Shana Nys Dambrot
How’s everyone doing with their New Year’s motto, and what rhymes with 2024? Hear us roar? Back for more? Don’t be a bore? Open the door? While we’re figuring that out, visit the creative venues of DTLA’s first Art Night of the year, a group show about the nature of consciousness and time itself, a painting show about weapons of beauty, paintings about humans feeling restful, paintings about the hidden patterns in chaos, or a collection of the most insanely opulent gemstones in the world. Join a conversation about the post-car future of Los Angeles, a book release party celebrating collage, anti-capitalist performance art at the museum, pro-sensuality performance at the gallery, and a steamy night evoking the last days of the Black Dahlia.
Patricia Fortlage: On the Menu, 2023 (The Makery)
Thursday, January 4
DTLA Art Night Opulent Mobility Preview at The Makery. The 9th annual Opulent Mobility exhibition is curated by A. Laura Brody and Anthony Tusler, and celebrates the many beautiful manifestations of strength and joy within the community. The curators have planned engaging creative crafting activities for the DTLA Art Night First Thursdays crowd; the exhibition officially opens Sunday, January 7, 1-4pm, and is on view through January 31; Panel talks on neurodivergence and art (January 21) and chronic illness and art (January 28) to enrich the exhibition’s message. 260 S. Los Angeles St, downtown; Thursday, January 4, 6-9pm; free; makery.la.
Lisa Wedgeworth: Sex Lies and Brooklyn Spies, 2015. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 72 in (Wonzimer)
Friday, January 5
Time-Being: Scientific, Philosophical, and Mystical Perspectives at Wonzimer Gallery. A group exhibition examining the issue of time as intertwined with the nature of being. Time and the self are understood to be inseparable. The self is not simply in time; the self is time and time is the self. Subjective temporal life arises through the apprehension and unification of successive states of mind and body. It is an ongoing construct that is actualized and disclosed by the structures of consciousness. This phenomenology of time together with ontology give an account of the structures of consciousness that constitute time-being, or rather time-becoming. 341-B Avenue 17, downtown; Opening reception: Friday, January 5, 5-10pm; On view through February 9; free; wonzimer.com.
(Rizzoli)
The Future of Los Angeles: A Conversation with James Sanders, Frances Anderton & Donald Shoup at Book Soup. From a consortium of the most respected experts in a cluster of interrelated areas in design and culture, Renewing the Dream: The Mobility Revolution and the Future of Los Angeles (Rizzoli) offers a thoroughgoing look at the challenges and opportunities of a future beyond car culture. Asking individual citizens of the world’s most famous automobile-first city to unilaterally decamp for a dodgy, underfunded, and spotty public transportation system hasn’t really worked. What we need is a drastic overhaul, a total reimagining, massive investment, and research-based policy that takes all of urban planning into account and not just roadways. Join a lively conversation about the ways the city is changing today—and how it might evolve in the years to come. 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Friday, January 5, 7pm; free; booksoup.com.
Night of the Black Dahlia
Saturday, January 6
Night of the Black Dahlia at St. Felix. Enter through the shadowed alley and follow the faint air of tragic jazz as we gather to commemorate the final week in the life of Elizabeth Short, who was destined to be forever known as the Black Dahlia. Live Crime Jazz by Skip Heller’s Voodoo 5, featuring Lena Marie Cardinale, readings from the classic Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia by Jerry Stahl, Carson Gilmore, Michelle Carr, and more. The evening will commence with classic film noir burlesque by Kara Spade and Vanessa Burgundy, cocktails, and dark exotica. Presented by AMOK Books. 1602 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood; Saturday, January 6, 8-11:30pm; $5-$10; instagram.com/vanessaburgundy.
Emily Furr: Bombshell, 2023 (Sargent’s Daughters)
Emily Furr: Bombshell at Sargent’s Daughters. Furr employs sexual innuendo and feminine tropes as allegories for war and weaponry, producing provocative and ironic images that examine cultural attitudes towards technology. In Bombshell, Furr turns her focus to explicit signifiers of femininity, such as high heels, compacts, and perfume bottles. As the double entendre implies, these items are at once alluring and potentially dangerous. Masculinity is also present, as lipstick tubes and missiles both evoke phalluses that pierce the compositions. Furr’s signature cosmic skies serve as backdrops to this psychosexual, Pop-inspired playfulness. 538 N. Western Ave., Melrose Hill; Opening reception: Saturday, January 6, 6-8pm; On view through February 17; free; sargentsdaughters.com.
Flora and Flesh at Lauren Powell Projects
Flora and Flesh Closing Performance by Josh Cabello at Lauren Powell Projects. A variety of painting and sculpture confronts art history’s fixation on a romanticized paradise lost, plunging headfirst into the wild, raw passions of nature through a defiantly queer perspective. Thematically linked through their incorporation of aesthetics of play, mythology, and decorative arts, the artists usher in a sensibility of Queer Rococo—channeling the dark, frothy opulence of the traditional Baroque style, while personally examining what it means to be a gay man in this day and age. 5225 Hollywood Blvd., East Hollywood; Saturday, January 6, 5pm; free; laurenpowellprojects.com.
Linda Sibio
Sunday, January 7
Linda Sibio: Wall Street Guillotine Performance at Craft Contemporary. Artist Linda Sibio premieres her solo performance piece, Wall Street Guillotine. This special performance will further investigate themes in her solo exhibition, Economics of Suffering, Part IV (an interdisciplinary project that combines intricate drawings, performance, and installation to explore devastating effects and emotional scarring caused by the ongoing worldwide financial crisis)—drawing parallels between forms of torture from the Holy Wars of the Middle Ages and our current wealth disparity. 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile; Sunday, January 7, 3pm; free; craftcontemporary.org.
Luhz Press
How to Move a Mountain Book Release Party at ROSEGALLERY. The gallery’s current exhibition, Fragmented Lucidity: The Art of Collage and Photomontage—a presentation of works by Katrien De Blauwer, Ken Graves, and Kensuke Koike—hosted in collaboration with publishers Luhz Press. In addition to bringing out Graves’ new monograph, Luhz celebrates the release of Caleb Stein’s How to Move a Mountain in the context of the show. Originating in the early 20th century, modern collage and photomontage revolutionized art by reimagining traditional forms of expression. Photomontage, an offshoot of collage popularized by Dadaists like Hannah Höch, used cut and reassembled photographs for satirical and political commentary. These innovative styles continue to influence modern art, offering new avenues for creativity and social critique. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica; Sunday, January 7, noon; exhibition on view through January 13; free; rosegallery.net.
Zaam Arif at The Cabin
Zaam Arif: Winter Light at The Cabin. The latest oil painting by Houston-based Pakistani artist Zaam Arif, painted during his time at the La Brea Residency in December 2023. Through the medium of oil on canvas, Arif captures the nuanced moments of individuals at rest or in silence. Drawing inspiration from cinema and literature, Arif’s art seeks to portray the essence of a person at rest, delicately submerged in their consciousness. The paintings delve into the realms of dreams and memories, inviting viewers to contemplate the intricacies of introspection. Within this series, the recurring motif of the sea serves as a poignant symbol, representing the connection between one’s present self and the vast expanse of memories and experiences that shape our individual narratives. Opening reception: Sunday, January 7, 2-5 pm; free; address provided with rsvp; instagram.com/dannyfirst.
The Jonker I Diamond at NHM
Monday, January 8
100 Carats: Icons of the Gem World at Natural History Museum. Over two dozen stunning and massive gems form a never-publicly-seen collection. Among them are beryl gems saturated in deep blue aquamarine, a near-flawless emerald, a spectacular royal blue sapphire, a rainbow-filled clear goshenite, and an exquisitely-cut 111 carat green tourmaline. The centerpiece of the exhibit, the Jonker I Diamond, is the largest stone cut from the Jonker Diamond–the fourth largest in the world when it was found in 1934–and weighs in at 125 carats. This historic gem has passed through the hands of global royalty and Hollywood stars, but has not been on public view for decades. Aside from their beauty and brilliance, these exceedingly rare gems also tell the scientific story of the history of our planet. Their existence is evidence of massive mountain-building events, violent volcanic eruptions, and the unforgiving pressures and temperatures of the Earth’s interior. 900 Exposition Blvd., Expo Park; On view through April 21; $18 general admission; free to LA County residents Monday-Friday, 3-5pm; nhm.org.
Reza Nosrati (MEY Gallery)
Tuesday, January 9
Reza Nosrati: Chaos II at MEY Gallery. Recent paintings by Tehran-based artist Reza Nosrati marks the first time the artist’s work is being shown in the United States. In ancient Greek mythology, Chaos is the empty yet energetically charged space at the beginning of time. Also regarded as an airborne goddess, Chaos has come to be symbolized by birds. In this exhibition, the artist visualizes this revered yet elusive subject; expanding upon his ongoing series of the same name, Chaos II features kaleidoscopic birds in flight against prismatic and undulating backgrounds. Ebbing between motion and stillness, Reza’s fluttering subjects are calligraphic in their grace; like scripture, they cascade across the canvas. 8967 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Opening reception: Tuesday, January 9, 5-8pm; On view through February 3; free; meygallery.com.
Brontë Grimm, Devour, 2019 (The Makery)
Ken Graves: She was living an ordinary life, 1984, Unique mixed media collage, 3.5 x 6 inches (ROSEGALLERY)
Zaam Arif at The Cabin
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