COASTING IN THE GOLDEN STATE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Next to the Los Angeles Museum of Art, which will open the fifth part of its ``Made in California'' exhibit Sunday, sit the La Brea Tar Pits. There, scientists dredge up prehistoric bones. None, of course, from the Jurassic era.

Thrust up from the ocean by severe seismic movements that have not completely subsided, the Golden State wasn't formed until after the age of dinosaurs, making it, geologically speaking, relatively recent. In other words, California is still on shaky ground.

A graphic example of that greets you at the beginning of the exhibit, where black-and-white photos of the devastation from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake show crumbled buildings, rubble and the forlorn looks on faces of the survivors. It raises the specter that many Californians keep in the back of their minds - that this paradise with its gorgeous shorelines, striking vistas, freewheeling lifestyles and glamorous stars - may be only a moment away from ``The Big One.''

``California is a Garden of Eden and a paradise to live in or see,'' sang Woody Guthrie in his Depression-era number, ``Do, Re, Mi,'' about police turning back poor migrants who tried to enter the state looking for a better life.

That song and those images are also part of ``Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000.'' The idea of the state as a precarious paradise - whether from seismic or social unrest - is at the heart of the exhibition, which is the biggest in LACMA's history. The six-year project has drawn its share of critics already, but the museum's attempt to cast a wide net over California's diversity can be as breathtaking as it is provocative. The exhibit shows a state that is just as much about surfing and cars as it is about the zoot suit riots and the jazz scene on Central Avenue as well as the art of Diego Rivera, David Hockney, Frida Kahlo, the psychedelic posters of the '60s or Depression-era photos by Dorothea Lange.

``Two of the questions that we asked again and again in the exhibition, both implicitly and explicitly, were: 'Whose California?' and 'Which California?' '' says Sherri Bernstein, an exhibition associate and one of its principal organizers. ``We're trying to suggest that there's been this array of points of view about California. That, in fact, it's a contested place and that its image is a contested one. So we're trying to speak to the diversity of the state in asking those questions.''

Bernstein says there are two themes that run through the entire exhibition: One is the physical landscape; the other is California's cultural character. The five sections are divided into 20-year periods, and the timelines that begin the sections tip you off to the museum's intent. Events noted in the first section (1900-1920) include items on the first auto club being formed, an agreement on limiting Japanese immigration, an attempt by the state legislature to ``Americanize'' the Mexican-American population, labor strife and Max Sennett's move to Hollywood from the East. This allows the exhibition to show deep racial and economic rifts that ran through the state during the 20th century. Meanwhile, that image of Eden is never far away - whether it's in the seeming fields of plenty or the glittery gowns of stars, which are also included in the exhibit.

``It's an exhibition that is inextricably linked not only to a place but to what was happening at that place at particular moments in time,'' says Carol Eliel, LACMA's curator of modern and contemporary art.

One place where that is evident is in the part of Section III that contains artwork related to the Japanese-American internment during World War II. Eliel says LACMA consulted with Karin Higa, director of the curatorial and exhibitions department at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, to find appropriate works of art. As it did with other parts of the exhibit, LACMA curators cast a wide net and reined it in. Some of the artwork was produced by internees, other pieces by famed photographers Ansel Adams and Lange. Coupled with this are documents of the time, including a racist tract condemning Japanese-Americans.

``Made in California'' contains more than 800 works of art, including painting, sculpture, photography, graphic art, decorative art, costume and video, as well as several period rooms. There are more than 400 cultural documents (``ephemera,'' as the museum refers to it), including tourist brochures, album covers, newspaper clippings and photographs depicting historical events. Throughout the exhibition are 24 media stations with film and audio clips, including news footage, that further expand that idea of putting art into a cultural context.

Though Bernstein says the museum was careful to label which was art and which was ephemera, the average viewer might not immediately see the difference. And this sociological approach has drawn fire, with some critics wondering if the exhibit has too much kitsch and not enough grit.

But Bernstein says LACMA knew from the beginning that the show would be controversial. ``What we have sought to do is expand the dialogue by showing the arts of California in a fresh context, and that is not something that everybody is open to,'' she says. ``I feel very proud of the fact that we're addressing the diversity of the state.''

Higa also applauds the exhibit's attempt to include the Asian-American experience, which she says has usually been missing in other exhibitions.

The exhibit also attempts to tackle political issues. Edward Biberman's 1955 painting ``Conspiracy'' offers a chilling perspective on the Hollywood blacklist era. There are also works seemingly depicting every aspect associated with California culture - from the automobile to spiritualism - which again raises the question, is this the role of an art museum?

``I think the fact is that museums' roles are changing,'' says Bernstein. ``Not in the sense that they need to be entertainment venues. Simply that they are becoming increasingly accessible to a broader range of people. ... This exhibition falls in line with that idea.''

Eliel says that ``the image of California was very much promulgated not only by high artists but by popular culture or, one might say, not only popular culture but also by high artists.'' The notion of a blurred line between the two isn't new or radical, she adds, but this exhibition pushes that further than it has been pushed in the past.

Walking through the exhibition, I almost missed Michael McMillen's ``Central Meridian, The Garage,'' a mixed-media piece in which you walk into what is essentially someone's messy garage, complete with nuts and bolts and tools and just plain junk. But it's the junk that often defines us, whether it's that baby carriage hanging from the rafters that we'll never use again or an old military uniform hanging on the wall. I lingered for a while, surveying the artful clutter while other museum- goers came and went. All the while, a casually dressed woman with a green bandana on her head sat serenely in a folding chair, which I later found out was part of the artwork. Finally, I jokingly ask her if she was part of the exhibit.

``No,'' she said with a smile, ``I just love this place.''

She seemed so at peace, I moved on. But maybe she was wrong in thinking she's not part of the exhibit. In a way, that's part of LACMA's aim - inclusion, being comfortable in a messy garage the way we Californians are comfortable in our messy cultural and artistic diversity. That may be something of a shaky proposition, but in California, what isn't?

``MADE IN CALIFORNIA: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000.''

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

When: Sections I, II, III and IV are open now. Section V opens Sunday.

Tickets: Adults $7; students 18 and older with ID and senior citizens 62 and older $6; students and younger children $1; children 5 and under are free. Every second Tuesday of the month is free to all.

Information: Call [phone] or visit www.lacma.org on the Web.

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9 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- cover -- color) Images from ``Made in California'' include Ed Ruscha's ``Hollywood,'' Esther Hernandez's ``Sun Mad,'' Robert A. Bechtle's ``67 Chrysler'' and Liza Lou's ``Super Sister.''

(4 -- 5 -- color) LAMCA presents ``Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000,'' an exhibit that includes Edward Biberman's 1955 oil painting ``Conspiracy,'' right, showing his perspective on the Hollywood witch hunt for Communists, and a crate label for Rose brand oranges, above right, which reflects California's agricultural boom between 1880 and 1920.

(6 -- 8 -- color) At left, Roger Minick's 1980 photograph ``Woman With Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park'' depicts a new-found fascination with the wilderness. Above, Ricardo Duffy continues the Chicano movement for a future free of borders with his 1996 screenprint ``The new order.'' At right, Margit Fellegi, a designer for Cole of California, creates a swimsuit to match the new indoor-outdoor suburban lifestyle of the 1950's.

(9 -- color) James Week's vibrant 1960 portrait ``Two Musicians'' stresses the coolness and virility of black jazz.