Along with the Getty Center perching over the south end of the Mullholland Pass like some Parthenon of commuting, and the deconstructed sheet metal walls of the Music Center, LA citizens are now blessed with another monument to ostentatious futility, Our Lady of the Angels, also known as Taj Mahoney. Impressive, as the statues of Ramses II are impressive, the cathedral also features the 20 ton doors designed by celebrity-sculptor extraordinaire Roberto Graham; Bob's somewhat expressionist Maria, over 8 ft tall and a bit chubby at 1000 pounds, guards the entryway, her head positioned beneath a large hole that allows her a view of the sky, I guess, were she able to move her head and gaze upwards.
She appears, well, tormented, afflicted, more peasant than princess--perhaps slightly sephardic, if not latina. Her eyes point downwards, somewhat humbly; her arms outstretched, with fairly muscular hands open at the end. Her lips are full, and dare I say, sensual--is there a trace of scorn there? It would be too easy to mock Graham's Maria, but irony or at least a hint of the grotesque is not entirely absent. Graham's Maria is handsome rather than beautiful, revealing a sort of energetic angst more than serenity.
