For a romantic date, deciding the destination usually requires a mental scan of the usual suspects: cozy Italian restaurant, walk along the beach at sunset, box seats at the theatre, a booth in the dark at a jazz concert, or a museum.

Museum? 

You might associate the word ‘museum’ with dusty displays on dinosaur bones, or a group tour led by a crazy-haired professor whose idea of love includes the Neolithic era. You would be wrong.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles is a refreshing, inspiring and invigorating walk through the past seventy years of creative expression. Like its home city, the MOCA crackles with the excitement of artistic endeavor that is limited only by the infinite expanse of the human brain. Home to works of art created only after 1940, here you will not find stodgy portraits of nobles from 17^th century France or objets d’art that were created around the time the Mayflower sailed. Instead, you will find pop art, abstract expressionism and experimental fine arts from the post-modern, post-World War II world; aka the FUN STUFF.

Nestled in the shadow of California Plaza and across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the MOCA is one of the defining structures of downtown LA. The geometric brick red building was designed by architect Arata Isozaki of Japan and boasts a refreshing collection of brain-stretching art from American and European artists from the last half of the 20^th century.

Lauded by critics from all over the globe, the fully modern and engaging exhibits experiment with interactive and digital media. All major artists of the contemporary period are represented: Basquiat, Mondrian, Pollock, Warhol, Kline, Lichtenstein, Segal, Innerst, Brassaï and many, many more. Bright galleries with exposed vaults show off the wild and intense works of artists who have come of age in a familiar era, and a day at the Museum of Contemporary Art is an insightful foray into the expressions of some of the most creative minds of our time.

Besides the permanent collection and traveling exhibitions, the MOCA also hosts art talks, courses on current featured works, family events and a series of evening performances of music, art and spoken word during the summer months called Night Vision. The restaurant Patinette serves fresh cuisine from the Mediterranean, and the gift shop ensures you can return home with a reminder of your trip down contemporary lane.

What better way to get to know your lover than delve into their impressions on Andy Warhol’s iconic images or Jackson Pollock’s scribbled canvasses? The Museum of Contemporary Art is without question one of the greatest contemporary art museums in the world. Its downtown location is the flagship for the collection, which is housed at three different locations in Los Angeles. This valuable cultural resource contains art of all media and is the perfect fit for the city that defines contemporary entertainment.

But don’t let that stop you from having a fun and sexy night perusing the galleries of the MOCA with your lover. After a few hours spent contemplating contemporary creative expression, you may find that the oil paints- or the bed sheets- are calling you.