Shana Nys Dambrot
An operatic trip to the underworld, a chef speaking on food and art, a flapper fantasy theater immersion, a poetry and art-centric commemoration of the 1962 uprising, paintings about cosmic shifts, digital art about physical identity, a classic cautionary myth breathing new theatrical fire, performance art parties, a ceramics festival, poetry on film, Latinx sound art, dance on zoom, a west side art compound all-day open house of happenings, and Beeple has thoughts on the future of art.
Ray Anthony Barrett at ICA LA (Photo courtesy of Rusty Baldwin)
Thursday, April 28
Ray Anthony Barrett’s experimental film Go Tell It on the Mountain at ICA LA. The premiere of Barrett’s experimental film, followed by a conversation with Barrett, Essence Harden, Visual Arts Curator and Program Manager at CAAM, and Bianca Morán, Active Cultures Curator of Public Programs. The film traces the artist/chef’s months-long journey across the American West, interrogating the evolution of agricultural and land practices and the impact of dispossession and colonialism on foodways, from white settler colonialism to present day capitalism and overconsumption. Alongside this critique, Barrett reflects on the contributions of Black Americans to contemporary food culture. 1717 E. 7th St., downtown; Thursday, April 28, 7pm; free; theicala.org.
Thomas Adès: Dante at LA Phil
Dudamel Leads Thomas Adès’ Dante at LA Phil. As a highlight of the Gen X Festival, Gustavo Dudamel conducts the premiere of Adès’ ambitious vision of heaven, hell, and the in-between. Adès called his Inferno “a grateful tribute to Franz Liszt, the composer of hell and demonic music.”Inferno makes up one chapter of a full-length Dante ballet wherein “each movement has a vivid musical character, with Adès’ flamboyant and whimsical take on Liszt and Tchaikovsky.” Dudamel conducts the return of Inferno alongside Purgatory and Paradise for the U.S. premiere of the complete Dante score. Disney Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave, downtown; Thursday, April 28 & Saturday, April 30, 8pm; Friday, April 29, 11am; $20-$201; laphil.com.
Gatsby Redux at Greystone Mansion (Photo: Barry Weiss)
Gatsby Redux at Greystone Mansion (Outdoor). The City of Beverly Hills, Director/Choreographer Janet Roston and Mixed eMotion Theatrix bring unique interactive and immersive dance theater to Greystone Mansion. The high-energy production has been staged at historic estates throughout the U.S., and is finally arriving at Greystone. This site-specific, 90-minute production has audience members follow the dancers through the terraced grounds, exploring themes inspired by the novel The Great Gatsby. Comfortable shoes are recommended as the outdoor event involves walking throughout the evening; but other than that, guests are encouraged to dress in 1920s-themed attire, and if they so wish, arrive early to take photos on the iconic terrace. 905 Loma Vista Dr., Beverly Hills; Wednesday, April 27 – Friday, April 29, 7pm; $20; beverlyhills.org.
Hank Willis Thomas in Monumental, Atlanta installation (Courtesy Kindred Arts)
Friday, April 29
Voices of the Rebellion: 30th Anniversary Reflections, at Leimert Park Plaza. To mark the 30th Anniversary of the 1992 Civil Uprising, DCA presents work by commissioned literary winners Peter J. Harris, Gary Jones, Charles C. Lawrence, Penelope Lowder, LaRita Shelby, and Conney D. Williams feat. music by Radha Botofasin. Presented in conjunction with Monumental Los Angeles, Kindred Arts’ traveling public art installation featuring large-scale sculptures by acclaimed African American artists Arthur Jafa (Big Wheel IV), Coby Kennedy (Kalief Browder: The Box), Christopher Myers (Caliban’s Hands), and Hank Willis Thomas (All Power to the People) in a group show across South LA and downtown designed to empower social change through the arts. 4395 Leimert Blvd., Leimert Park; Friday, April 29, 3pm; Monumental art works on view through May 21 at four locations; free; culturela.org.
Adam Berg: AGI 7 (Auto Generative Image Series), 2021. Oil on canvas (Edward Cella Gallery)
Adam Berg: Resonances at Edward Cella Gallery. A bold new series of paintings and related polished stainless-steel sculptures conjuring the speculative mapping of cosmological dimensions and simultaneously the invisible microscopic domains of the dynamic systems of life. Although created with only vigorous brushwork and the repetitive concentric strokes of Berg’s gestures, the titles AGI or Auto Generative Images is the artist’s playful take on Artificial General Intelligence (or AI); for Berg each of the works is sentient in its own creation. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., B310; West Hollywood; Friday, April 29, 3-5pm; free w/ rsvp; edwardcella.com.
Honor, an artist lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra starring Lili Taylor at MOCA (Photo: Georgia Nerheim)
Honor: An Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra starring Lili Taylor, at MOCA. This subversive performance by conceptual artist Suzanne Bocanegra masquerades as an artist talk but reveals her current obsession — and aesthetic engagement with — one of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s greatest tapestries, the colossal Honor (from the series The Honors), measuring almost 19 by 25 feet. Weaving Bocanegra’s personal narrative with an artist’s interpretation of the 16th century tapestry which reveals a multitude of different characters and narratives, Honor features celebrated film and theater actor Lili Taylor in the title role of The Artist. 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Friday-Saturday, April 29-30, 7pm; $10; moca.org.
Hotel Blue at Vellum LA
Hotel Blue: A Home for the Virtual Beings of Tomorrow at Vellum LA. Vellum LA and Marcel.Art Community present Hotel Blue, curated by Alice Scope, benefitting Nova Ukraine. Hotel Blue explores the concept of home and community for the virtual beings of tomorrow. The exhibition features works by eight women, nonbinary, and queer artists from six countries, whose works elaborate on how the body is used to give material form to an idea that as we become more immersed in and dependent on technology, erasing boundaries between humans and machines. Featuring works by Huntrezz, Stacie Ant, Vitória Cribb, Crosslucid, Harriet Davey, Keiken, Wednesday Kim, and Paola Pinna. The opening takes place with a one-night immersive experience at SVStudios, after which the works will be on view at Vellum LA’s WeHo gallery. 3424 N. San Fernando Rd., Atwater; Opening: Friday, April 29, 8-11pm; free w/ rsvp. 7673 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; On view April 30 – May 15; free; vellumla.com.
Getty Villa Theater Lab: Cassandra, an Agony
Saturday, April 30
Cassandra: An Agony, at Getty Villa Theater Lab. Cassandra knows the future. She can see disasters on the horizon. And no matter what she says or what she does, no one believes her. Her city will fall. Her family will die. And so will she. She could change it all if only anyone would listen. How does one person get the world to hear? Cassandra shows up as a side character in numerous Greek texts, but never as the central figure. Drawing on the works of Aeschylus, Euripides, Lycophron, Quintus Smyrnaeus, and Tryphiodorus, New York’s Sinking Ship Productions weaves a wholly original take on her story using contemporary language and dynamic physical performance. 17958 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades; Saturday, April 30, 1pm; $7; getty.edu.
Pace Gallery Live: Will Rawls (Photo: Charles Roussel, 2016)
Will Rawls: I make me [sic] at Pace Gallery. I make me [sic] will be the debut Pace Live performance in the courtyard of the mega-gallery’s new L.A. home. Julian Schnabel’s For Esmé – with Love and Squalor, an exhibition featuring 13 new velvet paintings and a large-scale bronze sculpture, is currently on view in the galleries. Shuttling between anecdotes and reconstructed performances, I make me [sic] builds a portrait of Rawls’ performance labor in other works, including a role as a zombie in the post-apocalyptic film I am Legend (2007). 1201 S. La Brea, Mid-City; Saturday, April 30, noon & 2pm; free w/rsvp; pacegallery.com.
Clay LA at Craft Contemporary. An anticipated annual tradition for ceramics aficionados, Clay LA is a full weekend of shopping, music, and air-dry clay activities. The Craft Contemporary’s sale and fundraiser showcases emerging and established ceramic makers in the Los Angeles area. Meet and shop from some of LA’s most vibrant and dynamic artists, celebrated for their accomplished and often unexpected approaches to art and design. Admission includes the museum’s current exhibitions: powerful works by Rosalyn Myles, Diedrick Brackens, and Jaishri Abichandani. 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile; Preview brunch: Saturday, April 30, 10am-noon, $40; Regular hours: Saturday, April 30, noon-5pm (workshop at 1pm), $9; Sunday, 11am-5pm; free; craftcontemporary.org.
Sara Birns: The Hippies Were Right, 2022. Oil on linen, 62 x 72 in at Richard Heller Gallery (Bergamot Station)
Spring Fling: Bergamot Station Arts Center Open House. The 20-ish galleries and creative spaces at Bergamot are throwing a campus-wide all-day gallery hop, celebrating new and ongoing exhibitions across painting, photography, sculpture, video, printing, craft and design. There will be music and food trucks and many venues have planned special events like demonstrations, artist talks, book and edition sales, a special Santa Monica Auctions preview; and opening receptions. Highlights include: Coffee, doughnuts and James Griffith’s extraordinary exhibition at Craig Krull at 11am; a hand-crafts design sale and the evocative landscape photographs by John Chiara currently on view at ROSEGALLERY all day; a performance by Moeko Maeda and curator talk at Speedy Gallery at 1pm; a low-brow magazine treasure trove giveaway at Copro Gallery also at 1pm…
Joseph Minek at Von Lintel Gallery (Bergamot Station)
Spring Fling at Bergamot continues with an exhibition walkthrough with Hirosuke Yabe & Sara Birns at Richard Heller Gallery at 2pm; a curator walkthrough of abstract paintings by Mark Sheinkman and camera-less photography by Joseph Minek at Von Lintel Gallery at 2:30pm; Artist + Curator Walkthrough of Mike Saijo’s photo-based stylized journalistic surrealism at bG Gallery at 3pm; Curator Walkthrough of PSJM’s data-driven abstractions in American Democracy at Building Bridges Art Exchange at 4pm; and the Opening Reception for Mark Steven Greenfield’s always astonishing, powerful, art historically grounded paintings invoking a decolonialized canon at William Turner Gallery, 5-8pm. 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica; Saturday, April 30, 11am-6pm; free; bergamotstation.com. Hot tip: Bergamot has its very own Metro stop on site, so consider taking the train!
Mike Saijo at BG Gallery (Bergamot Station)
The Poetry Film Festival at Beyond Baroque. The inaugural International Poetry Film Festival features over 40 poetry-based films from 12 countries, with each film unique in its merging of both visual and literary art forms. Over the last decade, poem-based filmmakers have been increasingly interested in interpreting poetry in visual terms and exploring the use of poems as the spine of their stories, not just as a script, but as the visual expression of the movement of words. Co-curated by the festival’s founder, Lynn Holley, the official selection of films will be screened in any of four categories: Animation, Experimental, Documentary, and Narrative. The screenings will also be accompanied by poetry readings from special guests, followed by an award ceremony, and a reception. 681 Venice Blvd., Venice; Saturday, April 30, 2-9pm; $8-$10; beyondbaroque.org.
Sonic Terrains in Latinx Art at Vincent Price Art Museum
Sonic Terrains in Latinx Art at Vincent Price Art Museum. A major exhibition of Latinx sound practices, extending from the early avant-gardism of sound art to new interdisciplinary art forms, the exhibition features an intergenerational roster of 30 artists and collectives who utilize sound in dynamic and varied outputs, including visual art, performance, spoken word, music, pirate radio, public protest, and social practice. Taken together, these artists and artworks underscore the function and malleability of sound as an instrument for creative expression and political intervention. 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park; Opening: Saturday, April 30, 6-8pm; On view through July 30; free; vincentpriceartmuseum.org.
Human Resources Los Angeles
Sunday, May 1
May Day: 12th Anniversary Party at Human Resources Los Angeles. A an elegantly chaotic drop-in art party celebrating the indie collective’s 12 years of progressive performance-based visual culture, featuring appearances by eclectic practitioners: Sarah Rara, Ohan Breiding, Corey Fogel, Nikki Darling, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Rebeca Hernandez & Crystal Sepulveda, Eloe Omoe, Suzy Halajian, Ajani Brannum, Mariel Carranza, John Biortle, Johnnie Jungleguts, IDEAL BLACK FEMALE, Adam O, LA MOCA Union, and the launch of La Crónica Libre — a sporadic newspaper edited by Wes Larios & Clara Lopez Menendez. 410 Cottage Home, Chinatown; Sunday, May 1, 6-11:30pm; $-$35; h-r.la.
CounterIntelligence: The story of Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka at Heidi Duckler Dance
CounterIntelligence: The story of Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka at Heidi Duckler Dance (Virtual). CounterIntelligence is a contemporary reimagining of a Russian folktale told in a tongue and cheek telenovela style that asks the question: who are we really? The recognition or lack thereof of our human behavior and the situations resulting from our unconscious actions is the premise of this tale. Part 1 includes An Evil Stream, the first episode where the adventure begins for our protagonist siblings as they innocently wander into the enchanted woods. Episode Two will follow as well as a trailer for Part 2. Filming for CounterIntelligence took place in and around the Russian-Jewish enclave of West Hollywood. It was written and directed by Heidi Duckler and filmed and edited by Nicolas Savignano. It stars dance artists Andrea Burr, Rebekah Denegal, Friidom (Darrel Dunn), Raymond Ejiofor, William Ylvisaker, and Ching Ching Wong. Streaming live on Youtube, Facebook & Twitch; Sunday, May 1, 6pm; free; heididuckler.org.
Beeple at 92Y
Wednesday, May 4
Beeple in Conversation with Glenn Fuhrman 92Y Beeple (Virtual). Every day for 14 and a half years, the artist Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple) created a digital artwork and posted it online. The first 5,000 days of this project, collected together in a non-fungible token, or NFT, were the first purely digital artwork ever sold at Christie’s, fetching a headline-grabbing $69,346,250. The art world, astonished, rushed to process the significance of this sale. What were NFTs and how did they work? Were they to be derided or celebrated? Now, NFTs have shifted into the mainstream. To assess the significance of this new medium, Beeple joins investor and collector Glenn Fuhrman for a conversation on how digital tools, NFTs, and the blockchain are influencing how art is created — and sold. Wednesday, May 4, 4pm Pacific; $20; 92y.org.
John Chiara at ROSEGALLERY (Bergamot Station)
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