Opening September 15, 2024
Natural History Museum, Exposition Park
Los Angeles, CA (September 04, 2024) – The historic, incredibly detailed dioramas of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County have inspired visitors for a hundred years, transporting viewers to natural locations all over the world and introducing them to the animals that depend on these habitats to survive. Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness explores the history of dioramas and deconstructs the art and science that makes them so compelling. Set in a newly refurbished diorama hall that has been closed for decades, the exhibition features three habitat installations made by contemporary artists.
NHM’s historic diorama halls showcase more than 75 incredibly detailed habitats from Arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dioramas, NHM has restored and reopened a diorama hall that has been closed for more than 30 years. Sixteen installations feature animals and habitats from Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America, now fully restored and updated. Standouts in the hall include forgotten masterpieces of diorama art like the Snow Leopard and Tiger habitat groups.
Three new habitat groups made by contemporary artists push the boundaries of what dioramas can be. They are:
- A Peculiar Garden by Washington-based artist Saul Becker: An apocalyptic yet hauntingly beautiful landscape of glass, crystal, and metal that draws attention to ways humans have altered the habitats around us.
- The Ever Changing Flow by Los Angeles artist Lauren Schoth: A dynamic diorama that uses projection mapping to explore centuries of ecological change along the banks of the Los Angeles River.
- Special Species: A Delicate Moment in Time by Los Angeles artists Yesenia Prieto, Joel Fernando, and Jason Chang (RFX1): A vibrant, kaleidoscopic mix of projections, changing lights, and handcrafted piñata alebrije (fantastical Mexican folk art sculptures) that reveals the spirit realm permeating through iconic Californian species and their habitats. This installation will be updated seasonally throughout the exhibition.
The artists worked closely with NHMLAC taxidermist Tim Bovard, who has been creating and maintaining the taxidermy specimens in NHM’s dioramas for more than 30 years. The exhibition is organized by NHM, with Bovard, and Matt Davis, Exhibition Developer, Allison Shultz, Associate Curator of Ornithology, and Kayce Bell, Assistant Curator of Mammalogy, providing content support.
Reframing Dioramas includes elements that critically examine dioramas by delving into their origin, artistry, controversies, and impact. For example, a macabre ossuary evoking hundreds of thousands of birds slaughtered by poachers – a poignant reminder of the environmental crises a century ago that inspired artists to preserve entire habitats behind glass in dioramas. Breaking the illusion that dioramas usually create, a complete diorama is deconstructed into each individual handmade plastic leaves and glass eyes, with the realistic background scenery left halfway painted.
At the apex of the hall, a 27-foot-wide projection reveals a distressing panorama of the ongoing and rapid destruction of South America’s biodiverse Gran Chaco habitat, an area larger than California. In another installation, a flock of birds burst into flight from a traditional display cabinet of bones, highlighting the dramatic way that the invention of dioramas radically changed the experience for natural history museum visitors.
A new richly illustrated publication titled Fabricating Wilderness: The Habitat Dioramas of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County reveals the untold history of NHM’s awe-inspiring dioramas and showcases their artistry with behind-the-scenes photographs. It will be available for sale online, in local bookstores, and at NHM.
Reframing Dioramas is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art. This exhibition is one of two groundbreaking exhibitions hosted by NHMLAC, combining art and science for this year’s PST ART event. The other is Mark Dion: Excavations at La Brea Tar Pits.
Technology support for Reframing Dioramas: The Ever-Changing Flow and Special Species provided by Epson.
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum (NHM) is one of Los Angeles’s oldest cultural institutions and anchor of the evolving cultural, educational, and entertainment nexus in Exposition Park. NHM’s collection ranges from 4.5 million-year-old meteorites to newly discovered species explored throughout immersive visitor experiences such as Age of Mammals and the award-winning Dinosaur Hall. The outdoor 3.5-acre Nature Gardens and indoor Nature Lab look at people’s relationship with the environment in L.A., while another beloved permanent exhibit, Becoming Los Angeles, examines how L.A. has changed over time. NHM also features industry-leading habitat dioramas, an exquisite gem and mineral hall, a hands-on Discovery Center, and behind-the-scenes experiences such as the Dino Lab, where fossils are prepared in public view. In Fall 2024, NHM will open NHM Commons, a new community-focused wing designed to open new doors to natural history and celebrate the intersections of science, nature, and culture.
NHM is part of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC), which also includes La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park. Welcoming more than 1.2 million visitors annually — including more than 140,000 schoolchildren — the museums and the 35 million objects in their collections offer extensive and comprehensive libraries of natural and cultural history for guests, as well as groundbreaking scientific and historical research. NHMLAC also leads the natural and cultural exploration of Los Angeles County, offering a slate of community science and cultural programs both onsite and around the area. The museums help foster revolutionary community partnerships, innovative STEAM pathways, transformative community science programs, and cutting-edge research on climate and global change.
ABOUT PST ART: ART & SCIENCE COLLIDE
Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returns in September 2024 with more than 70 exhibitions from museums and other institutions across the region, all exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. Dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations will join the latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, with exhibitions on subjects ranging from ancient cosmologies to Indigenous sci-fi, and from environmental justice to artificial intelligence. Art & Science Collide will share groundbreaking research, create indelible experiences for the public, and generate new ways of understanding our complex world. Art & Science Collide follows Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA (September 2017–January 2018), which presented a paradigm-shifting examination of Latin American and Latinx art, and Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980 (October 2011–March 2012), which rewrote the history of the birth and impact of the L.A. art scene. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit: pst.art.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Amy Hood
ahood@nhm.org; 213 763-3532
Josh Chesler
jchesler@nhm.org; 213 763-3580
