Shana Nys Dambrot
Ready or not, it’s officially in-person art fair summer, and along with the yin and yang of Felix and the LA Art Show, scores of galleries are getting in on the action with regional mapped out evenings beginning Wednesday. For those craving a less hectic schedule, the library is streaming blue humor by funny women, Beyond Baroque is getting transcendental, and Dirty Looks teams up with ICA LA and the Philosophical Research Society to bring Ron Athey’s counterculture video work to life.
Lia Halloran at Luis De Jesus (Gallery Weekend)
Wednesday, July 28
Gallery Weekend L.A. With this weekend’s confluence of art fairs both in person (Felix in Hollywood and LA Art Show downtown) and virtual (Frieze OVR), more than 70 galleries, museums and non-profits across Los Angeles have organized a kind of all-city welcoming committee. Under the aegis of the Gallery Platform LA site and community, from Wednesday through Saturday, each day focuses on a different neighborhood/region, with the galleries in question organizing extended evening hours and special programming from talks, book-signings and performances to the IRL presentation of their virtual booths. Check the website for a full list of galleries, free programs, and a helpful pinned map. Wednesday, July 28/West: Culver City, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica/Bergamot, Venice. Thursday, July 29/North: Hollywood, East Hollywood and West Hollywood. Friday, July 30/Central: Koreatown, Mid-City, MacArthur Park, South L.A. Saturday, July 31/East: Downtown, Chinatown, East L.A., NELA.
Holly Herndon at the LA Art Show (Vellum Gallery LA)
Thursday, July 29
The L.A. Art Show. Rita Ora hosts this special Summer Edition of the city’s longest running art fair — this year taking a closer look at some of the latest technological trends in the art world, while still offering a traditional lens on art from around the globe. Programming highlights some of the more interesting advancements in art including AR, VR — and even NFTs, as soon-to-open Vellum Gallery LA curates Sea Change, a dynamic physical exhibition centered on these new technologies.
Tiffany Trenda at the LA Art Show (DIVERSEartLA)
Performance artist Tiffany Trenda unveils a new work, and DIVERSEartLA returns with a focus on the presence, contributions, research, and documentation of women and non-binary artists at the forefront of work at the intersection of art, science, and technology, represented by guest museums and institutions. Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 Figueroa St., downtown; Opening night premiere party: Thursday, July 29, 7-11pm, $250 (includes all weekend pass); Fair hours: Friday-Saturday, July 30-21, noon-8pm; Sunday, August 1, noon-6pm; $30; laartshow.com.
Simphiwe Ndzube with Nicodim Gallery at Felix Art Fair
Felix L.A. Art Fair. A contemporary art fair modeled after the intimate hotel fair format popularized in the 1990s, Felix occupies the poolside cabana rooms at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel this weekend. Felix L.A.’s 2021 will feature an intimate format this year, showcasing roughly 30 Los Angeles-based galleries who stage imaginative and thematic solo and two-person presentations in the poolside cabana rooms. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd.; Opening Night: Thursday, July 29, 5-8pm; Fair hours: Friday-Saturday, July 30-31, 11am-8pm; Sunday, August 1, 11am-5pm; $75 passes include everything; felixfair.com.
Notes from the Bathroom Line at ALOUD (Virtual). Amy Solomon, a producer of the HBO shows Silicon Valley and Barry, shares from her new collection of never-before-seen humor pieces. With curated essays, satire, short stories, poetry, cartoons, and artwork from more than 150 of the biggest female comedians today, Notes from the Bathroom Line highlights the work of women continuing to smash the comedy glass ceiling in this long male-dominated field. Solomon is joined by contributors to the book, including performances by Karen Chee and Emily V. Gordon. Online; Thursday, July 29, 5pm; free; lfla.org.
Paulina Peavy at Beyond Baroque
Saturday, July 31
Sound Discarnate: Performances after Paulina Peavy at Beyond Baroque. To celebrate the closing of the remarkable exhibition of utopian, radically spiritualist, seductively surreal paintings and bespoke ritual masks by the late Paulina Peavey, the show’s cohort hosts an evening of esoteric and enlightenment-engaged music and performance featuring: Micaela Tobin, Braden Diotte, Zane Reynolds (SFVacid), David Tibet & Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson’s presentation of Harry Oldfield, and DJ Greg Bishop. 681 N. Venice Blvd., Venice; Saturday, July 31, 5-9pm; free; beyondbaroque.org.
Zero Parecer, 2021, digital video (Noysky Projects)
Sunday, August 1
Emmet Prieto Webster: Zero Parecer at Noysky Projects. Zero Parecer is a multimedia tribute to the Mexican telenovela, Rebelde, and RBD, the spin-off teen idol band — both of which gained popularity in the mid-2000s. Working outward from RBD’s bubblegum pop soundscape, the exhibition explores fantasies and speculative realities of the telenovela that were germane to Mexican-American teens, while broadly relating to persistence of pop culture within our collective consciousness. Zero Parecer uses the power of nostalgia and fandom to examine how we process culture, and redigests media tropes that had their moment but are still part of the popular lexicon. 6727 ⅞ Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; artist reception: Sunday, August 1, 2-6pm; on view July 30 – August 8; free; noyskyprojects.com.
Entering the Asclepeion: From Manly P. Hall to Ron Athey
Dirty Looks & ICA LA present: Entering the Asclepion: Manly P. Hall to Ron Athey at the Philosophical Research Society. An expansive afternoon at the PRS in conjunction with Athey’s current exhibition at the ICA LA, featuring the premiere screening of Pasiphäe, The Witch Queen of Crete: A Glory Hole Origin Story, a new video by Ron Athey and Hermes Pittakos; a live performance of Pageant for the Pantheon featuring Ron Athey, Cassils, Carmina Escobar, Divinity P. Fudge, Karen Lofgren, PonyLee, Hermes Pittakos, and Yunen Rhi; and a panel Discussion — California Counter-Cultures, Magick + Myth-play featuring panelists Devon Deimler (tbc), Scott Hobbs (Cameron Parsons Foundation), Bradford Nordeen, Adamxvi and Jodi Wille. 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Feliz; Sunday, August 1, 4-7pm; $8; theicala.org.
Auriea Harvey at the LA Art Show
Itzel Yard (Ix.Shells) at the LA Art Show (Vellum Gallery LA)
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.