemann, was inspired to tell the story of his grandfather, who was a hairdresser. You walked through "Etienne's apartment" and observed his family photos, antiques, certifications, and hair salon. There, you see one of the first perming devices, which looks something like an electric chair. It really was death, as the process took up to 14 hours. I loved seeing the old straightening irons and hair clips. Women have been beautifying themselves forever and bless this man for aiding them. I thought the exhibit was such a nice way to honor a man that must have meant so much to Szeemann.

Really very well curated and designed! Employee-speaking, they were kind and courteous. Fairly small museum with only two open exhibits when I visited. Despite the size, I really enjoyed the time I spent here, it certainly has a lot of potential!