“Other Scenes” group show at Roberts & Tilton

Aaron Rose, Alleged Gallery founder, co-editor of the free ANP Quarterly and member of the band The Sads (with a new EP just released), has curated a show of some of his longtime faves. Most recently, Rose curated “The Beautiful Losers” show, and in a vaguely similar vein one gets the same street-punk aesthetic in “Other Scenes,” with hits from local hero Raymond Pettibon and artist Gee Vaucher, known best for her work with anarchist band Crass. N.Y.-based photographer Ryan McGinley and painter Rita Ackermann rarely show on the West Coast. Ackermann’s work has evolved from her 1990s X-Girl panty-clad waifs to incorporate a more New Age spiritual vibe, which also seems very au courant in terms of fashion. Daniel Higgs, who was frontman for the Baltimore band Lungfish, has rarely shown his surreal paintings anywhere. Gusmano Cesaretti’s 1970s black-and-white photographs of graffiti in East L.A. are an unusual glimpse into a part of our city’s history. Other artists include Jockum Nordstrom, Daido Moriyama and Becca Mann.

6150 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. | www.robertsandtilton.com | (323) 549-0223 | Through May 26

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William Pope.I, Vessel (2007)

“The Void Show” by William Pope.l at MC

A Vessel in a Vessel in a Vessel and So On is a large sculpture that hangs from the ceiling in the center of MC gallery like a gaudy light fixture. Pope.l has suspended an upside-down buxom pirate wench whose head has been replaced with a golden bust of Martin Luther King Jr. which drips a thin stream of chocolate sauce onto the floor, creating a pool of bloodlike syrup. The other piece, a small, square black opening in the gallery wall that the viewer is invited to peer into, terrified me. I am not one for surprises, but after contemplating it for a while I began to realize that it referred to the title of the show. Once I looked in, it was clear that the cool air emanating from the opening was about the only thing on the other side. Pope.l keeps the line between horror and comedy very fluid when confronting racism in his conceptual pieces, which makes them resonate on a deeper level.

6086 Comey Ave., L.A. | www.mckunst.com | (323) 939-3777 | Through May 12

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