Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles

In 1947, the tabloid photographer known as Weegee relocated from New York City to Los Angeles. In moving west, he abandoned the grisly crime scenes for which he was best known and trained his camera instead on Hollywood stars, strippers, costume shops, and naked mannequins, sometimes distorted through trick lenses and multiple exposures. “Now I could really photograph the subjects I liked,” said Weegee of his life in Los Angeles. “I was free.”

Naked Hollywood: Weegee in Los Angeles is the first museum exhibition devoted to the work Weegee produced in Southern California.

In addition to roughly 200 photographs, many of which have never before been shown or reproduced, the exhibition encompasses Weegee's related work as an author, filmmaker, photo-essayist, and genius self-promoter. Following the photographer's lead, the exhibition documents the lurid, irresistible undersides of stardom, fandom, commerce, and publicity in mid-century Los Angeles. Weegee's 1953 photo-book Naked Hollywood provides the title and point of departure for the exhibition.

Curated by the art historian Richard Meyer, Naked Hollywood is presented in conjunction with Pacific Standard Time, a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning in October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world.

Naked Hollywood
Weegee in Los Angeles
Kurator: Richard Meyer
Ort: MOCA Grand Avenue