Shana Nys Dambrot
Dance on film and dance in the park; very intimate live theater and hotly anticipated new gallery openings; a book launch with staged readings and an off-stage conversation with powerful women in acting and politics; open urban artist studios and an illuminated arts festival to open a new bridge; between art and basketball, and between feminism and social practice; creative approaches to the hot water of climate change and the tragic — and tragically relevant again — legacy of the Cold War.
Still of dancer Roderick George from Annexation Tango by Kandis Williams, 2020 (Getty Center. Photo: David Hale)
Thursday, April 7
Dancers on Film: Maya Deren in Context at the Getty Center. The groundbreaking filmmaker is considered among the great European and American avant-gardes; yet Deren’s films were also deeply influenced by the dances and rituals of Haiti and the African diaspora. Today’s program revisits Deren with a focus on the Black dancers in the films and the impact they had on their creative communities. Research specialist Kristin Juarez, scholar James Smalls, and multidisciplinary artist Kandis Williams screen films — including a selection of Deren shorts, experimental films from the 1930s and 1940s, and Williams’s Annexation Tango (2020) — and discuss the influence of Black dance within the lineage of experimental film. 1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood; Thursday, April 7, 4-5:30pm; free; getty.edu.
Everyday I’ll Hope at Voice Trax West
Friday, April 8
Everyday I’ll Hope at Voice Trax West. Bulletproof Bambi (Siobhán O’Loughlin) is finally achieving her dream: she’s directing, producing, and engineering her own sci-fi/fantasy audiobook, all by herself. This project is so important to her: she’s away from her controlling Only Fans manager as well as her rigorous schedule of creating infomercials for Tik-Tok and Instagram. She’s so supremely excited that you’ve been cast in her audiobook, and she can’t wait to direct you in the session! What could possibly go wrong? Join an audience of four people at time and put your headphones on for an immersive, interactive solo performance in a professional VO booth. 12215 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; Performances April 8, 10, 15, 16, 22 & 23; $50; siobhan.wellattended.com.
NFTs for Ukraine at The Gall3ry by Kollectiff
NFTs for Ukraine at The Gall3ry by Kollectiff. Jason Brahms (VideoGorillas) and artist Kelley Anderson created this unique project to raise money for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. The NFT collection includes artwork drawn by the children of Ukraine curated by Jason Brahms and Jeka Smolinska, art from a collective of established Ukrainian artists, and pieces created for this event by Anderson. All proceeds benefit NOVA Ukraine, in the hopes of inspiring people to take action to help end the war and support rebuilding efforts. 1324 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; Friday, April 8, 7-11pm; on view through April 13 by appointment and on OpenSea; free; kollectiff.com.
Julian Schnabel at Pace Gallery Los Angeles
Saturday, April 9
Julian Schnabel: For Esme with Love and Squalor at Pace Gallery. Mega outfit Pace Gallery inaugurates its new West Coast flagship in Los Angeles with 13 new velvet paintings and a large-scale bronze sculpture by the famous and infamous artist Julian Schnabel. Since the late 1970s, Schnabel’s experimental practice and use of unconventional materials has invented a new kind of painting. Schnabel’s latest exhibition manifests the need for optimism in the face of violence and despair. 1201 S. La Brea, Mid-City; April 9 – May 21; free; pacegallery.com.
Todd Westover at the Brewery Artwalk
Brewery Artwalk. A visual feast and spring fling energy prevails at the twice-annual Brewery Artwalk open studios weekend. Among the world’s largest art complexes, spread across the Brewery’s 16 acre campus of industrial adaptive reuse of ivy-covered factories, over 100 resident artists participate by opening their studios, hosting exhibitions, and a few special offbeat events — such as an installation of costumes designed by Michael Philpot for Stephen Keep Mills’ indie feature: Love Is Not Love. With architecture, ceramics, design, illustration, printmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, and more represented, come see behind the scenes of some eclectic creative spaces, meet the artists, and of course, collect. 2020 N. Main St., downtown; Saturday-Sunday, April 9-10, 11am-6pm; free; breweryartwalk.com.
RISK at Choice Contemporary
RISK at Choice Contemporary. After operating one of the world’s leading vintage animation art emporiums, Ari Goldman is making a move into contemporary art with the inaugural exhibition at his new Brentwood location. Choice Contemporary launches with a solo exhibition from the multi-talented artist RISK, an icon of West Coast Graffiti whose sculptural installations are as impactful as his murals and energetic paintings. For this special exhibition, the artist presents new neon works, his signature woven paintings, and multi-layered resin Buddhas. 11607 Barrington Ct., Brentwood; Saturday, April 9, 6-10pm; free; instagram.com/choicecontemporary.
Light Projections by Ryan Patrick Griffin at the Taylor Yard Bridge
Illuminate the Night: Taylor Yard Bridge Opening Party at L.A. River Greenway Trail (Outdoor). A free community event to celebrate the opening of the Taylor Yard Bridge and its joining of Elysian Valley and Cypress Park. Performances by Mariachi La Victoria, Xipe Totec Aztec dance, MASH UP Contemporary Dance Company, live art projections, free Epic Taco Truck, and a Literary Lounge featuring writers, poets, music and more; it all begins at the bridge and moves along Blake Ave. past Bermudez Projects and other groovy art and culture spots, ending up at Frogtown Brewery for Angelo Metz Jazz Trio and a screening of the 2021 Lewis MacAdams Prize video. Organizers encourage you to bike or walk, and to “bring the light” by wearing or carrying some, decorating in whatever luminous way you want, except fire, probably. Saturday, April 9, 6-10pm; free; evartscollective.com.
dublab
Dublab Creative Cultivation Salon. A vibrant evening amongst the most creative Angelenos for the annual Creative Cultivation Salon. Experience live music, DJ sets, and video art, while also enjoying specialty drinks and bites at our new location. Guest of Honor: Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother); Keynote Speakers: JF Chen’s Joel and Bianca Chen; Music by: Drum & Lace, Dwight Trible and John Tejada. Proceeds from go toward building dublab’s studios in their new studio home, as well as supporting dublab’s broader mission in freeform radio. 1035 W. 24th St., downtown; Saturday, April 9, 6-10pm; from $150; dublab.com.
Christopher Soto at Beyond Baroque (Cover art by photographer Fabian Guerrero)
Christopher Soto: Diary of a Terrorist Book Launch at Beyond Baroque. Soto’s debut poetry collection (Copper Canyon Press) uses the “we” pronoun to emphasize that police violence happens not only to individuals but to entire communities. His poetics open the imagination towards possibilities of existence beyond the status quo. Soto asks, Who do we call terrorist — and why? These political surrealist poems shift between gut-wrenching vulnerability, laugh-aloud humor, and unapologetic queer punk raunchiness. Diaries of a Terrorist is groundbreaking in its ability to speak — from a local to a global scale — about one of the most important issues of our time. 681 Venice Blvd., Venice; Saturday, April 9, 7-9pm; free; beyondbaroque.org.
Farrah Karapetian: Lightguardhouse at Wende Museum
Sunday, April 10
New Exhibitions at the Wende Museum. The Medium is the Message: Flags and Banners combines Cold War-era political textiles from communist countries with contemporary artworks offering critical reflection on the present. Martin Roemers: Relics of the Cold War chronicles 1998-2009, when the Dutch photographer observed the structural and topographic remnants of the Cold War in both the East and West. His research took him to Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, where he documented underground tunnels, abandoned army bases, military training areas, rotting tanks, and destroyed monuments. In the Guardhouse, Farrah Karapetian: Lightguardhouse, transforming the aluminum guardhouse that once sat outside the ADN headquarters in East Berlin into a lighthouse, changing a gesture of suspicion into a gesture of welcome. 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City; April 10 – October 23; free; wendemuseum.org.
Dominique Zeltzman at Winslow Garage
Dominique Zeltzman at Winslow Garage. In her L.A. premier, Baltimore based video installation and performance artist Dominique Zeltzman presents two videos and a 2D work through which she explores domesticity, imposter syndrome, and the female body. In the video Balance, she contrasts the sexy femme executive with the eccentric domestic. In Memorial Shoes, she takes solace in fashion while reckoning with the death of her mother. And, in the work Continuum, she presents frames from her video installation Radical Home where she explores the container as a social construct while creeping, crawling, crouching, and scurrying along a perimeter of NYT disaster scenes and banal images of her house. 3540 Winslow Dr., Silverlake; Opening: Sunday, April 10, 2-5pm; free; winslowgarage.com.
Pasadena Playhouse
In Conversation: Cecile Richards & Holland Taylor at Pasadena Playhouse (Live and Streaming). Cecile Richards and Holland Taylor come together for a dynamic, free-flowing conversation about leadership, legacy and creating change in these times… or anything else that enters the minds of the two cultural trailblazers. Daughter of Texas Governor Ann Richards — whose life is celebrated in the current production of Ann starring Taylor — Cecile Richards (Co-founder of Supermajority, co-chair of American Bridge, and former President of Planned Parenthood) joins Holland Taylor (The Chair, Hollywood, Two and a Half Men) centerstage at the Playhouse as the Hollywood legend prepares to take on the Texas star one final time. Sunday, April 10, 5pm; In-person $25, live-stream free; pasadenaplayhouse.org.
Ocean Research-Creation at Beall Center
Monday, April 11
Ocean Research-Creation at the Beall Center for Art & Technology (Live & Virtual). In anticipation of Pacific Standard Time 2024 — a forthcoming series of exhibitions focused on intersections between science and art — this panel conversation brings together artists, scientists, and curators pursuing interdisciplinary research and creation in, on, around, and about the ocean. Featuring Nyssa Silbiger (CSU Northridge); Cassandra Coblentz; Matthew Bracken (UCI), and Lisa Cartwright (UC San Diego). Moderated by Jesse Colin Jackson (UCI). Organized by UCI ecology and evolutionary biology graduate students Lauren Lees and Raechel Hill. Ocean Research-Creation is the final event in the 2022 Beall Center Art + Ecology series. 712 Arts Plaza, Irvine; also on Zoom; Monday, April 11, 4:30-6:30pm; free; beallcenter.uci.edu.
Suzanne Lacy with Meg Parnell in the performance piece Cleaning Conditions, 2013. (Getty Center. Photo by Alan Seabright)
Tuesday, April 12
Suzanne Lacy: Between Feminism and Social Practice at the Getty Center (Virtual). Reflecting on four decades of a singular practice in which she questions the subjects and aesthetics of performance art and how it operates in public, Lacy presents a brief historical review of her work as well as recent projects. Focusing on ethics, communication, and new art forms, she argues that contemporary social practice art draws heavily on feminist practices, including consciousness raising, expanding audiences, inclusion strategies, and naming the political in the personal. Tuesday, April 12; 6pm; free; getty.edu.
Du Yun at REDCAT (Photo: Zhen Qin)
Wednesday, April 13
Du Yun: In Our Daughter’s Eyes at REDCAT. In a new one-person opera by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun, the story is told through the perspective of a new father, showing his journey as he wrestles with becoming a man that his daughter would be proud of. He imparts passages from the journal he keeps — a gift for his unborn daughter — as the moments unfold. The story traces his wife’s joyful and fraught pregnancy, the legacy of the family’s past, and the personal demons that he vows to vanquish. 631 W. 2nd St., downtown; Wednesday-Thursday, April 13-14, 8pm; Saturday, April 16, 8pm; Sunday, April 17, 5pm; $74; redcat.org.
LA State Historic Park
Donna Sternberg & Dancers: Navigating the River at LA State Historic Park (Outdoor). Activating special nooks and verdant crannies of Chinatown’s State Historic Park, dancers lead audiences on a walk where stone benches become pedestals, dry beds evoke the days when the river flowed freely, groves of trees become the perfect place for hide and seek. This free performance will delight your senses as we meander through this beautiful park. Wear sunscreen and comfy shoes and prepare to experience the park, its eclectic settings and the downtown skyline in a whole new way. 1245 N. Spring St., Chinatown; Wednesday, April 13, 12:15pm under the bridge; free; dsdancers.com.
Charly Palmer, Contemplating Next (In The Paint at Band of Vices)
Ongoing
In the Paint at Band of Vices. The Lakers may be out of the playoffs, but they’ve still got more to contribute to the city this season. In the Paint (ITP) is an organizational initiative stemming from the Lakers’ 6-point Racial Equity Plan, which seeks to recognize and support the creative talent of L.A.-based BIPOC artists, and Band of Vices is happy to be a part of ITP as it aligns with the gallery’s core mission of providing opportunities to undervalued people and communities, especially through the storytelling power of the visual arts. Works by Antonio Pelayo, Travion Payne, Obi Oduah, Ehsaan Mesghali, Kiara Aileen Machado, Patrick Henry Johnson, Buena Johnson, Gabe Gault, Jarrett Camp, Da’kise Boyd, Chantee Benefield, Ryan Bautista, Moses Ball, Ande Ajibade, Oladigbolu Phemi Adeniran, and ITP Featured Artist and Creative Director Charly Palmer are on view at BoV’s Sacred House. 5351 W. Adams Blvd., West Adams; through April 16; free; bandofvices.com.
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