Shana Nys Dambrot
Dance and design hold the center this week, with a panoply of architectural events, exhibitions and festival dedicated to progressive functional object-making, dance and performance art at the cutting edge of contemporary, in the halls of the train station, and at the intersection of landscape and community, and a historic site haunted by sound and movement. Plus queer magic tricks and animated shorts, trans poets, a queer writers festival, books and plays in the park, a downtown block party and a Hollywood rooftop party, new gallery shows exploring the abstract edges of nature, psyche, and industry, a trove of video art by women of color, and more. Plus don’t forget to check the regularly updated L.A. Weekly Pride Guide all month for more reasons to put on your dancing shoes
LA Design Festival: Sympathetic Resonance by Lachlan Turczan, at ROW DTLA (Photo courtesy of Studio Lachlan Turczan)
Thursday, June 22
LA Design Festival at Helms Bakery and ROW DTLA. A citywide, interdisciplinary celebration of Los Angeles’ deep design culture and community, LADF amplifies the voices of creatives and designers from all backgrounds and practices. Headquartered at ROW DTLA and Helms Bakery District in Culver City, with an outpost in Long Beach, LADF 2023 gathers local and global creatives for collaborative engagement and conversation. The majority of programs are free and open to the public and will encompass studio tours, panel discussions, salons, curated exhibitions, experiential installations, pop-ups, and a block party. Thursday, June 22 – Sunday, June 25; Exhibitions at both downtown and Culver City locations open 10am-4pm daily; check website for event schedules at all locations; mostly free; ladesignfestival.org.
LA Dance Project: Summer Dances
Summer Dances at L.A. Dance Project. L.A. A program that showcases 3 important contemporary visions of American dance. 5 Live Calibrations, a ballet by Madeline Hollander, is composed of five movements inspired by physical techniques for calibration, re-orientation, geo-location, and balance, as practiced on human, industrial, and cosmic scales. Quartet for Five by Bobbi Jene Smith + Or Schraiber adheres to the formal outline of Glass’ quartet, as five people unravel what is hidden between them. In Everyone Keeps Me by Pam Tanowitz a combination of intentional unpredictability, whimsical complexity and natural drama creates a clever weaving of movement, music, and space. 2245 E. Washington Blvd., downtown; Performances Thursday, June 22 – Saturday, July 1; $25-$45; ladanceproject.org.
Silver Lake Shorts (Art by Bill Cleveland)
“Queers Performing Tricks” and Queer Animated Shorts at Plummer Park Community Center. AC Smith and Silverlake Shorts produce a night of video and live body performance works and (magic) tricks by non-binary and trans artists. Hosted by C. Bain and presenting Caleb Craig, stephanie mei huang, Vaughan Larson, WAWY WUS TUB (Dallas Havoc, Kate Renshaw-Lewis, and Arius Ziaee), Zenaido Zamora, and a non-magical elf. Featuring Shy Ronnie’s West Hollywood drag king debut. 1166 N. Vista St., West Hollywood; Thursday, June 22, 6:30-9pm; free; weho.org.
Huntrezz
Illegal Bodies, Unspoken Words: An Evening of Trans* Poets at Stories Books and Cafe. Curated by Emily Lucid, the evening features readings and performances by a dynamic range of literary and media voices such as Niko, Mz. Neon, Marval A. Rex, Emji Saint Spero, Huntrezz, Emily Lucid, and Edgar Fabian Frias. 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park; Thursday, June 22nd, 7-8:30pm; free; storiesla.com.
Temporal, installation view at Tappan Collective
Temporal at Tappan Collective. The newest exhibition the advisory’s recently inaugurated Los Angeles Space celebrates the intricate relationship between the passage of time and the transformative power of nature. Explore how time itself births the composition of art and the profound impact it has on creative expression.With depictions of changing seasons, brush strokes that epitomize the tides of life, and ethereal sculptures portraying the stillness of time, each artwork represents its own unique dance to nature’s ever-changing rhythms. 8200 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; Opening reception: Thursday, June 22, 6-9pm; free; tappancollective.com.
Devon DeJardin: Before The Fall (Courtesy of UTA Artist Space. Photo by Jeff-Mclane)
Friday, June 23
Devon DeJardin: In the Shadows at UTA Artist Space. With a background studying spiritual traditions from around the world, and an appreciation for the emotional, muscular abstraction of Picasso, Nevelson, Duchamp, Krasner, DeJardin’s paintings, drawings, and sculpture reference the body, forces of nature, and the application of philosophy to lived experience. With a sense of geometry that is both architectural and organic, and a refined palette that highlights the life of the mind, DeJardin muses on strength, fragility, control, and surrender. 403 Foothill Rd., Beverly Hills; Opening Reception: Friday, June 23, 6-8pm; On view through July 29; free; utaartistspace.com.
Farah Atassi: Mechanical Cabaret 2, 2023. Oil and enamel on canvas, 98.5 x 70.75 inches (Courtesy of Francois Ghebaly Gallery)
Farah Atassi: Mechanical Cabaret at Francois Ghebaly. The French-Syrian artist Farah Atassi uses the language of Cubism and the legacy of modernist masters to render views of everyday life. Through a meticulous collage of sourced imagery, graphic patterns and fragments of art history, she creates thick paintings incorporating a dense layering of oil and glycerol geometric forms. A new exhibition presents two distinct but interrelated bodies of work, each demonstrating the artist’s recent explorations in composition and art-historical genealogy. 2245 E. Washington Blvd., downtown: Opening reception: Friday, June 23, 5-8pm; On view through July 22; free; ghebaly.com.
Ron Arad: New Orleans #8 (Courtesy of Carpenters Gallery)
CHAOS at Carpenters Workshop. A group show curated by Alexander May of SIZED Studio marking one year since the launch of the Carpenters Workshop physical gallery space in Los Angeles, this exhibition is curated to illustrate the breadth of the gallery’s collaborative approach in all forms of artistic expression, using form and function as a guiding principle. The show encompasses the work of over 20 renowned artists, including Ingrid Donat, Sterling Ruby, Vincenzo De Cotiis, Thomas Houseago, Victor Barragan, Suda Kokuta and Rick Owens. 7070 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; Opening reception: Friday, June 23, 6-9pm; On view through September 9; free; carpentersworkshopgallery.com.
Tre’vell Anderson
Los Angeles LGBT Center presents Stories of Pride with Tre’vell Anderson at the Academy Museum. A conversation with author Tre’vell Anderson about LGBTQIA+ history and portrayal in cinema explores films, identity, and representation throughout the Academy Museum and film history. Followed by an in-person book signing of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film. A groundbreaking look at the history of transgender representation in TV and film since the beginning of moving images. 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile; Friday, June 23, talk at noon, free; signing at 1pm, $27 includes a signed copy of We See Each Other; academymuseum.org.
American Gurl, Presented by Womxn in Windows at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles
Saturday, June 24
Womxn in Windows presents American Gurl at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles. Womxn in Windows, a platform whose mission is to share the perspectives of women of color through video art, film, and performance, presents an ongoing curatorial project featuring work that explores all shades of American Dreaming. Co-curated by Zehra Zehra and Kilo Kish, American Gurl continues themes from Kish’s musical work of the same title. This installment takes shape in eight films by intergenerational artists with curiosity around the perspectives and nuances within the Black feminine experience, and our relationships to beauty, success, freedom, and power in America. 901 E. Third St., downtown: Opening reception: Saturday, June 24, 6-9pm; On view through July 30; free; hauserwirth.com.
MAPPING Performance: 10 Years of Metro Art Presents
MAPPING Performance: 10 Years of Metro Art Presents at Union Station. Commemorating 10 years of arts and cultural programming inspired by the greater Los Angeles area and the people Metro serves each day, Metro Arts celebrates this milestone with percussion-driven music and dance. Saturday will highlight Southeast Asian traditions and diasporic artists who bring their cultural backgrounds into contemporary practices; while Sunday’s highly participatory program highlights Afro-Brazilian traditions, such as capoeira, which blends music, dance, and acrobatics, as well as samba-reggae. 800 N. Alameda St., downtown; Saturday-Sunday, June 24-25; free; art.metro.net.
The Comeback Fest at Art Share L.A.
The Comeback Fest at Art Share L.A. A community festival and block party celebrating Los Angeles creatives through art, music, poetry, film and food, featuring two stages of live bands, poets, dancers, and DJs; 40 local artisanal vendors; live painting and art activations in the streets of the Arts District and the theaters and classrooms inside; plus Open Studios and Gallery programming inside Art Share’s exhibition spaces. Locals Only features eclectic work by the Art Share tenants in the perimeter gallery, and in the main space is an exhibition of artwork by the Ellsworth Artist Residency cohort. 801 E. 4th Pl., downtown; Saturday, June 24, 3-8pm; free; artsharela.org.
Gusmano Cesaretti: Klique Dance at the Alexandria Hotel Ballroom III; Downtown Los Angeles, 1975
Gusmano Cesaretti: Alone in the Company of Others at Eastern Projects. For an artist whose inspirations are the ignored and unloved, Los Angeles is the land of endless gifts. Worlds away from the cathedrals of his native Tuscany, he becomes a photographer of religion in its deepest form. Every photograph is a sculpture, as textured as the sidewalks the artist travels to find gold for his lens. Crumpled newsprint is more exquisite than virgin paper. A wall disfigured by graffiti is purer than one untouched. These are his convictions and he speaks through images. The show consists of over 60 photos from across his various series, shot over the last 50 years. 900 N. Broadway, Chinatown; Opening reception: Saturday, June 24, 5-10pm; On view through August 5; free; easternprojectsgallery.com.
Linda Arreola: U Lost I Won, diptych, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2021
Linda Arreola: Abstract Wanderings from the L.A. Borderlands at Avenue 50 Studio. “This body of work represents the years from 2020-23—a period of intense introspection,” writes the artist. “During this time my work developed in new ways. It became more vocal. Words became important messengers, touching many social and personal topics. Letters became bold structural elements, taking on the form of glyphs and creating a strong indigenous design element. The Mesoamerican architectural influences in my work became more prevalent through the “stacking” of form to create complex compositions. Consequently a hidden ancient cultural connection was made with present day events taking my work in a new direction.” 131 N. Avenue 50, Highland Park; Opening reception: Saturday, June 24, 3-6pm; On view through July 29; free; instagram.com/lindaarreolaart.
Martha Alf at Kohn Gallery
Martha Alf: Opposites and Contradictions at Kohn Gallery. Alf was a master of light and color, and was significantly influenced by epochs of art history, from the Old Masters to Pop Art and Minimalism, as well as a true California artist, practicing for five decades between L.A. and San Diego. The gallery’s first exhibition of her work since announcing representation of her estate will feature her critically-acclaimed Cylinder Paintings, the colorful and humorous works depicting rolls of toilet paper that launched her career in the 1970s, as well as Alf’s later still-life paintings of psychedelic pears bathed in natural light, a series that helped give her the nickname “The Vermeer of Pears.” 1227 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood; Opening reception: Saturday, June 24, 6-8pm; On view through August 5; free; kohngallery.com.
Rick Castro
Books, Plays & Poetry at WeHo Arts. The Queer Book Bazaar (10am-5pm) is a market and exhibition of local book dealers, independent publishers, and literary vendors, with live performances by queer musicians, dancers, and performance artists. Boris Dralyuk’s Lecture and Poetry Reading (11am-noon) features Dralyuk’s translations of works by Russian-speaking émigrés, whose historical poems of exile have only grown more poignant and timely in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has brought a new wave of refugees to the Southland. The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights presents short and full-length works at their annual Pride Reading Festival in the park (11am-4pm). Rick Castro and Sam Sweet present a new publication of images about hustlers on Santa Monica Blvd. circa 1986-1998. A panel discussion will be followed by Q&A and book signing. (2pm). Plummer Park and Community Center; 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; Saturday, June 24; free; weho.org.
Queer Writers Festival at Beyond Baroque. L.A. Poet Society presents an evening of readings in a diverse spectrum of identity and genres, including poetry, storytelling, fiction, non-fiction, playwriting, and songwriting; a mini-play, a drag/poetry performance, workshops, storytelling, panel discussions; a DJ set by DJ Cesar with Fusion LA; featured visual artists, literary vendors, L.A. Poet Society Press, and more in a prideful celebration and act of resistance, celebrating Los Angeles’ community of Queer writers. 681 Venice Blvd., Venice; Saturday, June 24, 5pm; free; beyondbaroque.org.
A Bigger Splash (1973) at 2220 Arts + Archives
Sunday, June 25
A Bigger Splash at 2220 Arts + Archives. L.A. Filmforum and Other Aspects come together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jack Hazan’s creative docu-fiction and artist film, A Bigger Splash. As summer weather finally comes on, revisit the creation of one of David Hockney’s legendary California poolside works alongside the agonizing breakup with boyfriend (and L.A. native) Peter Schlesinger, the muse and subject of some of Hockney’s best-known works. 2220 Beverly Blvd., Westlake; Sunday, June 25, 7:30pm; $10 (21+); 2220arts.org.
Heidi Duckler Dance: Ebb & Flow Chinatown at L.A. State Historic Park
Heidi Duckler Dance: Ebb & Flow Chinatown at L.A. State Historic Park. A free, family-friendly community arts festival returns for the fifth year. The program explores climate change, nature, humanity, and health through dance, visual arts, music, and technology. HDD has commissioned eight interdisciplinary artists to create site-specific performances in response to environmental themes, including works by local artists Andersmith, HIBISCUS TV, Marie Osterman, Mawusi Nenonene, Stephaine Sherwood and Katie Shanks, and Victoria Villamil (Tori Cristi), plus HDD Artist in Residence Raymond Ejiofor, and Duckler. 1245 N. Spring St., Chinatown; Sunday, June 25, 3-5pm; free; heididuckler.org.
Schindler House Haunting by jas lin
Schindler House Haunting by jas lin 林思穎 at MAK Center. A site-specific performance triptych originally commissioned by homeLA, this reverberation continues to build on R.M. Schindler’s “space architecture”, which shattered notions of useful domestic space partitioning interior and exterior, self and Other. Fear of the ghost is fear of the Other, both inside and outside of oneself—a gaze that turns queer, non-white, femme, wild bodies into ghosts. Paced to the duration of the sunset, the haunting moves with the ephemerality between lightness and darkness, contemplating the relationship between architecture, land, and spectral traces. 835 N. Kings Rd., West Hollywood; Sunday, June 25, 7pm; free; weho.org.
Wednesday, June 28
Green Galactic 30th Anniversary Party at the Montalbán Theater. One of the city’s most vivacious indie arts and music PR outfits (and friend of the paper) recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, so they’re throwing themselves a party (for a change) and you’re invited. A sunset cocktail and snacks hour happens on the historic theater’s rooftop, after which a variety of entertainments including but not limited to electronic music dance parties and a wireless headphones screening of Blue Velvet. Too bad it’s not Green Velvet, amirite? 1615 Vine St., Hollywood; Wednesday, June 28, 6-11pm; free; instagram.com/green_galactic.
Gusmano Cesaretti: Klique Gangster Lady in East Los Angeles, 1975
Art Share L.A. Ellsworth Artist Residency Program
Wendell Castle: Best Kept Secret (Courtesy of Carpenters Gallery)
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