Must See Art

Lecture by Paul McCarthy at the UCLA Hammer Museum

Famed international king of chocolate sauce and ketchup — and professor in the art department at UCLA — Paul McCarthy gives a lecture at the Hammer Museum. Many of McCarthy’s filmed performances involve shit storms and bloodbaths as his characters enact some kind of primordial psychosexual display, even as they often have much “cleaner” associations like Pinocchio or Heidi. But this work goes much deeper than surface shock value, and explores realms of the human unconscious. McCarthy, who also works with sculpture and collage, has a tremendous and far-reaching influence on many artists working today. The lectures at the museum are free of charge and open to the public, but seating is first come, first served, so be sure to get there early.

10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. | www.hammer.ucla.edu | (310) 443-7000 | Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m.

Joel Tauber, My Lonely Tree (2007)(Courtesy Joel Tauber/Susanne Vielmetter)“Sick-Amour” by Joel Tauber at Susanne Vielmetter

Entering into Joel Tauber’s installation at Susanne Vielmetter is like watching a maniacal obsessive-compulsive actually do something productive with his disorder. Inspired by the Persian emperor Xerxes (who fell in love with a tree, adorned it with ornaments and assigned it a protective guard), Tauber has adopted a sycamore in the Rose Bowl parking lot. Tauber narrates the entire experience in a neurotic, Muppet-like voice on video monitors throughout the gallery, illustrating a blatantly romantic relationship with his chosen tree, as well as the ins and outs of the legal process involved in saving it. One of the most humorous and heroic pieces of this elaborate puzzle is a video of Tauber, dressed as a city worker, jackhammering the blacktop below the sycamore and installing tree guards to protect it from being hit by cars. Tauber’s project has received a lot of attention, and the city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl are working with him. You can make donations to help support the tree and Tauber’s project by contacting office@laxart.org.

5795 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City | www.vielmetter.com | (323) 933-2117 | Through April 28