Zackary Drucker Archives

Michelle Handelman’s “Irma Vep, The Last Breath” at Smack Mellon

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Mixed Media, New York Art Shows, Video and Film

Dec 282019

The images above are from Michelle Handelman’s film Irma Vep, The Last Breath, starring Zackary Drucker and the late Flawless Sabrina.

The video installation is based on Musidora, the French silent film actress, and the character she is best known for Irma Vep from the 1915 film Les Vampires directed by Louis Feuillade.

From the exhibition’s caption-

It’s a piece about living in the shadows, criminal anxiety, and the relationship between the artist and her creation, both fictional and real.

Irma Vep and Musidora are played by Zackary Drucker (Transparent) and the late Flawless Sabrina (The Queen), two artists whose identities transgress the border of art and life. Together, they developed a relationship that documents a cultural evolution of gender.

Musidora was an early 20th century feminist who took control of her career, not only acting, but also producing/directing films and theater. She was an artistic force of her time, producing several works by her lover Colette and having many documented affairs with both men and women. After financing dried up for her projects, she lived in relative obscurity until her death in Paris, 1957. In her later years, she worked the ticket booth of the Cinematheque Francaise, where few people ever knew that the woman selling them their movie tickets was France’s beloved vamp of the silver screen.

Irma Vep, The Last Breath takes up motifs from the silent movie such as gazes, affected body language and the figure of the masked woman. It’s shot on a starkly illuminated set that makes space for anxious projections of desire on the void that is Irma Vep- a space between genders, between vamps of the silent era and the contemporary queer- smashing the shiny veneer to reveal dark, subconscious layers of fluid identity.

The film is part of the larger exhibition Idol Worship, a group show curated by Emily Colucci, at Smack Mellon which “celebrates the ongoing cultural, social and political significance of role model adoration as an essential survival strategy”.

The exhibition closes 12/29/19.

Los Angeles Weekend Planner 6-21-18

Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Weekend Planner, Music

Jun 212018

Juniore- Magnifique

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (6/21- 6/24/18)-

Thursday

MOCA’s free music night returns to their Geffen Contemporary location with TT featuring Theresa Wayman from Warpaint, WIVES, Current Joys, and Honey Power DJs

Tonight at Hammer Museum, Made in L.A. 2018 co-curator Erin Christovale will be discussing artist EJ Hill’s practice (for his project he “ran laps around every Los Angeles school he attended, a reflection on the hardships that black, brown, and queer bodies endure as well as their resilience”) with Amanda Hunt, MOCA Los Angeles director of education and public programming and Desert X 2019 co-curator, and artist Texas Isaiah, who collaborated on Hill’s project. (free)

designLAb at the Pacific Design Center is having a reception for its Summer 2018 Exhibition

There are still tickets left for the Ted Leo and the Pharmacists show at The Echo, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their album Hearts of Oak, with Summer Cannibals opening

Anemone are opening for Men I Trust at the Echoplex

Friday

WAVVES are playing a free show at FIGat7th with Thumpasaurus opening

French pianist, composer, and musical director for Phoenix and Sebastien Tellier, Chassol, is performing his “ultrascore” project, INDIAMORE, free for Grand Performances. The film will be projected and accompanied by live music.

Filmmaker Catherine Gund’s documentary Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance will be screening at the Billy Wilder Theater as part of the Legacy Project screenings curated this season by Zackary Drucker. Gund, Athey and Drucker will be in person for this event.

La Luz are playing at the Teragram Ballroom with Summer Twins opening

Flora Wiegmann will be performing Reduction Burn, a series of movements with other dancers that reflect on the recent California fires, at Hammer Museum

The ‘B’ Girls, Death Valley Girls, and Kamila and the Karnivores are playing at Zebulon with performances and readings by Lydia Lunch, Carla Bozulich’s “Bloody Claws”

Saturday

Artists Nikita Gale and Candice Lin will be discussing Patrick Staff’s work during a 3pm tour of Made in L.A. 2018 at Hammer Museum

Blue Roof Studios is having a free daytime arts festival with artwork by over 60 artists, music, performances, an art makers bazaar and more

Self Help Graphics & Art is having its Annual Print Fair & Exhibition which includes free workshops and demos

The Getty’s free music night Off the 405 returns with Peaking Lights Family Band which includes drummer Onochie Chukwurah and dancers

FEELS and Hooveriii are playing a free show at the Levitt Pavilion in MacArthur Park

Grand Performances free programming continues with Secret Life of Muslims, an evening of live music, comedy and short films

Sudan Archives, Peanut Butter Wolf, MNDSGN, Jerry Paper, and more are playing Stones Throw Soul at 1720

Sunday

French indie pop quartet Juniore are playing at the Echoplex with Sonoda and Tangients

Get a special guided tour of Clifton’s historic restaurant with a book signing and discussion with the authors of 100 Things to Do in Los Angeles Before You Die, 2nd Edition to follow ($10)

Father John Misty is playing at the Hollywood Bowl with Gillian Welch and Big Thief

Spendtime Palace are playing at the Teragram Ballroom with Dr Danny and The No. 44 opening

Los Angeles Weekend Planner 5-25-17

Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Weekend Planner, Music

May 252017

Sleepy Sun- Seaquest

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/25-5/28/17)-

Thursday

Band of Horses are playing at the Greek Theatre with Frightened Rabbit

At LACMA artist Michael Mandiberg and artist/researcher Lior Zalmanson will discuss “the connection between digital arts and online labor including its recent manifestations: crowdsourcing and the gig economy” (free)

The New Division are playing at Union Nightclub with FYOHNA opening

The Oracle Film Series continues at The Broad with Bruce and Norman Yonemoto’s film Kappa, a collaboration with artist Mike Kelley, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Sud Pralad (Tropical Malady)

Pantha du Prince is playing at The Echo with Telefon Tel Aviv and Newman Wolf

No Parents are playing a show at The Hi Hat with C ROY, Dumb Fucks, Enemy and Musty Boyz

Friday

Constitutional Happy Hour returns to the Hammer Museum– the topic this week is immigrant rights

Ab-Soul is playing at the El Rey Theatre

It’s the last of the four part series Subject: Los Angeles at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater. The theme this week is Los Angeles on Shifting Ground and “will examine the city’s habit of erasure, as well as forms of collective recall, through disaster footage, visualizations of local wind patterns, documentation of lost neighborhoods and landmarks, contemporary marketing schemes for “historic downtown,” and a 16mm presentation of Thom Andersen’s GET OUT OF THE CAR (2010), with an introduction from Thom.”

Moaning are playing with Prettiest Eyes and more at The Smell

Wafia is playing at The Echo with Demo Taped opening

Saturday

Sleepy Sun are playing at The Hi Hat to celebrate their new record Private Tales, with Big Search opening

Artists Pippa Garner and Zackary Drucker will be in conversation at Redling Fine Art

The Bowtie Project is hosting Beginnings Marathon,” a performative collage of beginnings and unfinished narratives” with artist Vlatka Horvat. Bring your favorite book and read aloud from the first page ( it can be from any genre, and in any language) or you can just listen to the performance and enjoy s’mores around the fire pit.

Hitchcock’s North by Northwest is the film this week at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Or you could see Pulp Fiction outside of The Autry

Feminist collective PLAG (Play Like A Girl) is having an all ages, all day, all female and non-binary fronted music event at the Echoplex with Kitten headlining

Sunday

L.A. Zine Fest is at the California Market Center (free)

You can get your Memorial Day beach trip in and enjoy a festival at Fiesta Hermosa, the annual Hermosa Beach event (also Saturday and Monday)

French Vanilla are playing with Peach Kelli Pop, Mommy Long Legs and Rotten Blossom at The Smell

The Lovely Bad Things are playing at The Hi Hat with Wild Wing, The Red Pear, and Joos

Los Angeles Weekend Planner 2-9-17

Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Weekend Planner, Music

Feb 092017

Austra- I Love You More Than You Love Yourself

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (2/9-2/12/17)-

Thursday

Austra is playing at the El Rey Theatre with The Range

Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst will be discussing their six year photo collaboration at Annenberg Space for Photography (free but you have to register)

Downtown LA Art Walk returns for its monthly event

Artist Thomas Houseago will be discussing Max Ernst for MOCA’s Artists on Artists series at their Grand Avenue location (free)

Hanni El Khatib is playing at the Teragram Ballroom

Michael Nau is playing with Valley Queen at Resident

Mr. Elevator is having an album release party at The Echo with Vinyl Williams and Drugdealer

Friday

Wax Tailor is playing at The Fonda Theatre with L’Orange

The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica is showing The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie, with a discussion with cinematographer Tony Richmond to follow

Brazilian band Boogarins are playing at the Bootleg Theater with Winter opening

Mating Ritual is playing at The Hi Hat with Satchmode

Saturday

Clockshop and the National Park Service are having an afternoon of outdoor activities along the LA River at the Bowtie Project, including nature walks, a sculpting workshop, and a campfire with s’mores after sunset (free with RSVP)

NELA’s (Northeast LA) Second Saturday Gallery Night returns to Highland Park

Tyvek are playing at The Hi Hat with Fred Thomas

The Egyptian Theatre is hosting a double feature of David Lynch’s Wild at Heart and The Wizard of Oz

Heron Oblivion are playing with White Magic at the Bootleg Theater

Sunday

Animal Collective are playing a DJ set the Globe Theatre

LACMA CEO Michael Govan will be discussing furniture, art and architecture with Flavin Judd at LACMA’s Art Catalogues (free)

The Rose Bowl Flea Market returns for its monthly event

The Egyptian Theatre is showing Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Los Angeles Weekend Planner 7-7-16

Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Weekend Planner, Music

Jul 072016

The Light Surgeons- SuperEverything trailer

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (7/7-7/10/16)-

Thursday

Poolside is performing at the Hammer Museum’s free musical series Disappear Here

Alina Baraz is opening for Mayer Hawthorne at this week’s free concert at Santa Monica Pier and if you go make sure to check out the art installation Light Wave on view every Thursday in conjunction with the concerts

The Craft & Folk Art Museum is having its CraftNight- this time it’s making foam stamps to create block prints and patterns on fabric ($8 includes materials, drinks and snacks- RSVP here)

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and Black Lives Matter Network Art + Culture Director Tanya Lucia Bernard are in conversation at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA about their ideas and work as artists, activists, and organizers. (free)

Sam Gellaitry is playing at the El Rey Theatre

New Madrid are playing with The Electric West and Coco Morier at The Satellite

Friday

UK audio-visual artists The Light Surgeons are collaborating with a group of Malaysian artists and musicians for a free cinema performance of SuperEverything at the California Plaza as part of Grand Performances

Body Language are playing at Resident

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) is hosting Midnight Party, a free event celebrating the completion of artist Tim Youd’s storefront performance and the release of Artillery’s summer issue (11pm-2am)

Royal Headache are playing at The Echo with Toys That Kill and Zig Zags

Saturday

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros are playing a free show in Century Park outside the Annenberg Center for Photography for KCRW’s Sound in Focus Series (RSVP here)

Renegade Craft Fair returns to Grand Park (also Sunday)

Twisted at the Pike is the carnival themed event of Downtown Long Beach’s Summer and Music programming- this time with Gardens & Villa headlining

Mexrissey, who sing Morrissey songs in Spanish, are performing a free show at California Plaza as part of Grand Performances

Kevin Morby is performing a free show at The Getty for their Saturdays off the 405 music series

Sunday

Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst are discussing their book Relationship with Jack Halberstam at Skylight Books

Artist Jorge R. Guttierez is speaking at Gregorio Escalante Gallery in Chinatown (Good Luck Gallery and Coagula Curatorial are also having events that day)

Performance artists Dynasty Handbag, Seth Bogart and Robin Reiser are performing at El Cid for Weirdo Night

Odonis Odonis are playing at The Echo with Cloudland Canyon and Cellars

Los Angeles Weekend Planner 5-5-16

Los Angeles Weekend Planner, Music

May 052016

Bleached- Wednesday Night Melody

Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (5/5-5/8/16)-

Thursday

Bleached are playing at the Teragram Ballroom with NO PARENTS and Feels

Writer Lawrence Weschler will be speaking with painter Ramiro Gomez at the Hammer Museum

Beach Slang are headlining a show at the Troubadour

Juliana Barwick is playing at Highland Park Ebell with Mas Ysa

Friday

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals are performing a free show at Amoeba Hollywood

There’s a Prince Tribute at City Hall (free)

Cinefamily is closing their Underground USA film festival with Richard Linklater’s debut film Slacker

Friday and Saturday

The Pancakes & Booze Art Show returns to Los Angeles- $5 gets you free pancakes, along with art, musical performances and more

Friday through Sunday

Hammer Museum along with The Institute for Art and Olfaction and Luckyscent/Scent Bar is hosting the AIX Scent Fair with workshops and panels and a party on Saturday hosted by Zackary Drucker (free)

Saturday

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) is having Feminism 4.0, a panel discussion and launch party for Artillery’s May/June Photography Issue (free)

Grand Park is having Downtown Bookfest with performances, readings, activities and pop up bookshops

Big Freedia, aka The Queen of Bounce, is performing at The Regent

Saturday and Sunday

Echo Park Craft Fair returns to Mack Sennett Studios with high quality local vendors ($10)

RuPaul’s DragCon is at the LA Convention Center with celebrity guests, contestants from Drag Race, panel discussions, and more

Sunday

The Egyptian Theatre is having a double feature for Mother’s Day of Rosemary’s Baby and David Cronenberg’s The Brood

Unsparing Quality at Diane Rosenstein Fine Art

Art, Artists, Los Angeles Art Shows, Los Angeles Art Shows

Mar 222014

Luke Gilford / Zackary Drucker

Flawless Sabrina in Zackary Drucker’s film

Tim Hawkinson

Robert Therrien

There are twenty eight artists in the group show Unsparing Quality, curated by Farrah Karapetian, currently at Diane Rosenstein Fine Art. The title is derived from André Breton’s First Manifesto of Surrealism- “Beloved imagination, what I like most in you is your unsparing quality.”

From the press release:

The exhibition poses the question: where do Surrealist impulses manifest in contemporary practice, and why are we seeing this now? The response involves three generations of artists who engage the legacy of Surrealist practice and offer work that investigates the subtle madness of the ordinary world.

The idea of self plays an important role in the collaborative portraits by Zackary Drucker and Luke Gilford titled, This Is What It Looks Like (To Go From One Thing To Everything) pictured above (image via Luke Gilford). In Zackary Drucker’s film with Flawless Sabrina– At least you know: you exist (2010-11) the older and younger artist interact to give a sense of continuation in the exploration of identity.

In Tim Hawkinson’s Samoa (2013), the artist made a bronze cast of his body for the sculpture with chains linking his hands to his tongue. The joints of the chain extending from his mouth are made from casts of the artist’s tongue and lips, while the ones originating from his hands are from casts of his thumb and index finger. The sculpture poses questions about the nature of being an artist and its limitations with a surrealist approach.

Surrealism’s influence can also be seen in Robert Therrien’s beard sculptures. The larger size (pictured above) and a “beard cart” with varying sizes, some of which very small, offer a chance to question the idea of this prop and its potential uses.

The exhibition also includes work going as far back as the early 1920’s to demonstrate the ways in which artists have been exploring and continue to explore the “unsparing quality” of imagination.

On March 22 at 4pm, Zackary Drucker, Luke Gilford, Ray Barrett, Masood Kamandy, Mie Hørlyck Mogenson, Max Rain and Kim Schoen will be part of a panel discussion at the gallery.

You can watch an excerpt of Zackary Drucker’s film here- http://vimeo.com/39088646

Here is a link to Tim Hawkinson talking about his work for a show at Pace Gallery which included Samoa. He explains that the name for this sculpture came in part from the Girl Scout cookies his daughter was selling at the time.

http://blog.art21.org/2014/01/10/tim-hawkinson-keeps-art-in-the-family/#.Uy3LGF5fnU4