Shana Nys Dambrot
This ever-changing world in which we’re living never ceases to offer new wonders and new dreads. Explore the intersection of web3 and post-genderism, art in tandem with the environment, satire as resistance, new contemporary for beginners, live-mixed performance art for crazy days, allyship and urgency in political painting, a cultural river walk, a message from the Dalai Lama, stories of LGBT+ elders, somber and surrealist extraterrestrial landscape, authors in conversation, the search for architectural solutions, and more metamorphology for anyone who wants it.
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: BECOMING HISTORY, 2022 ARCHIVING A BLACK TRANS BODY CALLED DAY (Vellum LA)
Thursday, January 26
POSTGENDER at Vellum LA. An exhibition pursuing a conversation about postgenderism between artists, collectives, curators, and audiences, as a collective of creatives moves past the paradigm of defined terminology into a transhumanist manifesto. As technology and art pave the way for our identities to thrive in safe spaces beyond our physical bodies, explore what it means for us as a collective of progressive humans to develop a new language to overcome the paradigms of archaic gendered narratives. 7673 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; Opening reception: Thursday, January 26, 7-9pm; On view through February 12; free; vellumla.com.
APY Art Collective (Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara/Luritja) artists: Kulata Tjuta (many spears), 2017, 550 suspended kulata (spears), 27 coolamons, video, 6 monitors (Courtesy of Art Gallery of South Australia; the Armory)
Friday, January 27
Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology at the Armory. This exhibition documents international Indigenous artists’ responses to the impacts of radiation and toxic waste on Native peoples and the environment. The work of the 36 artists and collectives centers around the impact that nuclear testing, uranium mining, and the subsequent contamination have had on colonized peoples. An interdisciplinary mixture of forms and genres, including sculpture, video installation, photography, collage, glasswork, metalwork, fiber, paintings, and virtual-reality experiences, tell personal stories of struggle and resilience. 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; On view January 27 – June 11; Reception: Saturday, February 18, 2pm; free; armoryarts.org.
Kelly Berg: Pyramidion at Laguna Art Museum
Art & Nature 10th Anniversary Panel at Laguna Art Museum. LAM celebrates the 10th anniversary of its signature Art & Nature initiative with a special artist panel. Join artists Lita Albuquerque, Kelly Berg, Laddie John Dill, Rebeca Méndez and Phillip K Smith III in a discussion of their Art & Nature projects—and the impact of the Southern California environment on their artistic practices—moderated by LAM Curatorial Fellow Rochelle Steiner. Preceded by a champagne reception, this is also the perfect chance to visit Rebeca Méndez’s immersive 360-degree video environment The Sea Around Us and Kelly Berg’s outdoor sculptural installation Pyramidion before they close on February 5 and 12, respectively. 307 Cliff Dr., Laguna Beach; Friday, January 27, 5pm; $30-$40; lagunaartmuseum.org.
The Actors’ Gang
Ubu the King at the Actors’ Gang. Alfred Jarry’s surreal scatological masterpiece, Ubu Roi (Ubu the King) is an obscenely funny, deeply offensive and bat-shit crazy play, “the perfect story for these fucked up times.” After all, if we can’t find humor in government deception, failed coup d’etats, weird sexual proclivities, loud farts, debrainings and other pathological peculiarities, we are lost. The gang strongly suggest altering your consciousness in some way (booze, weed, yoga) before entering the theater. Adults only. 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City; Performances Friday & Saturday through February 25; 8pm drinks, 9pm show, 10:30pm party; $35; theactorsgang.com/events.
Still from Nadya Tolokonnikova’s Putin’s Ashes (Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch Gallery)
Pussy Riot: Putin’s Ashes at Jeffrey Deitch. Putin’s Ashes was initiated in August 2022, when the group burned a 10×10 foot portrait of the Russian president, performed rituals, and cast spells aimed to chase him away. Pussy Riot’s founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova bottled the ashes of the burnt portrait and incorporated them into sculptural objects, presented alongside her short art film Putin’s Ashes. On the already over-capacity opening night, only people in balaclavas will be granted entry. Balaclavas will be provided at the gallery entrance, but guests are encouraged to bring their own. 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Opening reception: Friday, January 27, 6-8pm; On view through February 3; free; deitch.com.
Art Collector Starter Kit IX at Corey Helford Gallery
Saturday, January 28
Art Collector Starter Kit IX at Corey Helford Gallery. Smaller, more affordable new works by the artists that everyone loves are the stars at this popular annual group show. As CHG’s owner Jan Corey Helford shares, “CHG was created with the intention of making art available to collectors of all ranges, with the radical assertion that ‘art for the elite only’ is a distortion of the real purpose of art − to create something that stirs the hearts and minds of everyone and anyone who can view it.” 571 S. Anderson St., downtown; Opening reception: Saturday, January 28, 7-11pm; On view through March 4; free; coreyhelfordgallery.com.
Mark Dean Veca at CalState LA
Mark Dean Veca: Graphia at Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery. Presenting Mark Dean Veca’s most recent work (murals, paintings, drawings, installations, sculptures, prints and designs), this solo exhibition features over 50 original works, many of which will be displayed publicly for the first time. In his signature style of opulently obsessive fine-line drawing and bold color, Veca is adept at transforming or reimagining common images like brand and corporate logos, cartoon characters, signage and advertising tropes, the extra-lushness of Baroque era architecture, and classic French wallpaper into fresh critique of modern visual culture. The exhibition includes over 30 collaborative projects with Nike, Hundreds, Pearl Jam, Primus, and more. CalState LA, 5151 State University Dr., Monterey Park; Reception: Saturday, January 28, 4-7pm; On view through February 23; free; ronaldhsilvermangallery.com.
Guillermo Gómez-Peña & Balitronica Gómez at Highways
Guillermo Gómez-Peña & Balitronica Gómez: The Pandemia Chronicles at Highways. La Pocha Nostra and the artists are thrilled to present excerpts from their most recent performance manuscripts and bank of ritual actions. The “spoken-word monologue and live-action juke-box” utilizes a casino roulette and traditional tarot deck, as Balitronica employs various forms of oracular magic to select texts and props for Gómez-Peña’s live performance. The fate of the script, the performance and films screened are determined by methods of divination and chance. 1651 18th St., Santa Monica; Saturday, January 28, 8:30pm; Pay-what-you-can; highwaysperformance.org.
Miles Regis: What a Time To Be Alive (Von Lintel Gallery)
Miles Regis: What A Time To Be Alive! at Von Lintel Gallery. This exhibition of paintings and drawings is contextualized around the hot-button topic of abortion. Its visual anchor is a bare canvas featuring nothing but the distinctive image of a wire coat hanger. The presence of this iconic, yet triggering, symbol automatically forces an uneasy dialogue with the surrounding works, which depict hopeful and humanistic portraits. This connection is based on the notion that acts of legislation and decisions by lawmakers are part of our everyday life, and they affect everyone. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica: Opening reception: Saturday, January 28, 4-7pm; On view through March 17; free; vonlintel.com.
Alicia Adamerovich: Blessed by the cavity, 2022, oil sand and wax on linen, 26 x 119 1-2 in (Courtesy of Kohn Gallery)
Alicia Adamerovich: This is the time of the hour at Kohn Gallery. Adamerovich’s landscapes—seemingly barren with their darkened color palette and unsettling, organic surfaces of pumice, wax, and sand—come gracefully alive with radiant orbs and spiraling, structured appendages, communicating the duality of seen and unseen. Adamerovich’s overlapping painting and sculptural practices generate amorphous shapes that are anthropomorphic and seductive, with soft curvatures alternately drawn from the realms of the arboreal, anatomical, and fantastical. 1227 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood; Opening reception: Saturday, January 28, 6-8pm; On view through March 11; free; kohngallery.com.
Frank Gallo: Head, 1963. Cast polyester resin (Courtesy of Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Gift of Wright S. Ludington)
Sunday, January 29
The Iconography of Dread: Symbolism to Surrealism at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Featuring works from the turn of the last century by Ferdinand Khnopff, Alfred Kubin, Odilon Redon, and Félicien Rops, as well as the Italian surrealist Giorgio Manzu and his Russian contemporaries, Ossip Zadkine and Alexander Archipenko, this exhibition dwells on the dark side of humanity through a host of cruel but unforgettable imagery. 1130 State St., Santa Barbara; On view January 29 – May 1; $10; sbma.net.
LA River Public Art Project: River Sessions
River Sessions: Mile XX-51 at LA River Public Art Project. The launch of an adventurous new series exploring art, culture, and place along the LA River. Guided walks every second Saturday of each month will visit important cultural sites, starting with the sources of the river in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains and continuing all the way to Long Beach. Gathering at the river’s official Mile 51 starting point, and after a brief grounding with traditional Tongva singer Joe Calderon, smaller groups drive/carpool to seek the sources of the river in the foothills ringing the valley, led by Indigenous Elder Jimmy Garcia and Creative Ecologist Kat Superfisky. 21698 Bassett St., Canoga Park; Saturday, January 29, 11am-2pm; $29-$35; lariverpublicartproject.org.
Angel City Press
Monday, January 30
Glass House Presents: Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles with Frances Anderton (Virtual). Living in Los Angeles has always been equated with single-family homes; but L.A. has also been a laboratory for experiments in multifamily housing centered on shared open space, from the central courtyard to the rooftop garden. In Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles (Angel City Press), Anderton explores that fascinating history through the lens of practitioners like R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Michael Maltzan, Brooks + Scarpa, Lorcan O’Herlihy, Shin Shin, and many more. In a time of housing crisis, Anderton makes the case that well-designed, equitable, connected living is tomorrow’s American dream. Monday, January 30, 3pm Pacific; free; savingplaces-org.zoom.us/webinar/register.
James Hannaham and Jonathan Lethem
Tuesday, January 31
James Hannaham and Jonathan Lethem in Conversation at the Hammer. On the heels of his most recent book, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta, James Hannaham joins fellow author Jonathan Lethem in conversation. Hannaham is also the author of novels God Says No and Delicious Foods, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Lethem is the author of 12 novels, including The Feral Detective, The Fortress of Solitude, and Motherless Brooklyn. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Tuesday, January 31, 7:30pm; free; hammer.ucla.edu.
The Wedding Feast at Cana (detail), about 1580, Lavinia Fontana. Oil on copper (Courtesy of the Getty Museum)
Wednesday, February 1
Lavinia Fontana: Pioneering Painter of the 16th Century at the Getty (Virtual). Italian painter Lavinia Fontana was the first female artist to achieve professional success outside a convent or royal court, the first woman to be accepted into the prestigious Accademia di San Luca in Rome, the first woman to paint large-scale public altarpieces and female nudes, and the first documented female artist to have her own workshop. Recently a painting on copper and a preparatory drawing by Fontana entered the Getty Museum’s collection. A specialist of Bolognese painting, Aoife Brady discusses the artist’s remarkable career and creative process. The two recently acquired works by Lavinia Fontana are on view at the Getty Center in the West Pavilion until March 26. Wednesday, February 1, 11am; free; getty.edu.
The Art of Hope at CIRCA
Ongoing
His Holiness the Dalai Lama: The Art of Hope at CIRCA. The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) presents a message of hope from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Launched January 11 on London’s iconic Piccadilly Lights, The Art of Hope calls on the world to consider hope and the oneness of humanity with this 3-minute animation broadcasting daily throughout the month of January at 20:23 local time across a global network of screens above the streets of London, Berlin, Melbourne, and Los Angeles — specifically, The Pendry Hotel in West Hollywood. Throughout 2023, a series of commissions will be presented across the CIRCA global platform; extending beyond the screens, the public is invited to participate all year by visiting CIRCA.ART to answer the question, How Do We Create Hope?. circa.art/artist/dalai-lama.
Not Another Second, installation view
Not Another Second: LGBT+ Seniors Share Their Stories at The Watermark. Photographer Karsten Thormaehlen’s candid portraits and one-on-one, AR enhanced interviews with the 12 LGBT+ seniors invite them to tell their stories of integrity, resilience and humanity while paving a better way for future generations. These stories come from the individuals who were a part of the generation that lead the Stonewall uprising, founded political group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and helped end the US military policy commonly referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” 947 Tiverton Ave., Westwood Village; On view January 28 – June 29; free; notanothersecond.com.
Josie Morway: The Source (Corey Helford Gallery)
Hikari Shimoda: Light and Pain (Corey Helford Gallery)
Miho Hirano: Doze Off (Corey Helford Gallery)
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