Shana Nys Dambrot
Porcelain against evil, music-inspired video collage, spoken word at the museum, an art film benefit for eco-justice, mixed media paintings about, and with materials from, home; paintings inspired by ikebana, memories of home, weather systems, the constantly changing city, and a folklore of everyday visitations; an art-infused walk along the river, a night of short stories about the river, a sound-based diaspora community diary, two weeks of cheap theater tickets across the region, three decades of obeying the giant, and more, more, more.
Robert Russell: Lamb Model 107, 2022 (Anat Ebgi Gallery)
Thursday, March 9
Robert Russell: Porzellan Manufaktur Allach at Anat Ebgi. Russell is a conceptual painter whose work returns to ideas of memory, iconography, and mortality in a personal painting language that is attentive to beauty, the history of art, and the role of photography. His newest series depicts Allach porcelain figurines produced by forced labor in Nazi concentration camps and factories. On the surface the beautiful imagery provides viewers with the opportunity for quiet reflection, while the reality of their origin turns thoughts to the nature of evil. 6150 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile; Opening reception: Thursday, March 9, 5-8pm; On view through April 22; free; anatebgi.com.
Cauleen Smith: Black Utopia LP (Hammer Museum)
Cauleen Smith: Black Utopia LP at the Hammer Museum. In its first L.A. presentation since 2013, Black Utopia LP combines 35mm slide projection with the artist’s own vinyl LP into a 90-minute “film without film” that is both a passionate reflection and a mashup of contemporary African diaspora culture. The performance involves history, music, outer space and African divination, and it especially serves as an homage to the great avant-garde jazz musician Sun Ra. Each time the piece is performed Smith creates new slides pertaining to the political moment and current locale, including material recorded in Los Angeles. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Thursday, March 9, 7:30pm; free; hammer.ucla.edu.
Strong Words Live at the Autry Museum
Strong Words: Voices of the City at the Autry. Strong Words is a monthly community gathering where diversity is encouraged and embraced through storytelling, music, and art. Tonight’s intimate evening of storytelling, art, and music is inspired by the theme of Migration and Movement. Stories by Russell Alexander-Orozco, Annabelle Gurwitch, Marlene Nichols, Carla Rudy, Sandra Tsing Loh, Sholeh Wolpé; Music by Our Last Summer. 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park; Thursday, March 9, 7:30pm; $10; theautry.org.
Stanya Kahn at 2220 Arts + Archives
Stanya Kahn, Kevin Jerome Everson, Alanis Obomsawin at 2220 Arts + Archives. In solidarity with the March 4–11 week of mobilization to Stop Cop City, Rotations presents a rare screening of Stanya Kahn’s feature, Stand in the Stream (2011–17), accompanied by potent films from artist and filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson (including a California premiere) and the legendary Alanis Obomsawin. The hope is also to raise funds for the release and legal defense of recently incarcerated forest defenders, ever-conscious of the larger movement to fight what’s become inextricable—ecological destruction and racialized violence—in South Atlanta, Georgia, and beyond. 2220 Beverly Blvd., Westlake; Thursday, March 9, 8pm; $20; 2220arts.org/events.
Fortune Sitole at Roth + Taylor
Fortune Sitole: Day to Day at Roth + Taylor. “Fashioning my work as homage to my ancestors, family and community, these pieces are a reminder of the day-to-day life in black South African townships,” says Sitole. “But shanties exist throughout the world and my art actually tells a story of the universality of poverty. I want to foster an awareness of the conditions suffered by South Africans, who create makeshift shelters by optimizing outside space and leftover materials – metal, tires, stones, etc., whatever they can find to build their homes.” In one innovative part of his process, Sitole includes these unconventional materials themselves in his evocative compositions. 6023 Washington Blvd., Culver City; Opening reception: Thursday, March 9, 6-9pm; On view through April 1; free; instagram.com/rothandtaylor.
Dinh Q. Lê: I am Large, I Contain Multitudes, 2009. Bicycle, steel, mirrors, at USC Pacific Asia Museum (Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation Courtesy of Dinh Q. Lê and P·P·O·W, New York)
Friday, March 10
ArtNight Pasadena. ArtNight is a free evening of art, music, and entertainment for which Pasadena’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions offer free exhibitions, performances, and special activations. Highlights include programs at the ongoing mixed media installation at Armory Center for the Arts, newly opened exhibitions at ArtCenter galleries, a brand new show and opening night courtyard party at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, light projections at City Hall, jazz and food trucks at the Jackie Robinson Community Center, an open rehearsal at Parson’s Nose Theater, live music at the Pasadena Conservatory, taiko drumming at Shumei Arts Council, architecture tours of the Gamble House, and so much more. Various downtown Pasadena locations; Friday, March 10, 6-10pm; free; cityofpasadena.net/artnight.
Shepard Fairey: Make Art Not War, 2019 Ed. 1/19. In Facing the Giant – Three Decades of Dissent: Shepard Fairey at Laguna Art Museum
Saturday, March 11
Facing the Giant—Three Decades of Dissent: Shepard Fairey at the Laguna Art Museum. The exhibition features a selection of key works culled from thirty years that highlight how Fairey has developed an intentionally accessible visual style that speaks broadly by pulling from visual history to address critical issues. Many of the works depict the struggle against oppression as an endemic human experience. The title Facing the Giant references Fairey’s insanely popular early stickers of Andre the Giant, which generated more than a million copies distributed around the world—but also the scale of very real social imbalances the work has gone on to confront. 307 Cliff Dr., Laguna Beach; On view March 11 – June 4; $12; lagunaartmuseum.org.
Asuka Anastacia Ogawa: Sleepy, 2022, at Blum & Poe (© Asuka Anastacia Ogawa, Photo by Sai Tripathi)
Asuka Anastacia Ogawa: pedra at Blum & Poe. Ogawa dives further into her investigations of the spirituality that pulses though the natural world, the artist’s studies in ikebana, and the foremost religions in Japan. Ogawa deploys her signature childlike figures, in scenes of quiet meditation or rituals centered around natural talismans. Drawing on her knowledge of polytheist and animist practices in Japan and Brazil—where Ogawa spent her formative years—the artist paints a magical world filled with spirit guides and plants with supernatural powers. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City; Opening reception: Saturday, March 11, 5-7pm; Prior to Saturday’s opening reception, the artist hosts mochi ceremonies with incense and tea at 11am, noon, 2pm, 3pm & 4pm, free with required registration; On view through April 15; free; blumandpoe.com.
Pat Phillips: Sundown Town, 2022, acrylic, pilot marker, collage, reflective glass beads, airbrush, aerosol paint on unstretched canvas on panel, 94 x 114 inches (M+B)
Pat Phillips: Strange Suburb at M+B. “I often use painting as a way to unpack memories, past traumas, and experiences that seemed pretty normal by 90’s/early 2000’s standards,” writes the artist. “From assimilation to retaliation, this series depicts a body as it navigates through a hospitable, yet hostile environment of the American South. Permeated with cultural iconography, cartoon characters, and personal imagery…these paintings create a hypertension of cultural clashes.” Phillips also organized the group show Drop-In, featuring six artists exploring identity, power dynamics, and societal constructs, reframing symbols and imagery to unveil new perspectives. 612 N. Almont Dr., West Hollywood; Opening reception: Saturday, March 11, 6-8pm; On view through April 15; free; mbart.com.
Judy Baca: Chavez Ravine and the Division of the Chicano Community (Great Wall of Los Angeles)
L.A. River Public Art: Mile 40: Judith Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles. Experience art, culture, and place along the 51 miles of the LA River. In the spirit of Hyonaayn’ar—a Tongva word that means both teacher and student–participants will learn about the River’s ephemeral histories and imagine its theoretical ecological futures, all while exploring diverse cultural responses to the River and the LA Basin. The series’ third session visits Baca’s epic mural, which has been created by Baca’s public art non-profit, the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), beginning in 1978 with the help of over 400 community youths and artists. SPARC will take the lead again in guiding this walking tour of the 1/2 mile long mural. Coldwater Canyon & Burbank Blvd.; Saturday, March 11, 10am-1pm; $32.40-$38.77 (includes lunch); lariverpublicartproject.org.
Ramekon O’Arwisters: Bitten #4, 2022, ceramic shards, fabric, beads, zip ties, 19.5 x 18.5 x 14 inches (Patricia Sweetow Gallery)
A Chorus of Twisted Threads: Sarah Amos, John Paul Morabito, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Michael Sylvan Robinson at Patricia Sweetow Gallery. The intention and language of their work differ, but all are forging new boundaries with fiber. Morabito, Robinson and O’Arwisters’ work unfolds metaphoric dramas of gay, secular and devotional life, while Amos delves into large scale collagraphs as the foundation for complex fiber constructions; Opening: 3:30-7pm. Robert Pruitt: Goodnight Prometheus and Esther Pearl Watson: A Very Luminous Vision at Vielmetter Los Angeles. Pruitt is known for life-sized portraits that weave past, present, and future into transcontinental, intergalactic, and intergenerational tapestries. Dappled with starry night skies, cascading comets, and sparkling UFOs, Watson’s memory paintings incorporate curious communications with an eccentric narrator; Opening 4-6pm. Robert Gunderman: Place Like You at Wilding Cran. Holding the belief that everything is connected on a molecular level, Gunderman’s oil paintings of landscapes, weather systems, flora, and fauna, embrace duality, bifurcation, and paradox in order to capture the infinity of relationships held within a moment of time; Opening 4-6pm. 1700 S. Santa Fe, downtown; Opening receptions: Saturday, March 11; exhibitions remain on view through April; free; patriciasweetowgallery.com; vielmetter.com; wildingcran.com.
Robert Pruitt at Vielmetter Los Angeles
Esther Pearl Watson at Vielmetter Los Angeles
Robert Gunderman at Wilding Cran
Yasmine Nasser Diaz: Still from “the sound of your voice is home,” 2022, at the Getty Center (Courtesy the artist and OCHI Projects. Photo: Deen Babakhyi)
Sunday, March 12
the sound of your voice is home: Yasmine Nasser Diaz in Conversation with Ikram Lakhdhar at the Getty Center. Yasmine Nasser Diaz builds a world by and for the South West Asian and North African diaspora and beyond, turning oral communications between distant loved ones into an immersive soundscape. Cassette tapes sent between her family in Yemen and Chicago inspired this nostalgic installation of ritualized correspondence to document the evolving ways diasporic communities maintain connectivity and share memories, shedding light on how art and stories migrate through cultures, time, and space. Following the screening, Diaz will be joined in conversation with curator Ikram Lakhdhar. After the talk, attendees are invited to the Getty Research Institute for a reception and to record their own traditions of familial communication, contributing to a growing collection of diaspora soundbites. 1200 Getty Center Dr., Museum Lecture Hall, Brentwood; Sunday, March 12, 1pm; free; getty.edu.
Cirque du Soleil: Corteo
Monday, March 13
[EXTENDED] Greater L.A. Theater Week. Thirty performing arts organizations and venues in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Valley—including Center Theatre Group, Broadway in Hollywood, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pasadena Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, La Mirada Theatre, East West Players, A Noise Within, and BroadStage—come together to create affordable access to over 75 productions. Increasing access to the performing arts and cultivating a new generation of theatergoers, 25 of the shows are priced at $20 or under, with many more under $50 on everything from comedies to dramas, musicals, secret gardens, and even the circus. More than 75 productions offer special & discount tickets between March 13- April 2; theatreweek.com/los-angeles.
Karla Klarin (Angel City Press)
Wednesday, March 15
Karla Klarin: L.A. Painter: The City I Know / The City I See at Book Soup. L.A. Painter (Angel City Press) is an autobiographical exploration of works by acclaimed artist Karla Klarin. The book is a full-color exploration of Klarin’s abstract and modern landscapes of L.A., where she was born, raised, watched four decades of change, and became one of the city’s most influential painters. This first full monograph of her work is accompanied by ten essays that define her hometown—a city of moving parts and people that exist within a geometry of impressive expanse and beauty. 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Wednesday, March 15, 7pm; free/book $40; booksoup.com.
K Allado-McDowell at NeueHouse Bradbury
Air Age Blueprint: A sonic experience by K Allado-McDowell, presented by Berggruen Institute at NeueHouse Bradbury. An immersive sonic experience and live gong-piano performance by K Allado-McDowell (along with their AI writing partner Chat GPT-3) weaving fiction, memoir, theory, and travelog into animist cybernetics. A young filmmaker’s life is disrupted by a fateful encounter with a Peruvian healer. Called to twin paths of artistic creation and mystic truth-seeking, they set out on a transcontinental journey. They meet K, a double agent working between art and technology, who invites them to test a secret program called Shaman.AI. This human-machine experiment, rooted in magic, produces a key to rewriting reality. 304 S. Broadway, downtown; Wednesday, March 15, 6:30pm; free; rsvp.neuehouse.com/berggrueninstituteandneuehouse.
Friends of the L.A. River
Fifty-One Miles: Los Angeles River Story Slam at Frogtown Brewery. Fifty-One Miles and Friends of the L.A. River (FOLAR) host a night of 5-minute stories to share personal connections to the river to celebrate what—and who—makes the L.A. River so special. Fifty-One Miles is a team of landscape architecture students and a documentary filmmaker, partnered with FOLAR and Nova Community Arts, working to document the human side of the river. This event is scheduled on the evening of Day 3 of a 6-day walk down its entire length. 2931 Gilroy St., Frogtown; Wednesday, March 15, 7pm; free; calendar.usc.edu.
CJ Hendry in Copright Infringement posting the location of a box to her IG story in Mexico City (Photo courtesy of D’Marie Productions)
Now Streaming
Copyright Infringement: The Documentary. Contemporary artist CJ Hendry creates a global scavenger hunt for her artwork in her annual exhibition, Copyright Infringement. The debut feature documentary from D’Marie Productions explores the law of copyright infringement, social media, and the value systems of the contemporary art market, through the lens of Hendry’s international interactive statement-making art game in New York, Mexico City, Chicago, Brisbane, and London. Watch now for free at dmarieproduction.com.
Hermes Berrío: Pink Sky Pics! Pink Sky Pics Everywhere (diptych), 2022, mixed media on canvas, 97 x 156 in (M+B)
Karla Klarin at Book Soup
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