Regen Projects is currently showing Elliot Hundley’s Clearing (pictured above) and Liz Larner’s As Below, So Above (shown below). Hundley’s exhibition includes five panel works as well as three benches with accompanying sculptures. The panel works are incredible, with dizzying amounts of detail and texture. Tiny images, pieces of fabric, tags, and even one flip flop, mix with paint and ink to form the final works. The best way to appreciate the work is by moving close to look at small sections at a time and then pulling back to see it as a whole.
In the video below, that was made for the exhibition at MOCA that Hundley recently curated, he talks a bit about his process. Especially interesting is when he says he tries to leave his creations “in an open ended form so that people who look at them can also imagine making them or interacting with them or destroying them or rearranging them”.
For Liz Larner’s exhibition she has created several new works that “demonstrate her ongoing examination into sculpture, painting, drawing, and ceramics. The environment – the personal and the entrenched – are set together in these artworks that reach for an understanding of vulnerability through what is and has been considered low and directed, made capital of, and endangered.”
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (6/20-6/23/19)-
Thursday
Summer Cannibals are playing at The Satellite with Broken Baby and Blushh
James Supercave is playing at the Bootleg Theater with Bay Ledges and MACK opening
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is hosting Return from Exile II- an evening of readings of poems by jazz vocalist and songwriter Abbey Lincoln; poet, vocalist, and dancer Jeanne Lee; and Harlem Renaissance poet Helene Johnson. Organized by poet and writer Harmony Holiday, the second program in the series “highlights how women play an indispensable role in the tradition of archives and collective improvisation in the African diaspora”.
Hollywood Night Market at Yamashiro is a lovely way to have some food and drinks while enjoying beautiful views of the city- free shuttles leave from the Mosaic parking lot
Bloomingdale’s Beverly Center and ONE Archives Foundation are hosting an evening celebrating the launch of WE ARE EVERYWHERE, by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown, the creators of the popular Instagram account @lgbt_history. There will be a book talk, signing and Q&A with the authors hosted by activist Ashlee Marie Preston.
Editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and Project Runway judge Elaine Welteroth will be at the California African American Museum to discuss her memoir More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)
Thursday through Sunday
The LA Design Festival features talks, installations, exhibitions, and more- all celebrating design throughout the city
Ian Sweet and James Swanberg are opening for Grapetooth at the Echoplex
duendita is opening for Jamila Woods at the El Rey Theatre
The Aero Theatre is having a whole weekend of Coen Brothers double features. Tonight it’s No Country For Old Men and Blood Simple with an introduction by author Adam Nayman, who will also sign his new book, The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, in the lobby at 6:30 PM.
Saturday
Heart Attack Man are playing at The Echo with Sincere Engineer and Rome Hero Foxes
Zebulon is hosting a free screening of Alain Resnais’ film Je T’aime, Je T’aime and later there is a free party to celebrate TT (of Warpaint)’s birthday with music by Spring Summer, Wolf Woodcock, and VS Colour
yOya are playing at Moroccan Lounge with Austin Weber, J.E. Sunde, and Scott Bartenhagen
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/30-6/2/19)-
Thursday
Artists Shinique Smith and Rirkrit Tiravanija will be discussing their history of transforming museum spaces with journalist Jori Finkel at The Hammer
Holy Wave are playing with Triptides and Gold Cage at The Factory
Apex Manor are playing with Coastal Clouds and Near Beer at the Bootleg Theater
Bennett Simpson and Rebecca Lowery will be giving an exhibition walk through of The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA’s Collection at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (both MOCA locations are free on Thursday evenings)
LACMA is having a free screening of Halston with a post screening conversation with director Frédéric Tcheng and producer Roland Ballester
Xiu Xiu are bringing their unique sound to Lodge Room with composer Gregg Kowalsky opeing
Performance art duo Princess (Alexis Gideon and Michael O’Neill) will be performing Out There, a live music and video album, at Zebulon. CRICKETS, a new performance and recording project with Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), JD Samson (Le Tigre/MEN), and Michael O’Neill (Princess, MEN), will also be performing.
Friday
Sego are playing at Moroccan Lounge with Hate Drugs and Lens Mozer opening
Death Bells and Hit Bargain are opening for Odonis Odonis at Zebulon
Dodger Stadium is hosting LGBT Night with Dodger owners Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss throwing out ceremonial first pitches, Nicki Blonsky singing the national anthem, the Dodgers playing the Phillies, fireworks after the game, and more
Wavves is playing at Lodge Room with Puzzle and Slut Island (also Saturday)
Friday through Sunday
FEMMEBIT is a “platform and triennial festival uniting an all-female roster of Los Angeles based artists working in video and new media”. There will be screenings, panel discussions, live performances and more taking place at Civic Center Studios
The free Lummis Days Festival celebrates the arts, history and ethnic diversity of Northeast Los Angeles with programming that includes a screening of Con Safos:Reflections of Life in the Barrio by Emmy Award winner Jimmy Velarde at Occidental College on Friday, plus live music, exhibitions, workshops, dance performances and more at various locations on Saturday and Sunday
Saturday
Venice Pride kicks off LGBTQ+ Pride Month with an illumination of the Venice Pride Sign and Block Party (free)
Outpost Los Angeles City Market is a free cultural festival taking place at Rolling Greens in the Arts District with workshops, panels, and more- plus performances by Porches, Kirin J Callinan, Negative Gemini, Ana Roxanne and a DJ set by Neon Indian
The Specials are playing at The Novo with L.A. Salami opening
Jai Wolf is playing at The Shrine Expo Hall with Shallou, Evan Giia, and Ford. opening
Plastic Cactus are playing at The Hi Hat with Easy Love, Chelsea Rose, and The Sob Sonnets
NY Night Train Soul Clap & Dance Off w/ Jonathan Toubin is a night of soul music on vinyl at Zebulon with a live performance by LA band Los Blancos
Sunday
MOCA Community Day is taking place at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and is centered around the homelessness crisis in LA, specifically “the youth population affected by the crisis, and how creative experiences can spark change”. The day will feature performances, information booths, workshops, and activities over the course of the day. (free)
The Aero Theatre is hosting a Jim Jarmusch double feature- Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law
Zebulon is hosting a free screening of Alain Resnais’ film Providence and later Weirdo Night returns with performances by Dynasty Handbag, Malik Gaines, Amelia Bande, Kate Berlant, Dance-Y-Oke and more
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/16-5/19/19)-
Thursday
The Chemical Brothers are playing at The Greek Theatre with The Black Madonna opening
Architect and scholar Sylvia Lavin will at MOCA Grand Avenue to discuss the work of Arata Isozaki (who designed the MOCA building). The museum and this lecture are free this evening.
Odd Nights returns to The Autry with live music, a market, food and drink, and night access to the museum
Coucou Chloe is performing at El Cid with Minimal Violence
Hala and Pageants are opening for Hellogoodbye at the Echoplex
Saturday
Sasami is playing a free show in the courtyard of The Getty for the summer concert series Saturdays Off The 405
Artist Vanessa German will be discussing her exhibition at Gavlak gallery following a performance of soft:the longest kiss, in which the artist will perform a 6 hour kiss with her partner Janae Brown
Photographer Rohina Hoffman will be in conversation with artist, photographer, and educator Aline Smithson, as well as signing her book Hair Stories, at Arcana Books
Ryan Pollie of LAPD is playing at The Love Song with Will Fox
Black Star featuring Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey will be performing at The Novo
Dum Dum Zine is having a release party for their 6th issue at The Echo with Taleen Kali, Potty Mouth, and Space Kelly performing
Butthole Surfers are having a Q&A session with David Yow of Jesus Lizard moderating, and signing their book Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean?, a visual history of the band, at Zebulon. Gibby Haynes will also be performing a DJ set. ($8)
Hearty Har are playing at The Hi Hat with The Bash Dogs and Dream Phases
Saturday and Sunday
The Beverly Hills Art Show returns for its Spring edition. Over 245 artists will participate in the free outdoor show
Downtown Burbank is also having an Arts Festival that will include work by top animators and an indie craft section curated by Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair
Sunday
For Museums of the Arroyo Day there is free admission to Lummis House, Heritage Square, L.A. Police Museum, Pasadena Museum of History, The Autry, and The Gamble House- start early to see them all
LACMA is having a screening (get free tickets online) of the 1958 film Anna Lucasta starring Earth Kitt and Sammy Davis Jr. which also features the artwork of Charles White whose work is currently being shown at the museum
Union Station is having a free outdoor daytime concert with Sudan Moon, Sam Gendel, Ami Dang, and Ana Roxanne
Classic British punk band The Exploited are playing at The Novo with D.I. and Total Chaos
The Regent Theater is screening the film The Damned- Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead with a Q&A to follow with Damned drummer Andrew “Pinch” Pinching and director Wes Orshoski
Zebulon has a free screening of Luis Bunuel’s The Phantom of Liberty
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/9-5/12/19)-
Thursday
LACMA is having a free screening of Raging Bull which includes a pre-screening conversation with producer/director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi
There is a free screening at the Japanese American National Museum of the documentary Masters of Modern Design: The Art of the Japanese American Experience, with a Q&A with the filmmakers and some of the people interviewed for the film to follow
As part of the Artists on Artists series at MOCA Grand Avenue, Miljohn Ruperto will be discussing the exhibition Open House: Elliott Hundley currently on view (free admission to the museum on Thursdays)
At Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, artist Sandra de la Loza will be in conversation with poet, teacher and community activist Sesshu Foster in conjunction with de la Loza’s exhibition Mi Casa Es Su Casa
East Los Angeles Art Walk takes place the second Sunday of every month and is a chance see work by local artists and support local businesses in the neighborhood
Illuminati Hotties are opening for American Football at The Regent
Bootleg Theater is showing Fritz Lang’s 1929 film Woman In The Moon
Xeno & Oaklander, SRSQ, Chasms, and Fawns of Love are performing for Part Time Punks 14 Year Anniversary Show at the Echoplex
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (4/24-4/27/19)-
Thursday
For MOCA’s 40th Anniversary they are hosting a series of exhibitions organized by LA based artists and MOCA curators with work drawn from their permanent collection. Tonight multimedia artist Elliott Hundley will lead a walkthrough of his exhibition Open House: Elliott Hundley at the Grand Avenue location (free tonight and every Thursday evening)
Slick Rick will be at Amoeba Records in Hollywood to celebrate and sign copies of The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick for its 30th Anniversary
Friday through Sunday
For the first time Photoville, the free annual photo festival with galleries built from repurposed shipping containers, is heading to Los Angeles. It will be taking place at the Annenberg Space for Photography this weekend and next with programming that includes nighttime projections, talks, workshops, family activities and a beer garden. At the same time the exhibition CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop, which showcases the work of hip hop photographers, will open at Annenberg Space for Photography with special hours to coincide with the festival.
Arcana Books is hosting a launch party from 4-6pm for issue 2 of Creative Director Alexander McWhirter’s thematic annual art and fashion journal, Public.
Compltr is playing at All Star Lanes with Sheer, Trends, and June Swoon
Saturday and Sunday
Grand Park is hosting the free two day festival, Grand Park’s Our L.A. Voices- a Pop-up Arts+Culture Fest, featuring short film, dance, music, spoken word and theatre performances, and visual art, created by L.A. artists. There will also be a marketplace with artwork for sale.
Jackalope are bringing their free local artisan Spring Fair to Old Pasadena’s Central Park
Sunday
Celebrate the Thai New Year all day at the Songkran Festival in Thai Town which includes a parade, beauty pageant, live music, dance performances, food, and more
Emily Wells is playing the Bootleg Theater with KERA opening
Zebulon has a free screening of Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man
Telekinesis are playing at the Moroccan Lounge with SONTALK and The Pretty Flowers
Big Red Machine (Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner of The National) are performing at the Hollywood Palladium
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (4/11-4/14/19)-
Thursday
Skirball is hosting the panel discussion Black is Beautiful: Then and Now in conjunction with the opening of Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite. The panel includes the artist’s son and director of the Kwame Brathwaite Archive, Kwame S. Brathwaite, along with fashion designer Mimi Plange, photographer Tyler Mitchell, and costume designer Ruth Carter. ($20)
MOCA Grand Avenue is hosting BlackStar Film Festival. The screening to be followed by a discussion with the founder Maori Karmael Holmes (free)
Damon & Naomi are playing at Zebulon with Exploding Flowers
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal is playing at the Echoplex with Horse Head and MIRSY
Friday
ICA LA is hosting Art Buzz, a happy hour tour of Patty Chang: The Wandering Lake with curator Jamillah James and Director of Learning and Engagement Asuka Hisa, with refreshments to follow
Prettiest Eyes are playing at El Cid with Meatbodies, Chud, and The Chonks
Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair 2019 is happening at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. The free event includes conversations, workshops, performances and other programs and is a great place to find and purchase art books.
Saturday
Bergamot Station is having a Spring Open House, a free event with opening receptions, artist talks, and more
Curator David J. Getsy will be giving a public lecture at West Hollywood City Council Chambers titled Rubbish and Dreams: The Genderqueer Performance Art of Stephen Varble in 1970s New York, from 2-4:30pm. The talk is in conjunction with the exhibit he curated for ONE Gallery– The Gutter Art of Stephen Varble: Genderqueer Performance in the 1970s, Photographs by Greg Day. A Q&A with Getsy will follow the lecture.
Independent music stores will celebrate Record Store Day with exclusive releases and events. Amoeba Records in Hollywood will have gift bags, live silk screening, and guest DJ sets
Emily Reo is having a record release party at Junior High with performances by Foxes in Fiction and Lush Agave
Old school hip hop legends Eric B. & Rakim are performing at The Novo
Saturday and Sunday
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returns to the USC Campus with tons of free and ticketed events and readings, plus music, chef demos, booksellers, and more.
Sunday
Zebulon continues their month of free screenings of Jim Jarmusch films with Down By Law
Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (4/4-4/7/19)-
Thursday
The Drums are returning to play a free show at Amoeba Records and to sign their new album Brutalism
For tonight’s CraftNight at Craft Contemporary, Mimi Haddon will be leading a workshop on making sock animals
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is hosting the free program Poets, Priests, Martyrs: Henry Dumas, Joseph Jarman, MLK, a series of collaborations between MOCA and writer and artist Harmony Holiday. This edition features musician R.A.P.ferreira live alongside a recitation of poems by writer Henry Dumas (1934–68). A recording of a Dumas poem read by the late jazz musician and composer Joseph Jarman, and a recording of a piece by drummer Max Roach made in Martin Luther King’s honor will be also be played.
Justus Proffit and Hotline TNT are playing at rec center with Gum Country and Cryogeyser
Dilly Dally are playing at The Echo with Chastity opening
For LA based director, writer and visual artist Lars Jan’s work The White Album, taking place at the Center for the Art of Performance UCLA with Early Morning Opera, he created a multimedia performance that uses Joan Didion’s essay, read in its entirety by actress Mia Barron, and combines it with a parallel performance taking place behind her. The audience is also split into two sections, one large and seated, and one mobile.
The Warlocks are playing with Stevenson Ranch Davidians at The Hi Hat
The Egyptian Theatre continues its Festival of Film Noir with a double feature of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows
The Pesos are having a free record release party at Zebulon with The Tyde and Red Theme
Stella Donnelly is performing at the Bootleg Theater with Faye Webster opening
Saturday and Sunday
Brewery Art Walk returns and is a fun way to spend the day seeing artists work in their studios in the huge complex
Renegade Craft Fair is taking place at Los Angeles State Historic Park and includes over 200 local and national makers and designers (free)
Sunday
The Regent Theater is showing the film STIV: The Life And Times of Stiv Bators, a documentary about the former lead singer of the bands Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church
Zebulon is having a free screening of Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise with a Q& A to follow with actor Richard Edson
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.
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’sArtists 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
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
