L.A. is Blooming: Arts Calendar June 4-8

Music from an urban garden, art presentations from the visceral to the astral, societal and audio, the return of the city’s best-loved print sale, a festival dedicated to movies about art, and public installations celebrating Pride.

Mndsgn (Grand Performances)

Friday, June 4

SCREENING: Mndsgn at Grand Performances. Grand Performances presents a magical Feature Presentation celebrating the release of Mndsgn’s new album Rare Pleasure captured in Ron Finley’s Gangsta Garden. The colorful performance will be broadcast from Ron’s headquarters, a former swimming school teeming with plants, flowers and produce located in South Los Angeles. ⁠Friday, June 4, 3pm; free; Grand Performances’ Facebook and YouTube; grandperformances.org.

Hammer Museum

TALK: Tulsa on Screen: Watchmen with Damon Lindelof & Cord Jefferson at the Hammer. In this online program, professor Brenda E. Stevenson joins writer and producer Damon Lindelof, creator of HBO’s Watchmen series, and Watchmen writer Cord Jefferson to discuss how they crafted the series’ remarkable representation of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Friday, June 4, 5pm; free; hammer.ucla.edu.

Essi Zimm at Gabba Gallery

Saturday, June 5

Essi Zimm: H is for Honey, at Gabba Gallery. The show was originally scheduled to open in March 2020, but these gorgeous mixed-media works full of vibrant colors and luscious layers of collage were worth the wait. Gabba Gallery, 3126 Beverly Blvd., East Hollywood; opening reception: Saturday, June 5, noon-4pm; free; on view through June 26; free; gabbagallery.com.

Paulina Peavy at Beyond Baroque

Paulina Peavy: An Etherian Channeler, at Beyond Baroque. Curated by Laura Whitcomb, the show is the first exhibition of Paulina Peavy’s (1901-1999) work on the West Coast in over 75 years. Peavy’s path as an artist depended on convening with beings and forces beyond the visible plane to create her work, similar to the artists Hilma af Klint, Forrest Bess, and Agnes Pelton. Peavy’s story is unprecedented among the mediumist artist cannon as she claimed to channel a discarnate entity named Lacamo who travelled on an etherian ship. This positioned her as a key emissary of the astroculture age. Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice; opening reception: Saturday, June 5, 4-8pm; on view through July 31; free; beyondbaroque.org.

Gloria Gem Sánchez and Tidawhitney Lek at Tin Flats

Cultural Undertow at Tin Flats. Luna Anaïs Gallery presents Cultural Undertow curated by artist Narsiso Martinez featuring works by Gloria Gem Sánchez and Tidawhitney Lek. Rooted in his own practice that honors the contributions of farmworkers to American culture, Martinez in this curatorial debut offers us the richly intimate figurative paintings of Lek and the spiritually endowed mixed-media works of Sánchez. Both of the artists exhibited explore themes of femininity within their respective Cambodian and Xicana-Filipina heritage as the exhibition asks us to consider a human culture that is universal in its composition of infinite particulars. Tin Flats, 1989 Blake Ave., Frogtown; opening reception: Saturday, June 5, 6-10pm; on view through July 11; free; lunaanais.com.

soundpedro

Audioscapes: soundpedro 2021 Virtual Kick-Off. With continuing restrictions, soundpedro will again be virtual this year, rather than onsite at Angels Gate Cultural Center. Remaining committed to unusual and provocative “ear-oriented multi-sensory presentations,” soundpedro2021 is building on the covid-responsive virtual infrastructure created for soundpedro2020, providing an expanded range of works and number of events. The Virtual Kick Off begins a series of online presentations that conclude on November 27th, National Listening Day. Saturday, June 5, 7-9:15pm; free; soundpedro.org.

Jai Uttal

Sunday, June 6

Chant for India Online Benefit Concert. Top international Kirtan stars are coming together for an online event to raise funds for healthcare for the people of India, who are undergoing one of the most extreme crisis situations the globe has seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will bring together noted Grammy nominees Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, Jai Uttal, Snatam Kaur, and Sopurkh Singh, and Manose to raise funds for urgent relief. Sunday, June 6, 9:15am-2pm; suggestion donations start at $10; brightstarevents.com.

Sonia Romero at Self-Help Graphics

Monday, June 7

Self-Help Graphics Annual Print Sale. Every summer Self Help Graphics & Art hosts its renowned Annual Print Fair. 2021’s Annual Print Fair will be held online, with weekly releases featuring new hand-pulled serigraph prints by emerging and established artists. The Annual Print Fair season includes weekly artist features, artist interviews, as well as weekly workshops. Online June 7-30; selfhelpgraphics.com.

Fine Arts Film Festival

Tuesday, June 8

Fine Arts Film Festival. FAFF is dedicated to showing dozens of the finest short, feature, and experimental films from all over the world — about art, the art world, and artists and performers in all mediums, in and out of their studios, galleries, museums, theaters and performance spaces. Vimeo, June 8 – 14, $10 curated series / $25 all-films pass; veniceica.org.

Hootnannie, Urgency of Love (Rainbow Road Art Walk)

Ongoing/Pride:

Rainbow Road Art Walk for SaMo Pride. Spanning Third Street Promenade, through Santa Monica Place, and leading through the Santa Monica Pier, strollers can appreciate 13 incredible one-of-a-kind art installations by LGBTQIA+ artists. The art walk is presented in partnership with Allies in Arts, a local nonprofit whose mission is to support womxn, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists who are often underrepresented in creative industries. On view June 4-30; free; smpride.com.

Pride Publics: Words & Actions (ONE Archives Foundation)

Pride Publics: Words and Actions presented by ONE Archives Foundation. A multi-site outdoor exhibition that examines the intersection between pride and publicness, curated by Rubén Esparza. With free and accessible outdoor installations plus a digital guide, this WeHo Pride exhibition aims to give visibility to LGBTQ life in the public through the lens of history, community, and activism. 686 N. Robertson Blvd, WeHo; June 5 – July 1; free; onearchives.org/pridepublics.

Pride Publics (Photo by Jon Viscott)

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