Shana Nys Dambrot
Galleries by appointment and rolling museum re-openings and even a curated NFT group show, interactive online theater, poetry readings and workshops, live in-person performance art, art against hate, spirit-infused modern dance, and a hybrid-platform international film festival. It may not quite feel like it just yet, but it is officially Springtime.
LaTurbo Avedon at TRANSFER
Thursday, April 1
Pieces of Me at TRANSFER Gallery. An exhibition posed as an offering to the aggregate hype of the emerging global NFT marketplace. Installed online in partnership with left.gallery, this panoramic group show invites dialogue about more equitable markets, custodial care, and contextualizing efforts in crypto-focused art. Online from April 1 at transfergallery.com.
Marin Majic, All But Gone, 2020. Colored pencil, oil color, marble dust on linen (Nino Mier Gallery)
Marin Majic at Nino Mier Gallery. Stemming from a period fraught with personal and public uncertainty, Ends and Odds, introduces an ongoing body of work galvanized by an emotionally charged culmination to 2020. Transmuting ambivalence marked by both turmoil and hope, Majic’s paintings trace an expedition through a dreamscape of enigmatic narratives. Nino Mier Gallery, WeHo; by appointment April 1 – May 15; miergallery.com.
The Wende Museum
Friday, April 2
Transformations: The Cold War of Poetry & Protest at the Wende Museum. Acclaimed poets Kathleen Ossip and Michael Warr discuss how poetry and literature have helped transform and define our culture and the social justice movements from the Cold War to the present day. Ossip will share excerpts from her book, The Cold War, and Warr will present his anthology, Of Poetry & Protest (from Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin). The discussion will be moderated by Mark Lipman. Friday, April 2, noon; free; wendemuseum.org.
Vintage view of Hollenbeck Park
Underneath the Freeways of Los Angeles at Echo Theater Company. A virtual, live and interactive theater work set in 1960. As two bodies are discovered in the lake at East L.A.’s Hollenbeck Park, right below the then newly-built section of the Golden State Freeway. The audience, speaking directly to the witnesses and persons of interest, helps uncover the truth. Fridays, Saturdays & Mondays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 4pm, April 2 – 26; $15-25; echotheatercompany.com.
Nathan Redwood at CMay Gallery
Saturday, April 3
Nathan Redwood at CMay Gallery. Created in this challenging chapter of recent history, Redwood’s electrifying new large-scale works on paper for Temporarium reflect the deep anxiety, stress, and fear of our times and yet explodes with hope and exhilaration. CMay Gallery, mid-Wilshire; by appointment April 3 – May 29; cmaygallery.com.
Paco Pomet, Little Big Grief, 2020 (Richard Heller Gallery)
Paco Pomet at Richard Heller Gallery. As Sasha Bogojev writes in the exhibition essay, “A fresh, or at least another start, a new page, a chance to try new things, or familiar ones but armed with experience, the beginnings are usually seen as an opportunity and therefore a positive predicament. Beginnings is the artist’s response to the profound awareness of finitude, limitation, uncertainty, and precariousness in times of the global pandemic.” Richard Heller Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica; on view April 3 – May 8; richardhellergallery.com.
Paul Pescador at Tyler Park Presents
Paul Pescador at Tyler Park Presents. The Emancipation of P.P., a solo exhibition with Los Angeles based artist Paul Pescador, references the 2005 Mariah Carey comeback album “The Emancipation of Mimi” and presents photographs in which the artist turns to themself as the subject to create their most personal body of images yet. Pescador looks to the medium of photography as a way to explore and document the process of shifting their own physical appearance as a trans non-binary individual. Tyler Park Presents, Hollywood; by appointment April 3 -May 22; tylerparkpresents.com.
JJJJJerome Ellis, James Harrison Monaco, Haruna Lee, and Ronald Peet, at REDCAT (Photo: Marcus Middleton)
JJJJJerome Ellis at REDCAT. TWO PSALMS was filmed in Ellis’ apartment on May 18, 2018 and features musicians Catherine Brookman, Starr Busby, Haruna Lee, James Harrison Monaco, Ronald Peet, and Shu Wang. The piece’s three movements are settings of Psalm 42 and Psalm 23 from the Hebrew Bible, in both English and Latin translations, with spoken interludes. During the evening, REDCAT will also present a new commissioned psalm setting, as Ellis continues his ongoing contemplation of devotion, yearning, and uncertainty. Saturday, April 3, 5pm; $15; redcat.org.
Carolina Caycedo, Care Report, 2021 (detail). Collage, digital print on foamcore. 8 x 8 feet, 12 x 8 feet, 16 x 8 feet, 12 x 8 feet. (Oxy Arts. Photo: Ian Byers-Gamber)
Sunday, April 4
Live In-Person Performance: Direct Care at Oxy Arts. Direct Care is a site-specific choreographic performance in response to the Carolina Caycedo: Care Report exhibition, exploring the dynamics, gestures, and aesthetics of social movement and protest, rooted in feminine and femme care rituals. The work is intended to be viewed from outside, through the gallery’s street-facing windows on York Blvd. Oxy Arts, 4757 York Blvd; Sunday, April 4, 7 and 8pm; free; oxy.edu.
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Ongoing
Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Featuring 47 world premieres and 37 U.S. premieres from 45 countries, this year’s festival is doing side-by-side beachfront drive-ins that will be offered for free to the general public, with a hybrid ticketing model for online attendees. International talent from the best in film will descend on SB via LIVE virtual tributes to talk about their careers and why these types of festivals are critical to the overall entertainment community. Honorees and panelists include: Bill Murray, Sacha Baron Cohen, Amanda Seyfried, Riz Ahmed, Andra Day, Zendaya and Delroy Lindo. Online and at select Santa Barbara beachfront drive-ins, March 31 – April 10; sbiff.org.
Beyond Baroque’s 30 in 30 with Brendan Constantine
30 in 30 Workshop w/ poet Brendan Constantine at Beyond Baroque. Ever since April became National Poetry Month back in 1996, poets have tasked themselves to write a poem a day for the whole month. Thus began the tradition known as 30/30. For 2021, poet Brendan Constantine will offer everything you need to meet the challenge. Each class will include group discussions on the art of poetry, effective tools and routines, and homework prompts. No experience necessary. Writers of all genres welcome. Wednesdays, March 31 – April 21, 7-9pm on Zoom; $80-120; beyondbaroque.org.
Dominique Fung, Midnight Catch, 2021 at Make Room
We Stand Together to Stop AAPI Hate at Make Room. A special exhibition bringing together dozens of works by over 40 diverse artists across generations, from both within and outside of the gallery’s program. Participating artists include Judy Chicago, Kat Lyons, Pixy Liao, Dominique Fung, Susan Chen and Eddie Martinez, among many others. Sales will benefit the AAPI Community Fund and Stop AAPI Hate Organization to enable tracking and efficient response to the surge in racism and xenophobia. Online through April 23; makeroom.la.
Chris Burden’s Urban Light at LACMA
Museum Re-Openings
Open Now: LACMA, MOAH Lancaster, Palm Springs Art Museum, Petersen Automotive Museum, El Segundo Museum Of Art, ICA LA, Natural History Museum, CAAM, Long Beach Museum of Art. April 6: The Autry, Skirball. April 17: Hammer & Huntington. Mid-April: Getty Villa. May: The Broad, Getty Center, Norton Simon. Still TBD: MOCA, MOLAA.
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