Shana Nys Dambrot
Artists approaching the role of myth and ancestry, environmentally conscious making practices, dance-based architectural haunting, rediscovering a degraded paradise, patterns of collective dreaming, the inner hero’s journey, the radness of Watts, the lovely couple next door that stole priceless art, dance-based deconstruction of political symbols, an open-air art festival in Long Beach, a fashion micro-symposium, an enlightening group show from Lagos, an artful look at the iconic LVMH travel trunk.
Stash at Leica Gallery (Photo: Josh Franklin)
Thursday, August 25
Stash: And Now at Leica Gallery. Josh Franklin, aka Stash, is a graffiti artist and graphic designer based in Brooklyn. He grew up in NYC, finding inspiration in the prolific graffiti art on the city’s subway trains. In the early 80s, Stash started painting trains himself, alongside artists like Futura and ZEPHYR, and went on to exhibit paintings with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat when he was just 17. Join him this week for his latest adventure, a multi-dimensional photography and art experience that includes live painting. 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; Opening: Thursday, August 25, 3-4:30pm live painting; 6-8pm cocktail reception; free w/ rsvp; On view through September 15; leicagalleryla.com.
Jonah Jacobs: Green Internode #1, 2016, rolled cardboard, cardboard tubes, paint, dye, salt, plaster, gravel, and cotton swabs, 36″ diameter, 18″ depth (Courtesy of the artist)
Approaches to Sustainability: A Conversation with Artists Engaging with Environmental Issues, at MOCA Grand. As creative thinkers, artists are uniquely positioned to establish a framework for sustainable practices and reflection on the broader systems around us. This panel explores the work of artists Jonah Jacobs, Madeline Hollander, Patty Chang, and Andrea Bowers — all of whom engage with issues of sustainability through environmental and social justice, community activism, and climate-related content, representing a wide variety of approaches to the broad notion of “sustainability.” Moderated by Annabel Keenan, who reports on contemporary art and sustainability for publications including The Art Newspaper. 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Thursday, August 25, 6:30pm; free w/ rsvp; moca.org.
homeLA presents jas lin: Schindler House Haunting
Friday, August 26
home LA presents: Schindler House Haunting by jas lin, at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture. Even as researchers disavow the influence of Japanese architecture on R.M. Schindler, the Schindler House evokes the haunted houses of Japanese Horror (also known as J-horror) films, which, like the Schindler House, shatters notions of useful domestic space, partitioning interior and exterior similarly to self and Other. By inviting the “domestic uncanny,” lin mutates the space into a haunted house where the values and familiarities of the American nuclear family home are turned inside out. 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood; Friday-Saturday, August 26-27, 7-9pm; free, rsvp required; homela.org.
Now We’re Here at the Broad
Saturday, August 27
Now We’re Here at the Broad Museum. Reflecting on the special exhibition This Is Not America’s Flag, which examines and questions the complex meanings and symbolism of the U.S. flag, this iteration of Now We’re Here features contemporary blues from Grammy-winner Fantastic Negrito, spoken word from Kelly Cabellero of the Tongva Nation, rap and hip hop from Jessa Calderon of the Chumash and Tongva Nations, experimental electronic music from Lu Coy, Afrofuturist hip hop and electronic from Hprizm/High Priest of Antipop Consortium, a performance remembering pasts and histories that call forth the specificity of place by Renée Petropoulos, Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A with Flags dance piece performed by Mike Tyus and Luca Renzi, and a vocal and electronic exploration of art as a mode for personal and communal healing from Davia Spain. 221 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Saturday, August 27, 8-11pm; $25; thebroad.org.
Kirsten Deirup: Aftermath, 2022, oil on linen (Courtesy of de Boer Gallery)
Kirsten Deirup: Understory at De Boer Gallery. Defining a territory where theater, nature and devastation appeal to our subconscious by depicting a reality that is beyond explanation, the paintings in Understory take as their starting point masterfully rendered landscapes inspired by the Hudson River School. Pulling connections between the stories of Genesis, Paradise Lost, and Frankenstein, creation and reanimation are prominent themes. In today’s (and tomorrow’s) world which is wrought by perpetual environmental struggle, Deirup’s pictures offer a colorful refuge, full of orange extension cords, necklaces, coins, toothbrushes, milk cartons, tin cans that appear again and again, referencing human kind’s hand in the landscape. 3311 E. Pico Blvd., Boyle Heights; Opening reception: Saturday, August 27, 4-8pm; On view through October 15; free; deboergallery.com.
GaGo Gagik Vardanyan at Artbug Gallery
GaGo Gagik Vardanyan: Sueños de California at Artbug Gallery. The inspiration and motivation for GaGo’s work are very much related to the post-modern concept of Rhizome. In nature the rhizome is an organism connected in its roots which manifests seemingly individual botanicals above ground. It’s in currency now as a metaphor for an anti-ego cultural movement, one which as Vardanyan sees it, confronts the subject with the unavoidable fact that once the passion sublimated in any artistic expression is externalized, it ignores its “creator” and becomes an autonomous entity. 2441 Hunter St., downtown; Opening reception: Saturday, August 27, 1-9pm; On view through October 15; free; instagram.com/artbuggallery.
Najva Erfani: Fairy Cinema, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 47 inches (Courtesy of the artist and AFA)
Pahlavan at Hamzianpour & Kia. Four Iranian artists curated in collaboration with Alangoo Fine Art—Najva Erfani, Roxana Manouchehri, Sara Keshmiri and Reza Razm—explore contortion and evolution of the body as frames to the hero, the Pahlavan, within. They borrow from written and oral epic traditions that are prevalent in the fabric of day to day Iranian life, from the epic of Shahnameh, to mythical and mystical Conference of the Birds. Across these epics and myths, the artists also revisit gender and identity in a culture that both rejects its significance and magnifies traditional and stereotypical rules. 5225 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile; Opening reception: Saturday, August 27, 5-9pm; On view through September17; free; hamzianpourandkia.com.
Getty 25
Getty 25 Celebrates Watts (Outdoor). Join the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) to celebrate Watts at WLCAC’s historic urban arts healing center. Interact with artists, performers, artisans, and chefs, enjoy traditional foods, and discover Watts Towers–inspired mosaics and assemblage art. Revel in the sounds of Afro-Cuban rhythms, hip hop, salsa, drum circles, spoken word/poetry, jazz, reggaeton, and soul. Enjoy hands-on art workshops, live music and performances, an immersive digital experience of Getty collections, photobooths, and giveaways. Watts Community Labor Action Committee, 10950 S. Central Ave.; Saturday-Sunday, August 27-28, 11am-6pm; free; getty.edu.
Reenactments of alleged suspects (still from The Thief Collector, 2022)
Sunday, August 28
The Thief Collector at the Getty Center. In 1985, Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre, one of the most valuable paintings of the 20th century, vanished after being cut from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Over 30 years later, the $160 million painting was found hanging in the home of Jerry and Rita Alter in rural New Mexico. The Thief Collector takes a deep look at how, and why, this mild-mannered couple pulled off one of the greatest art heists of a generation. After the screening the film’s director, Allison Otto, joins Getty conservators for a conversation and audience Q&A. The program is followed by an outdoor hosted reception. 1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood; Sunday, August 28, 2pm; free; getty.edu.
Works by Renée Petropoulos and Yvonne Rainer at the Wende Museum
Works by Renée Petropoulos and Yvonne Rainer at the Wende Museum. The Broad and the Wende partner to present two performances by artists Renée Petropoulos (Analog Among Nations: 2022 / WB: Sewing Circle) and Yvonne Rainer (Trio A with Flags, 1970) that engage issues of identity, national symbolism, and globalization. In conjunction with museums’ respective exhibitions exploring the meanings and inferences of national flags, the first performance happens at The Broad on Saturday, August 27 as part of their Now We’re Here series. On Sunday, the Wende hosts the second inside their current exhibition, The Medium is the Message: Flags and Banners. Petropoulos’ Analog Among Nations: 2022 is a work that begins as a consideration of national anthems. Trio A with Flags (1970), is a version of Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A (1966, originally titled The Mind is a Muscle, Part 1), which was first performed in Judson Memorial Church in 1970 at the opening of The People’s Flag Show, an art exhibition mounted to protest the arrests of people ‘desecrating’ the American flag. 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City; Sunday, August 28, 7pm; free; wendemuseum.org.
Mer Young: Caretaker of Earth, Hpituh Shi nu mu, Mixed Media, acrylic, collage on paper
Monday, August 29
Art Renzi & Long Beach Walls present Stand Up! Art Festival in Long Beach (Outdoor). An ambitious series of interactive outdoor installations and events, this year’s theme celebrates the diversity, spirit, and vision of women in art. This contemporary, not-for-profit week-long outdoor art festival is curated by Art Renzei and Long Beach Walls, and each artist is given the freedom to create works that live throughout the city—under the sun and against the backdrop of some of Long Beach’s most stunning parks and ocean vistas. Events include live painting, merch popups, wellness gatherings, bike tours, artist talks, and more. August 29 – September 4 at various Long Beach locations; free; artrenzei.com/passport.
Alexander McQueen (Lee Alexander McQueen): Woman’s Harness, Spring/Summer 2010 (LACMA, gift from the Collection of Regina J. Drucker in loving memory of Juliana Cairone)
Wednesday, August 31
R.L. Shep Triennial Symposium on Textiles and Dress at LACMA (Virtual). The bullfight, or corrida, inspired McQueen’s Spanish-influenced Spring/Summer 2002 collection, The Dance of the Twisted Bull. In conjunction with the exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, renowned scholars will explore imagination, artistic process, and innovation in fashion and art to further examine the interdisciplinary impulse that defined McQueen’s career, legacy, and sources of inspiration. Wednesday, August 31, 10am; free w/registration; lacma.org.
200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries at Louis Vuitton
Ongoing
200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries at Louis Vuitton. Initially conceived to celebrate Louis Vuitton’s bicentennial birthday, this ambitious homage The LOUIS 200 invited a mosaic of talents and friends spanning arts and culture, the sciences, sports, global causes and more to each personalize a metaphorical blank canvas measuring approximately the same dimensions of the original trunk that Louis conceived in the 1850s. This invitation yielded 200 extraordinary transformations — vessels transmitting dreams and desires, abstract concepts and artistic expressions. From its debut in Asnières at the Louis Vuitton family house, to a contemporary classical building on N. Rodeo Drive near the Beverly Hills flagship, the exhibition has been adapted to reflect the local spirit wherever it arrives. 468 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills; On view through September 6; free; louisvuitton.com.
Kenny Maro at Rele Gallery
Present Minded at Rele Gallery. A group exhibition featuring works from contemporary African artists Ameh Egwuh, Kenny Maro, Sabrina Coleman-Pinheiro, and Sedireng Mothibatsela, Present Minded is a reflection on the persistence of being amidst life’s continuation even in the great unknown beyond. Each of the artists uses personal narratives to discuss their relationships with life’s permanence and foibles, with themes ranging from memory to the afterlife. 8215 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; On view through September 3; free; rele.co.
Roxana Manouchehri at Hamzianpour & Kia
Sara Keshmiri at Hamzianpour & Kia
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