ARTFUL EXPRESSION LACMA PRESENTS A NEW EXHIBITION FROM THE ELI BROAD COLLECTION.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

At the entrance of a gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a giant balloon dog fills a wall.

From the tip of its knotted nose to the tail-end of its inflatable body, the perky pooch is in reality a sculpture that was twisted and shaped from stainless steel.

``This is the art of our time,'' says billionaire arts collector Eli Broad as he sits outside the building. Through the glass, a swarm of people studies ``Balloon Dog'' and various other works that until recently were part of Broad's home decor.

These works are now the core of ``Jasper Johns to Jeff Koons: Four Decades of Art From the Broad Collections,'' on view at the museum through Jan. 6. The exhibition is one of the foremost collections of contemporary art in the United States and includes works most people know only by reputation or reproduction.

Probably most familiar are Johns' painting of the American flag, Andy Warhol's colorful silk-screens of Marilyn Monroe and the iconic comic book paintings of Roy Lichtenstein.

Koons' ``Balloon Dog,'' however, is making its debut. Literally just days before the opening, the artist was putting the finishing touches on the piece he began in 1994.

It is one of several Koons pieces acquired by the Broad Foundation and featured in the exhibition, which also includes his 1988 glossy ceramic statue of ``Michael Jackson and Bubbles'' and ``Balloon Dog's'' 1996 predecessor ``Rabbit.''

Broad and his wife, Edythe, have been amassing their collection since the late 1970s. They now own more than 1,000 pieces of art, including a 1889 Van Gogh drawing and nearly 100 works by contemporary feminist photographer Cindy Sherman, who is featured in the exhibition.

For Broad, collecting is not about just acquiring the objects but learning what drives their creation, especially from the artist's point of view.

``You can't go back and meet Van Gogh or Monet or Rembrandt, obviously, and we enjoy that process,'' he says. ``We find it very broadening and very enlightening.''

Of the 100 featured works in the exhibition, most of the artists are still alive. While their works may not all be beautiful, they reflect particular points in art history.

From pop art and poetic graffiti to kitsch, these works, says LACMA president and director Andrea Rich, ``illuminate who we are at the time of their creation and ... will continue to speak about us and our time long after we're gone.''

The exhibition is divided into five sections, beginning with Johns and his 1964 ``Watchman.'' Johns' piece was assembled from three-dimensional objects - a wax cast of a man's lower torso, part of a wooden chair, a ball and sticks - paint and collage on canvas. The trend of using everyday imagery appropriated from popular culture and mass media was defined in the 1960s.

Warhol's fascination with celebrity is countered in the dark, provocative images of his ``Race Riots'' from 1963 and 1967's ``Big Electric Chair.'' Lichtenstein's sons suggested he begin painting comics, leading to such works as his 1965-66 teary-eyed ``I ... I'm Sorry.'' Around the same time the artist was creating these works, conceptual art began to appear in parts of the world.

In some respects, it was a rejection of traditional media seen in the deadpan photos of abandoned industrial structures in German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher's work. This leads to the neo-expressionism trend of the 1980s.

These works are done on a monumental scale, incorporating narrative subject matter drawn from history and tradition. Anselm Kiefer's 1973 piece ``Deutschlands Geisteshelden (Germany's Spiritual Heroes)'' reflects Nazi architecture and symbols of cultural superiority.

Hans Haacke's politically charged installation ``Oelgemaelde, Hommage a Marcel Broodthaers'' is also featured in this section of exhibition. Broodthaers was a Belgian conceptualist, whose work dealt with issues of authority in politics and art.

In this spirit, Haacke's installation is an address to Reagan politics. An oil painting of Reagan faces a blown-up photograph of an anti-nuclear protest triggered by the president's visit to Germany. It was also during this time that women and minorities began gaining respect in the American art scene.

Graffiti artist turn painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 28, is one of them. His style mixes words and pictures on canvas as representations of urban life and culture, as in his 1983 painting ``Horn Players.'' The exhibition also features his 1981 ``Untitled (Skull),'' a troubling painting thought to be a self-portrait by the artist.

Current art is also present in the exhibition in the works of L.A.-based sculptor Charles Ray. In his earlier works, Ray uses his body to create what he calls a ``living sculpture.'' He even documents himself wearing every scrap of clothing from his wardrobe in a series of amateur-looking photos for 1973's ``All My Clothes.''

And in his 1990 ``Male Mannequin'' sculpture, he graces a nude mannequin with an exact replica of his own genitalia. These are just a few examples of the works in the exhibition, which ends exactly where it began.

Koons is standing near his ``Balloon Dog'' sculpture. People approach him, one after another, paying him compliments on his work.

He smiles.

``I just have to pinch myself,'' he says. ``I always wanted my work to be looked at in the same light as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns. Their works always meant so much to me. And here we are.''

JASPER JOHNS TO JEFF KOONS: FOUR DECADES OF ART FROM THE BROAD COLLECTIONS

Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

When: Noon to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; noon to 9 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; closed on Wednesday. Through Jan. 6.

Admission: Adults, $7; students 18 and over with ID and senior citizens 62 and over, $5; children, $1. The second Tuesday of every month is free to all.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) JASPER JOHNS, FLAG, 1967

(2 -- color) ROY LICHTENSTEIN, I ...I'M SORRY, 1965-66

(3 -- color) JEFF KOONS, MICHAEL JACKSON AND BUBBLES, 1988

(4 -- color) ANDY WARHOL, SELF-PORTRAIT, 1966

(5 -- color) JEFF KOONS, RABBIT, 1986

(6 -- color) JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, UNTITLED (SKULL), 1981