Art of the broken heart
Heartbreak is a universal language. Perhaps that is why the exhibits at the Museum of Broken Relationships resonate so strongly. What began as a traveling exhibit in 2006 by two Croatian artists – an ex-couple – morphed into an ever-evolving collection now housed in a permanent location in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. Founders Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić reached out to friends and culled together artifacts of severed romance, the objects left behind long after the lovers have gone – letters, fuzzy handcuffs, the actual detritus that takes up space in the backs of countless closets and drawers.
While vacationing in April 2015, Los Angeles power attorney John Quinn stumbled upon the museum and was blown away. He envisioned a sister museum in Los Angeles. Ten months and a licensing deal later, his dream became a reality when the Museum of Broken Relationships opened its doors in the former Frederick’s of Hollywood lingerie store.
Info
Address 6751 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028, +1 323.892.1200, www.brokenships.la, museum@brokenships.la | Public Transport Red Line to Hollywood/Highland Station, then a .1-mile walk | Getting there Paid lots and metered street parking | Hours Mon 11am–5pm, Tue & Wed 11am–7pm, Thu & Sun 11am–8pm, Fri & Sat 11am–9pm| Tip Sit in a red booth at Musso & Frank Grill (6667 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028), Hollywood’s first restaurant; swill a martini and think of the glamorous icons of Hollywood, like Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who spent many an hour warming the very same seats.
Step past the bustle and griminess of Hollywood Boulevard and enter the museum’s white high-ceilinged modern gallery. A dramatic chandelier of black metal lights hangs over exquisitely crafted display cases filled with relics of ruptured romance. A diamond ring with the caption, “s(he) be(lie)ve(d).” A plaster-of-Paris sculpture of large breasts unnaturally close together, donated by a woman whose ex asked that she wear it when they had sex. The shredded jeans of a husband permanently brain damaged after he crashed into an elk on his motorcycle. The wife’s story, typed on cream-colored paper mounted on a metal plaque, says his body survived, they are still married, but the person he once was is now lost forever. Beauty, agony, and humor are all powerfully communicated through these objects, striking a chord with everyone who has ever loved and watched it wither.
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