Dec 122019
 

100 gecs- money machine

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (12/12-12/15/19)-

Thursday

Goon are playing at The Hi Hat with Girl Friday, Sarah Tudzin, and Justus Proffit

Allah-Las are playing at The Mayan Theater with Mapache and Tim Hill

Poet and playwright Sholeh Wolpé will be speaking at The Broad as part of their series The Logic of Poetry and Dreams (free but reserve ticket)

Bennett Simpson will give an exhibition walkthrough of The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA’s Collection at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA location (free)

Downtown LA Art Walk returns with its monthly event with galleries open late

The Paranoyds and SadGirl are playing a free show at The Cinema Bar in Culver City ) register here

Sea Moya are playing at The Echo with Fever The Ghost, Sunny Gummy Hands, and The Shaking Hands

 

Friday

100 Gecs are opening for Brockhampton at The Hollywood Palladium

Author Michael Eric Dyson will be speaking at the California African American Museum

Z Berg & Friends (Ryan Ross, Bruce Hornsby, Johnathan Rice, Avalon Lurks, KERA, and Brad Oberhofer) will be performing a Friday The 13th Christmas Show at Pico Union Project

Automatic are playing at Zebulon with Peanut Butter Wolf and Mo Dottie

The Hi-Fi Honey Drops are playing for Union Station’s free Cocoa Concert this week

Robyn Hitchock & Friends are performing at Largo at the Coronet

Goldie is performing at 1720 to celebrate 25 Years of Metalheadz

 

Saturday

Artist Hugo Crosthwaite will be speaking at Luis de Jesus Los Angeles at 2pm in conjunction with his solo exhibition at the gallery

Bergamot Station is having a Winter Open House and 25th Anniversary Celebration from 11-6pm with artist talks, live music, and a chance to check out the current shows in the galleries

Shop Artisinal’s Holiday Makers Market is taking place in the Playhouse Lot in Pasadena and includes snow and Santa selfies, kids crafts. and more, as part of its free programming

Flat Worms, L.A. Drones, Nice and Fimes are playing at Permanent Records Roadhouse to benefit Youth Emerging Stronger (formerly LA Youth Network)

Fox Academy are playing at El Cid with Ruby Haunt and Johnny Goth

New York Night Train w/ Jonathan Toubin is happening at Zebulon

 

Saturday and Sunday

Rolling Loud is two days of hip hop at Banc of California Stadium Grounds with performers that include Chance the Rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug on Saturday and Future, A$AP Rocky, Meek Mill, YG, Da Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Yachty, Doja Cat, and many more on Sunday

 

Sunday

The Aero Theatre has a double feature of Motherless Brooklyn and Primal Fear with a discussion between films with actor-director Edward Norton and producer Hawk Koch

Until 12/25 Grand Park’s Winter Glow has multiple night time public art installations set up for the holiday season (free from sunset to 10pm)

Motel Radio are playing at the Moroccan Lounge with Beauty Queen opening

French Vanilla are playing at The Echo with Heaven Pegasus opening

Mar 222019
 

 

Currently at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA are Laura Owens mid-career survey and Zoe Leonard: Survey. Two very different exhibitions, each exceptional in their own way.

Laura Owens’ exhibition (pictured above), captures the exuberance of her work throughout her career from the mid-1990s until today. Looking at the colorful paintings, it’s the details you don’t notice at first that give them added depth and life. Textured paint seems to float above the canvas and in some of the work sculptural pieces extend beyond the frame. Traveling from room to room you can see her style grow and change while still keeping elements from the previous work.

Zoe Leonard’s exhibition (seen below) is a thought provoking collection of the artist’s work that varies between the political and the personal and sometimes a blending of the two.

A tree sliced apart and bolted back together is suspended in a room that also contains contact sheets of birds in flight. In another, there’s a line of suitcases, one for every year of the artist’s life. There are photos taken of the sun and a table with stacks of postcards of various views of Niagara Falls.  Black and white photos of animals who have been killed and dismembered confront you in another section of the gallery. Nature, death, and the passing of time are common themes present in Leonard’s work and in our own lives. The effect is meditative.

There are also the more overtly political works. For Tipping Point (pictured below) which she created in 2016, she created a tower of 53 copies of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, one for each year since the book was published. On one wall a typed copy on onionskin of her famous work I want a president, that she wrote when poet Eileen Myles ran for president, hangs between two pieces of glass. (This work was also printed as a large mural for The Highline in New York in 2016)

From MOCA’s website-

New York–based artist Zoe Leonard (b. 1961) is among the most critically acclaimed artists of her generation. Over the past three decades, she has produced work in photography and sculpture that has been celebrated for its lyrical observations of daily life coupled with a rigorous, questioning attention to the politics and conditions of image making and display.

Zoe Leonard: Survey is the first large-scale overview of the artist’s work in an American museum. The exhibition looks across Leonard’s career to highlight her engagement with a range of themes, including gender and sexuality, loss and mourning, migration, displacement, and the urban landscape. More than it focuses on any particular subject, however, Leonard’s work slowly and reflectively calibrates vision and form. Using repetition, subtle changes of perspective, and shifts of scale, Leonard draws viewers into an awareness of the meanings behind otherwise familiar images or objects. A counter-example to the speed and disposability of image culture today, Leonard’s photographs, sculptures, and installations ask the viewer to reengage with how we see.

On Sunday, 3/24, MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson will lead a final walkthrough of both of these exhibitions before they close on Monday 3/25/19.  Admission is free to the museum and this event this weekend.

Mar 212019
 

And The Kids- Champagne Ladies

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (3/21-3/24/19)-

Thursday

Composer, conductor, pianist, and writer Matthew Aucoin will be in conversation with comedy writer and performer Megan Amram (The Good Place, Parks and Recreation) at the Hammer Museum (free)

Lucille Furs are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Dream Phases, Jane Church and Easy Love

Halfnoise is playing at the Teragram Ballroom with Gothic Tropic and And That opening

No Win are having a record release party at Highland Park Ebell with Gymshorts and Los Bolos also performing

Bad Suns are playing a free show at Amoeba Hollywood and signing copies of their new album Mystic Truth

 

Friday

And The Kids are playing with Ramonda Hammer and Cardioid at The Satellite

Hauser & Wirth is hosting the three night film series (it started Thursday) I Still Dream About California, organized by Annie Leibovitz to accompany her exhibition at the gallery. The film this evening is Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. Tickets are sold out but you can still join the waitlist.

Rayland Baxter is playing at the Teragram Ballroom with T. Hardy Morris and Mattiel opening

Justus Proffit, Janelane and Rose Dorn are opening for Living Hour at The Factory

Jimmy Whispers is playing a free show at Zebulon with Lael Neale

 

Saturday

Artist Jennifer West will be choosing artwork from LACMA’s Photography and Prints & Drawings collections to display in the Study Center and discussing why she selected them and how they relate to her own art practice as part of LACMA’s Artists on Art series. (free but ticket required)

There’s a lot to do at Grand Park today- first Bernie Sanders will be having a rally there at 2:30pm and later the ACLU has a free all day event that includes speakers, a panel discussion, and a performance by Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine) with special guests Vic Mensa and K. Flay

From 12-5pm is the 13th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk, with open art studios, art exhibitions, art demonstrations, performances, and more (free)

Amyl and The Sniffers are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Richard Rose and Shark Toys opening

Hippie Sabotage are playing at the Hollywood Palladium

 

Sunday

MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson will lead a final walkthrough of both Zoe Leonard: Survey and Laura Owens at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA – both exhibitions close on Monday 3/25 (admission to the museum and this program are both free)

Bootleg Theater is showing the rarely seen 1947 film Les Jeux Sont Faits, based on a screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre, at 6pm and afterwards Psychic Love are playing a free show at 8:30pm to celebrate the release of their new album

R.L.Kelly, Merce Lemon, Cuddle Formation, and Glowing Birds are playing at The Smell

Zebulon is having a free screening of Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange at 1pm

The LA Marathon is taking place throughout the city, cheer on the runners and prepare for a lot of street and highway ramp closures

Dec 062018
 

Suuns- Watch You, Watch Me

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (12/6- 12/9/18)-

Thursday

Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley (White Fence) will be performing together as Drinks at Pico Union Project with BEEF -Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint) and Bryan Hollon (Boom Bip/Neon Neon)

MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson will lead a walkthrough of Zoe Leonard’s exhibition at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (free admission on Thursdays)

CAFAM is hosting CraftNight with artist Boyd Hale who will teach participants about poster making using recycled street posters, signage and paint- $10 include materials, drinks and snacks

Kevin Krauter is playing at the Bootleg Theater with Field Trip and Stone Irr opening)

Kevin Morby is playing an early (6pm) free show at Gold-Diggers

Har Mar Superstar and Sabrina Ellis will be performing the songs of Dirty Dancing at the Regent Theater

 

Friday

Neko Case is performing at the Orpheum Theatre

Warm Drag and Shark Toys are opening for The CIA at Resident

The Aero Theatre is hosting a free double feature of the Tamara Jenkins’ films Slums of Beverly Hills and The Savages

She & Him are performing at The Wiltern with special guest Alice Wetterlund (also Thursday

Skating Polly and Potty Mouth are playing at the Moroccan Lounge

 

Saturday

SUUNS are playing at Lodge Room with Graham Van Pelt opening

Photographers Mona Kuhn and Deanna Templeton will be discussing their work at Arcana Books and signing their books

Hip hop artist Shad will be performing at the Moroccan Lounge

Photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya will be discussing work he chose from LACMA’s Photography and Prints & Drawings collections (free with RSVP)

Self Help Graphics & Art is having a Holiday Marketplace which, along with work to buy, will have workshops, food, and music

Peter Bjorn and John are playing at Teragram Ballroom with Talos and Taken By Trees

 

Saturday and Sunday

Long Beach Museum of Art is hosting EMERGE:Art Fair, a free event that features the work of 7 emerging to mid-career artists based in Southern California (free)

Renegade Craft Fair returns to Los Angeles State Historic Park and is a good place to buy gifts for the holidays

 

Sunday

Stevie Wonder’s House Full of Toys Benefit Concert is at the Staples Center with special guests Anderson .Paak, Leon Bridges, Chanté Moore, Ella Mai and more

Spike Lee will be discussing his films Do The Right Thing and Crooklyn at the Egyptian Theatre’s double feature (Lee will also be discussing his work at other film screenings happening there this weekend)

Aero Theatre is showing The Big Lebowski for its 20th Anniversary

Pylon Reenactment Society are playing at the Echoplex with The Tissues opening

Landladyland Live, Adam Schatz’s live talk show, is happening at the Bootleg Theater with guests Daedelus, William Tyler, Booker Stardrum,  and Cosmic Perspectives with Mary Liz

Morricone Youth are opening for Pinback at the Regent Theater

May 042017
 

Day Wave- Something Here

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/4-5/7/17)-

Thursday

Day Wave is giving a free in-store performance at Amoeba Records with a record signing to follow

Hammer Museum is having a free screening of Do Not Resist, a documentary on the militarization of American police, with a discussion to follow with Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors

MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson is leading a walk-through of the current Carl Andre exhibition at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (free and free entrance to the museum)

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians are playing a free show at Harvard & Stone

Avec Sans are playing at Resident with Fiona Grey

Friday

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Hecho in LA: Taco Madness & Micheladas is taking place at La Plaza de Culturas y Artes downtown, with DJs and live art to go along with the food and drink (free and 21+)

LACMA is having a free screening of an episode of the series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, with a conversation with Bourdain to follow

Chico Mann & Captain Planet, Buyepongo, and QUITAPENAS are performing at the Natural History Museum as part of their First Friday event (and Cinco de Mayo)

The New Beverly is showing a double feature of Terrence Malick’s Badlands and Richard Compton’s Macon County Line

Saturday

Los Angeles Family School is having its daytime Spring Fair 2017 with live music by Moby, The Pop Ups and Freedom Fry

The Eclectic Festival is taking place in Pasadena with an art walk and music that includes OZOMATLI and Irene Diaz (free)

Photographer Robert Herman is giving a lecture at Annenberg Space for Photography on how to self publish a book from start to finish ($15 for lecture only/$50 plus signed book/ $75 book and 20 minute private consultation)

Oddisee and Good Compny are performing at the Regent Theater

The Glitch Mob are playing a DJ set at Exchange LA with Nosaj Thing

Paul Bergmann is headlining a show at The Echo with Bart Davenport and Dimber performing

Sunday

The Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre is having two free site specific dance performance for The 1988 series: Punctuation Station, at Westfield Culver City, and includes a public discussion after (reservation required)

It’s probably a good time to check out the Artists Political Action Network who are having a meeting on Sunday with a voter registration to follow at the American Legion in Highland Park (if you miss this one, meetings are on the first Sunday of every month)

LAXART Executive Director and Curator, Hamza Walker and MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson, will be discussing the Maximalist work of Jason Rhoades at Hauser & Wirth (free but registration recommended)

This is the last night of Feist’s three night visit to the Palace Theatre and at this writing, it’s the only night with pairs of tickets left

Oct 202016
 

The Moth & The Flame- Young & Unafraid

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (10/20-10/23/16)-

Thursday

The Moth & The Flame are playing at the Troubadour with Young Rising Sons

MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson is giving a walk through of the exhibition R. H. Quaytman, Morning: Chapter 30 at MOCA Grand Avenue (free and free museum admission)

The Faint are playing at The Mayan with Gang of Four

Art critic Douglas Crimp will be discussing and reading from Before Pictures, his autobiographical account of life as a young gay man in New York from the late 1960s through the 1970s, at the Hammer Museum (free)

Tkay Maidza is performing at the Bootleg Theater

Fever Charm and LAYNE are opening for Night Lights at Resident

Friday

Art Night Pasadena is a great way to check out Pasadena’s museums and cultural centers for free as well as live music and performances. Free shuttles are provided for getting around.

Front Porch Cinema at the Santa Monica Pier is showing Labyrinth starring David Bowie (free)

Lemaitre are playing at the El Rey Theatre with Chet Porter and Coucheron

LACMA is showing Guillermo del Toro’s 1993 vampire film Cronos

The Molochs are playing at Non Plus Ultra with the Paranoyds and Numb.er

Saturday

For Los Angeles–based artist Dan Levenson’s performance at Hammer Museum he will be leading a three-hour class that will consist of a lecture, drawing exercises, and critiques following the curriculum of the SKZ (State Art Academy Zurich), a Swiss modernist art school of his own invention. (free)

LACMA is screening two iconic experimental films of the 1960s: Walter De Maria’s Hardcore and Michael Snow’s Wavelength for their Desert/Ocean program, followed by a conversation between Jane McFadden and James Nisbet, two of the leading scholars of De Maria’s artwork, and moderated by Jennifer King, LACMA’s associate curator of contemporary projects.  (free)

The New Beverly is showing a horror double feature of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and Paul Wendkos’ The Mephisto Waltz starring Alan Alda and Jacqueline Bisset ($9.27 for both)

Saturday and Sunday

The Brewery Art Walk is a fun way to check out up and coming artists in their studios in the massive complex downtown

Beach Goth, a two day music festival taking place at The Observatory Grounds in Santa Ana, has a ton of great bands playing with single day and two day tickets still available. The Growlers are hosting with Eric Andre and bands include Bon Iver, Future Islands, Ru Paul’s Drag Race contestants, The Faint, Patti Smith, Violent Femmes, TLC, Grimes, Gucci Mane, The Drums,  The Pharcyde, Moving Units, TSOL, and many more.

Sunday

Vidiots is presenting Harry Dean Stanton with the first ever “Harry Dean Stanton Award” at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel. The evening will include conversations, film clips, and music, featuring performances and tributes from Kris Kristofferson, Father John Misty, Karen O, Inara George, John C. Reilly, Jack Huston, Harper Simon, and many more.

LACMA is hosting a book signing, film screening and discussion with noted Iranian painter, book illustrator, animator, and sculptor, Ali Akbar Sadeghi. (free)

Blitzen Trapper are playing at the Bootleg Theater

 

***If you are curious about Neal Unger, the older skateboarder in the above video, this video provides a bit more information on him and his philosophy. He only started skateboarding recently!

Oct 132016
 

The Lemon Twigs- These Words

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (10/13-10/16/16)-

Thursday

The Lemon Twigs are having a free in-store performance at Amoeba Hollywood to celebrate the release of their new album Do Hollywood. If you purchase the album you also get a free 7″ both of which they will be signing afterwards.

Author, musician and producer Greg Tate will be discussing visionary black aesthetics and politics in 21st-century America with artist Sanford Biggers at the Hammer Museum

Temples are playing at the Teragram Ballroom with Triptides

The High Five Art Launch Party is happening at The Autry and includes after-hours access to the museum, rides on the ferris wheel, a free California themed tote and a chance to meet the artists and designers who who participated in the 2016 High Five Art Contest ($5 admission)

TOBACCO is playing with Odonis Odonis at the Echoplex

This month’s Downtown LA Artwalk is focusing on the artists who contribute to Smile South Central

The Helio Sequence are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Genders

Friday

LACMA is hosting a free screening of By Sidney Lumet, Nancy Buirski’s documentary film about the director, with a discussion with Buirski and guests to follow

Gavlak Gallery is hosting Feminist Friday, a “casual but directed conversation about contemporary issues related to feminism”.  It is also a good opportunity to check out Marnie Weber and Betty Tompkins’ coinciding exhibitions.

The Theatre at the Ace Hotel is getting in the Halloween spirit with a screening of Carrie and a prom-themed after party, all proceeds will benefit weSPARK’s cancer support programs.

Allison Crutchfield and The Fizz are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Radiator Hospital and Ovlov

Friday-Sunday

Machine Project is having an underwater art show at the Annenberg Community Beach house. You can check out the work from above the pool but the best viewing will be by reserving a ticket for the times available (free) and getting into the water with goggles.

Saturday

Danny Brown is performing at The Fonda Theatre and a free download of his new album, Atrocity Exhibition, is included with the ticket

Electric Dusk Drive-In’s horror films for Halloween continue this week with Poltergeist

RJD2 is playing a $5 show at The Novo with Daddy Kev

Saturday and Sunday

Found LA is offering a series of free tours at religious centers and places of worship in different neighborhoods around the city- you can register for more than one but registration is required.

The Beverly Hills Art Show is a nice way to be outdoors and check out the work of over 240 artists (free)

Sunday

Artist Mickalene Thomas and MOCA Curatorial Assistant Rebecca Matalon will be in conversation regarding Thomas’ current MOCA Grand Ave exhibition- Mickalene Thomas: Do I Look Like a Lady? at 12:30 pm and at 3pm MOCA Senior Curator Bennett Simpson will be speaking with artist R. H. Quaytman about her exhibition- R. H. Quaytman, Morning: Chapter 30. (free with museum admission)

Black Marble are playing the Echoplex’s Part Time Punks night

There are still a few seats left for the Glass Animals show at The Greek Theatre

CicLAvia’s route is the “Heart of LA” this time- closing streets to traffic in Boyle Heights, Chinatown, and DTLA

*A bit further afield*

This weekend (Friday-Sunday) is the Desert Daze festival at The Institute for Mental Physics in Joshua Tree. There are a lot of great bands playing including Deerhunter, Temples, Washed Out, Thee Oh Sees, The Raveonettes, Cherry Glazerr, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Television, La Luz, White Fence and more. You can buy single day passes or stay the weekend and camp.

 

Jul 172014
 

Melpo Mene- I Adore You

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (7/17-20)-

Thursday

Melpo Mene is opening for Figs Vision at the Bootleg- http://foldsilverlake.com/event.cfm?id=157706&cart

An evening with Genesis Breyer P- Orridge at the MOCA book store- a book signing, screening, talk, and performance by DJMREX- http://edu.moca.org/calendar/2014-07-17

Francisco Goldman discusses his latest book The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle at the Central Library downtown- http://www.lfla.org/event-detail/1018/The-Interior-Circuit-A-Mexico-City-Chronicle-

Made in L.A. Music: An Evening of Community Music hosted by Alex Ebert (of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) at the Hammer- http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2014/07/made-in-la-music-an-evening-of-community-music-hosted-by-alex-ebert/

Friday

No Age is hosting Friday Night Flights at the Getty- They are presenting assorted installations, three experimental performances that will culminate with “an altered concert experience” of their latest album An Object, and a curated program of videos by filmmakers and artists- http://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/performances/friday_flights.html

Masters of Ceremony Hip Hop Reunion at the Nokia Theater with DMX, EPMD, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Naughty by Nature, Slick Rick, Special Ed and more- http://www.nokiatheatrelalive.com/events/detail/masters-of-ceremony-hip-hop-reunion

Jonathan Wilson and Mystic Braves are playing as part of the free weekly FIGat7th Downtown Festival- http://artsbrookfield.com/event/figfest/#.U8eGMKhfnU4

Saturday

MOCA curator Bennett Simpson discusses the Mike Kelley exhibit and afterwords there is an Extended Organ Music Event (an experimental band Mike Kelley was once a part of) -both free- http://edu.moca.org/calendar/2014-07-19#mevent-8062

The Autry’s outdoor movie this weekend is American Psycho and yOya are playing- http://www.eventbrite.com/e/eat-see-hear-american-psycho-outdoor-movie-tickets-11145395177?aff=eorg

Blue Velvet is playing at Hollywood Forever cemetery- http://cinespia.org/event/blue-velvet/

Saturday and Sunday

Viva Pomona is two days of great music at The Glass House in Pomona- some of the bands include- !!!, Thee Oh Sees, Fuzz, Crystal Antlers, Porter, So Many Wizards, and more- 20$ each day- http://www.theglasshouse.us/event/532173-viva-pomona-pomona/

Sunday

Closing reception for the exhibition “Phantom Color” at CB1 Gallery downtown features a talk with the artists (Eric Beltz, Brian Scott Campbell and Nathan Hayden), wine, DJs from the band Gardens and Villa and a dance performance- https://www.facebook.com/events/627280457379939/

Jimmy Cliff is at the Hollywood Bowl- http://www.hollywoodbowl.com//tickets/reggae-night-xiii-jimmy-cliff/2014-07-20