Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Purifoy at LACMA
The late artist Noah Purifoy spent the last 15 years of his life in the Mojave desert, creating huge sculptures made of junk. Purifoy was also a big figure in L.A., as a founding director of the Watts Towers Art Center. Before moving to the desert, he was most known for a sculpture constructed from charred debris from the 1965 Watts Rebellion.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readThe late artist Noah Purifoy spent the last 15 years of his life in the Mojave desert, creating huge sculptures made of junk. Purifoy was also a big figure in L.A., as a founding director of the Watts Towers Art Center. Before moving to the desert, he was most known for a sculpture constructed from charred debris from the 1965 Watts Rebellion. That was the basis for 66 Signs of Neon, a landmark group exhibition about the riots. Now, the L.A. County Museum of Art has brought Purifoy’s more recent large-scale works out of the desert sun and inside for Angelenos to see. Madeleine takes you inside for a sneak preview.
