L.A.-Paris museums’ love fest

In an official expression of support for the arts, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a media conference Friday at the Caltrans downtown headquarters to celebrate landmark exhibitions of Los Angeles contemporary art and architecture coming soon to Paris.

“Los Angeles 1955-1985,” featuring about 350 works by 87 artists, and “Morphosis,” exploring a prominent architectural firm’s work, will open March 8 at France’s Pompidou Center.

“This is a transformational milestone that will establish Los Angeles as a leading artistic and cultural capital,” Villaraigosa told an audience of artists and representatives from museums and art schools. “Los Angeles” will track the art scene’s coming-of-age in a sprawling survey. “Morphosis” -- to appear at L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2007 -- will present recent projects of the group whose founder, Thom Mayne, won the 2005 Pritzker Prize and designed the Caltrans building.

As the media conference evolved into an L.A.-Paris love fest, Scott Stover, head of the Pompidou Foundation, announced plans to base the support group’s American branch in Los Angeles.