Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

Located conveniently across the street from The Broad is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). In fact, this is one of MOCA's two main locations. It houses the museum's permanent collection and is somewhat smaller than its sister venue, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, which is located in Little Tokyo and used for temporary exhibitions, events, and performances.

The museum was founded in 1979 by a group of artists and collectors who wanted to create a space dedicated to showcasing the work of living artists. Its permanent collection comprises over 6,000 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, and installations. The featured artists include such names as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among many others.

Alongside seasoned classics of contemporary art, there is plenty of new inspiring works to peruse by emerging and mid-career artists from Southern California and around the world. Visiting here, you may notice that the MOCA is focused not only on the art itself but also on the history of artists, thus enabling viewers to get some background knowledge, too, which is a big plus.

Some of the things to be seen here will invoke strange feelings that you've never got from seeing art before, and the exhibits' variation certainly adds to the quality of the experience – from Robert Frank's much-touted photo series of "The Americans" to "Pattern and Decoration in American Art 1972–85" with fabulous quilts and more. Other highlights include an entire room of Rothko's compositions and a wonderful interactive art installation that has you walk through rooms of different colors.

Art connoisseurs will appreciate the theme of self-reflexivity ("what and who gets to consider what is art?"), especially from the approach of people of color and women artists. If you luck out, you may even join a very knowledgeable docent's tour that takes you through the permanent collection for about an hour. Since the place isn't so big, getting tired here is hardly possible.

Tip:
Don't miss the very creative gift shop (on the upper ground level) for a great array of local and international magazines, unique art books, and other funky finds!