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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    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.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Jul 3, 2015 • 1 min read

    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. 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.

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    Press Play Replay: Graffiti in National Parks, and the Path of Levitated Mass
    1. 0:00Purifoy at LACMAYou’re reading this
    2. 12:09The Path of Levitated Mass
    3. 26:08Graffiti in National Parks
    4. 37:44Alexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jolie Myers

      Managing Producer, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Franklin Sirmans

      LACMA

    • KCRW placeholder

      Yael Lipschutz

      independent curator

      News

    The full episode

    1 of 4
    Press Play Replay: Graffiti in National Parks, and the Path of Levitated Mass
    1. 0:00Purifoy at LACMAYou’re reading this
    2. 12:09The Path of Levitated Mass
    3. 26:08Graffiti in National Parks
    4. 37:44Alexandra Fuller and 'Leaving Before the Rains Come'
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand