Shana Nys DambrotFrom a drive-through art show in Hollywood to a drive-in dance series all across the city, tiny art, goth art, rainbow glitter art, meditative art, luminous abstract expressionism, zoomorphia, magic realism, film-based and historical minded streaming art, virtual Cold War flea market art, rock photographers supporting animal rights, a fanciful voting rights project — here’s what’s on our Arts Calendar this weekend.
DRIVEN
Thursday, October 1
DRIVEN: A Latinx Artist Celebration. Presented by Hyundai, The Art of Elysium and The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), DRIVEN is a drive-thru exhibit at the historic Hollywood Palladium. Chief Curator of MOLAA, Gabriela Urtiaga, and The Art of Elysium have collaborated to showcase some of today’s ground-breaking Latinx artists and musicians. This free, outdoor, drivable art experience features an audio track created by KCRW’s Raul Campos, played directly into vehicles. Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; Thursday, October 1 – Sunday, October 4, noon-8pm; free; universe.com.
The Coaster Show at Gallery 30 South
Coaster Show at Gallery 30 South. The 8th Anniversary of the world famous Coaster Show is happening right now at Gallery 30 South. With scores of miniature masterpieces on offer (works measure just 4×4 inches each) this destination event is famous for offering the work of all your current and future modern Pop favorites at shockingly accessible prices. Gallery 30 South, 30 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena; Opening Receptions: Thursday – Saturday, October 1-3, noon-9pm, Sunday, Oct. 4, noon-6pm, by timed ticketing; on view through Sunday, October 25, walk-ins welcome but reservations appreciated. gallery30south.com.
Jesse Draxler at NO Gallery
Jesse Draxler: Table of Losses at NO Gallery. Dark times call for dark art: rich blacks, bleak themes and angry words. Dark times also call for the dark arts: concocting rituals, casting spells, and brandishing symbols for protection and solace. Jesse Draxler’s newest exhibition Table of Losses layers these impulses, perfectly pitched to the individual and collective horror of the Covid-19 crisis. NO Gallery at Black Dragon Society, 961 Chung King Road, Chinatown; Opening day: Thursday, October 1, 3-8pm; on view Wednesday-Sunday, noon-5pm, through October 27; nogalleryla.com.
Heidi Duckler Dance: The Quest. Our favorite undeniably adventurous dance company invites you to ten days of safely-distanced celebrations, animated by original performances, distinguished honorees, and spectacular views of Los Angeles. Engaging audience participation in a search for truth in our environment, our memory, and the challenging present moment, HDD presents a fortnight of both Drive-In and Walk-Up site-specific dance pieces across the city landscape, with Saturday’s finale live-streamed as well. Thursday, October 1 – Saturday, October 10, daily at just after sunset; ten locations; tickets $35 single / $300 all ten; heididuckler.org.
Alteronce Gumby at Parrasch Heijnen
Friday, October 2
Alteronce Gumby: My Favorite Color is a Rainbow at Parrasch Heijnen. This new body of work, the majority of which was created by the New York-based artist this past summer in Los Angeles, is a distillation of Gumby’s awareness of and fascination with the manifestation of energies throughout the universe. Working with thousands of fractured glass shards, gemstones, pigments, and acrylic medium, these meticulously composed images radiate a proliferation of hyper chromatic activity. Reflections and refractions of glass shards and gemstones, upon surfaces spanning up to six feet, are activated upon interaction with light and motion. Each of the works reveals a fundamental interest in the energy of color. Parrasch Heijnen, 1326 S. Boyle Ave., Boyle Heights; October 2 – November 6, by appointment; parraschheijnen.com.
Patrisse Cullors at REDCAT
Patrisse Cullors: Malcolm Revisited at REDCAT. From the Crenshaw Dairy Mart artist collective focused on trauma-induced conditions of injustice, to scripting the season finale of Good Trouble on Hulu — a show about communities of color, women, queer, and trans folk living in Los Angeles — artist, organizer, and freedom fighter Patrisse Cullors thrives on speaking out through art alongside other inspiring creators. Patrisse relies on art to reflect social spaces in ways that words fall flat. This weekend is the premiere of Cullors’ Malcolm Revisited, a new commissioned video work recorded exclusively for REDCAT exploring the iconic historical figure, Malcolm X and the current impact of the movement for Black lives. REDCAT, Friday – Saturday, October 2-3, 8pm; online; free; redcat.org.
Choi Young Wook at Helen J Gallery
Saturday, October 3
Choi Young Wook at Helen J Gallery. Helen J Gallery’s inaugural exhibition features Korean artist Choi Young Wook’s recent pieces from his series of hyper-realistic, metaphor-rich paintings of moon jars (dalhangari), round ceramic vessels with roots in 18th century Korea. Despite the paintings’ photorealistic appearance, Choi’s intention is not to merely depict the jars in a lifelike manner; rather, each element is intuitively drawn, prompting Choi to reflect on and untangle the web of encounters in his life. Helen J Gallery, 929 Cole Ave., Hollywood; Saturday, October 3 – Friday, November 27, Wednesday – Saturday, 11am-5pm; helenjgallery.com.
Rurru Mipanochia, Vivi Tlazolteótl, 2018 (detail), in Ser todo Es ser parte/To Be Whole Is To Be Part (Courtesy of the artist and LACE)
Ser todo Es ser parte / To Be Whole Is To Be Part at LACE. Curated by Selene Preciado, this exhibition brings together a group of artists working fluidly within historical and contemporary traditions of drawing, illustration, graphic arts (including printmaking), street art, and muralism. Above all, these artists are connected by a seemingly shared aesthetic language, which is their depiction of hybrid beings that are part human, part zoomorphic pre-Columbian deities, or fully mutant gods walking on this earth, here and now. LACE, 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; October 3 – November 22, Sidewalk/Storefront viewing hours: Thursday & Sunday, noon-6pm, Friday & Saturday, 4-9pm; welcometolace.org.
Masakatsu Sashie at KP Projects
Masakatsu Sashie: The Patch at KP Projects. Masakatsu Sashie is well known for his intricately painted spheres that exist as self-contained worlds. The collapse of temporal space embodies globalism and a universal sense of being — both physically and philosophically. These vistas are often rendered as levitating orbs above landfills or cities in the distance, an amalgam of the remnants of human existence. KP Projects, 633 N. La Brea, Hollywood; Opening Reception: Saturday October 3, 1-6pm; on view through October 24, by appointment; kpprojectsgallery.net.
Tabita Rezaire, Premium Connect, 2017 at 18th Street Arts Center. (Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, South Africa)
we may seek cosmic marronage, but let’s remember our terrestrial obligations: 18th Street Arts Center’s Virtual Gala. A live-streamed evening of performance, video arts, and experimental film, curated by Jheanelle Brown, the benefit evening program opens with an activation by Ulysses S. Jenkins, moves into the film program, and wraps up with a talk with several of the artists. Brown described the program she curated saying, “The films and videos in this program deconstruct perceived truths and gesture towards the potential for remaking those truths in service of Black self-determination and a liberatory future.” Tickets above the viewing-only level include a selection of mysterious objects to be used interactively during Jenkins’ performance, as well as bespoke drinks by Muddle & Wilde and a dessert box by Southern Girls Dessert hand-delivered on the day of the event. Saturday, October 3, 7pm; tickets start at $100/$500; 18thstreet.org/event/gala2020.
Morrison Hotel Gallery
Sunday, October 4
World Animal Day fundraiser for Rational Animal at Morrison Hotel Gallery. Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, Debbie Harry, and Pete Townshend lead the charge for animal welfare through a benefit prints sale featuring works by dozens of the world’s most famous and infamous rock photographers. World Animal Day is Sunday, October 4. morrisonhotelgallery.com.
The Wende Museum
Virtual Exhibition Openings at the Wende Museum. A virtual opening to celebrate the launch of two new exhibitions: Transformations: Living Room -> Flea Market -> Museum -> Art and See Thy Neighbor: Stern Photographers Thomas Hoepker and Harald Schmitt in the GDR, presented via the 3-D platform Matterport. The program will feature remarks by Justinian Jampol, Founder and Executive Director of the Wende Museum; Joes Segal, Chief Curator and Director of Programming; Anna Rose Canzano, Exhibitions and Programming Associate; Michael Balot-Garza, Education Manager; an interview with Transformations muralist Alisa Simonel-Keegan; a panel discussion with Transformations artists Chelle Barbour, Ken Gonzales Day, Farrah Karapetian, Richtje Reinsma, Daphne Rosenthal, Jennifer Vanderpool, and Bari Ziperstein; and a discussion with Annette Vowinckel and See Thy Neighbor photographer Harald Schmitt. The program will culminate in the presentation of the virtual exhibition tour experience. Wende Museum online; Sunday, October 4, noon-2pm; free; wendemuseum.org.
Aram Han Sifuentes in her studio Photo by Tori Soper)
Aram Han Sifuentes: Voting for All Artist Talk at the Skirball. Sifuentes and Skirball curator Laura Mart discuss the online exhibition, The Official Unofficial Voting Station: Voting for All Who Legally Can’t. Sifuentes’s nationwide project both raises awareness of voter disenfranchisement and captures the voices of those who are unable to vote in US elections — including youth under 18, residents of U.S. territories, and, in some states, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Reflect on whose voices are valued in American democracy, reimagine voting accessibility, and expand your knowledge of U.S. history. Sunday, October 4, 4pm; free; skirball.org.
Heather Day, Fever Dream, 2020. (Courtesy of Diane Rosenstein)
Ongoing
Heather Day: Ricochet at Diane Rosenstein. Heather Day’s abstract canvases are both infused with the energy of the environment where they were made, and transcendent of all such circumstances. In one sense, her aesthetic is referential to its own world of painting, with influences of pioneers of early Ab Ex like Helen Frankenthaler and Sam Francis, and a studied, deliberate lexicon of palette and mark-making. A small smear in an otherwise dominant color field, a single arcing brush stroke whose thickness and temperature change from end to end, surface tensions created by layering color, technique, mediums, degrees of translucence, volatility of gesture, and the recession of negative space — all of this speaks to a conscious art historical and studio practice.
Heather Day, Slow Cursive, 2020. (Courtesy of Diane Rosenstein)
But at the same time, her eccentric palette and, in this series in particular, a geological organizing principle to the central forms and planes, do come from somewhere. This work was made earlier this year, as she first decamped from San Francisco to Joshua Tree at the start of the pandemic, experienced the spring and summer of bright blue sky and superblooms, followed by high desert wildfires, and returned home. Throughout the progression of the exhibition, it becomes increasingly easy to imagine her abstractions as evocative landscapes, and her foregrounded jaunty lines drawings as an exertion of control over a series of surreal phenomena. Diane Rosenstein, 831 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood; on view through October 24, by appointment; dianerosenstein.com.
Heather Day, Ricochet at Diane Rosenstein
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