Datebook: Monuments made of cardboard, the Virgin of Guadalupe’s legacy, the art of alchemy
A humble monument by a Swiss artist. The influence of one of Latin America’s most important religious icons. And the importance of alchemy in art. Plus: A paean to pop on the west side. Here are eight events to check out in the coming week:
“Thomas Hirschhorn: Stand-alone,” at the Mistake Room. In his first solo installation in Los Angeles, the Swiss artist is transforming the gallery into a chaotic, immersive environment crafted from cardboard, old armchairs and sofas and stocked with a carefully chosen selection of books. The artist is known for re-conceiving the idea of monuments into often humbly crafted installations (think: duct tape) that require the participation of a viewer to complete. (He did a much-discussed, large-scale, months-long install at a public housing project in New York City in 2013 called the “Gramsci Monument.”) Opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Dec. 17. 1811 E. 20th St., downtown Los Angeles, tmr.la.
“Virgin of Guadalupe: Images in Colonial Mexico,” at the Bowers Museum. This exhibition looks at the extraordinary impact of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Mexican culture, history and iconography through more than 60 artworks, including objects from the the virgin’s basilica in Mexico City, as well as a sacred reliquary that contains a portion of the garment worn by Juan Diego, the indigenous peasant who first saw the virgin in an apparition. Opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 29. 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, bowers.org
“The Art of Alchemy,” at the Getty Museum. A new exhibition at the Getty examines the art of alchemy — an area of study described as “science tinged with spirituality and infused with a spritz of artistic spirit” — dating from its origins in Greco-Roman antiquity to the Industrial Age. Alchemy was also closely tied to the production of pigments and colored inks, serving an important role in the production of art — subject of the related show, “The Alchemy of Color on Medieval Manuscripts,” takes on. Opens Tuesday and runs through Jan. 1. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.
“Pop for the People: Roy Lichtenstein in Los Angeles,” at the Skirball Cultural Center. A new exhibition of the pop artist looks at more than 70 works spanning four decades, many of which are connected to Los Angeles and the artist’s collaboration with important print studios here — including Gemini G.E.L. and Tamarind Lithography Workshop. (My colleague Deborah Vankin has a story about his engagement with L.A.) The show also includes a “three-dimensional re-imagination” of Lichtenstein’s 1992 painting “Bedroom at Arles.” This I will have to see to believe. Opens Friday and runs through March 12. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles, skirball.org.
“Truc Anh: Vacuphilia,” at Varola. The first exhibition by the Vietnamese-French artist features paintings and installations that feature bodies and body parts inhabiting an abstracted world of black and white. Opens today and runs through Jan. 20. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., Ste. B256, West Hollywood, helenvarola.com.
“Shift and Fade,” at BLAM. A group show features a series of large-scale installations as well as 21 small sculptures, made by artists who often don’t work in that medium. The show includes Kio Griffith’s intriguing mappings related to a World War II-era battle in the Pacific in which her ancestors fought on opposing sides, as well as the intricate, woven drawings of San Pedro-based artist Fran Siegel. Opens Saturday at 3 p.m. and runs through Oct. 30. There will be an artist talk with Shana Nys Dambrot on Oct. 30. 1950 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, blamprojects.com.
“Fort Greene,” at Venus. Organized by Adrianne Rubenstein, director of the Canada gallery in New York, the exhibition charts the web of visual and other connections among a group of New York artists. Of particular interest are the enigmatic geometric assemblages of Sarah Braman, the slightly magical paintings of Alex Chaves, the vibrant domestic settings of Bella Foster and a sculpture of John Waters’ head by John De Fazio that also doubles as a bong. Heady all around. Through Oct. 29. 601 S. Anderson St., Boyle Heights, venusovermanhattan.com.
“In Real Life: 100 Days of Film and Performance,” at the Hammer Museum. This 4½-month program is bringing a series of screenings, performances, film and video to the museum during a remodel. Coming this weekend are screenings from Artists’ Film International (a series of artist films and videos). Also, artists Emily Mast and Mikaal Sulaiman will be rehearsing a new performance as part of the museum’s “In Real Life: Studio” series, which allows viewers to see works in progress. Through Jan. 25. Check the schedule for events and times. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, hammer.ucla.edu.
LAST CHANCE
“Karla Klarin: Subdividing the LAndscape,” at CSUN Art Galleries. The San Fernando Valley-raised artist examines some of our city’s more quotidian landscapes in a series of painted works that take sprawl and the suburban as points of inspiration. But don’t expect the cookie cutter: Klarin’s works have a way of capturing grit. Through Saturday. Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, csun.edu.
Bosco Sodi, “Malpaís,” in a pop-up exhibition at 143 N. Robertson. The Mexican artist is known for densely pigmented monochromes and geometric clay cubes (evocative of the work of Isamu Noguchi) that play with color and the visceral qualities of his earthy materials. This one-off show is presented by the New York-based Paul Kasmin Gallery with Brandon Davis Projects and Jose Mestre. Through Saturday. 143 N. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, brandondavisprojects.net.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Tong Kunniao, “Why Don’t You Eat Stinky Tofu?” at Nicodim Gallery. The Chinese-born artist features messy assemblages and kinetic sculptures crafted from detritus that include Barbie dolls and religious souvenirs. Through Oct. 15. 571 S. Anderson St., Suite 2, Boyle Heights, nicodimgallery.com.
Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and Tyler Matthew Oyer, “Exploring The Nowannago: Kentifrican Modes of Resistance,” at Grand Central Art Center. A combination of performance and video piece, “Exploring the Nowannago” is part of Hinkle’s long-running exploration of the ways in which black female bodies are commoditized and exoticized. Also on display is Jesse Kees’ sound installation featuring a series of pieces drawn from the artist’s experience working in Santa Ana. Through Oct. 16. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, grandcentralartcenter.com.
Abraham Cruzvillegas, “Autoconcanción,” at Regen Projects. In his work, the Mexican artist has long riffed on the improvised nature of Latin American informal architecture — so-called “autoconstrucciones.” For his second show at Regen, Cruzvillegas is exploring similar territory, though on this occasion, he is employing the backseat of every car he has ever used (a nod to SoCal car culture). These will be affixed to planters bearing plantings from our region. Through Oct. 22. 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, regenprojects.com.
James Richards, “Hack the Analog,” at Shoshana Wayne Gallery. A series of new paintings play with their structure in pieces that function partially as sculpture and partially as weaving. Through Oct. 22. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B1, Santa Monica, shoshanawayne.com.
Edith Beaucage, “Sequencer, Spectrum, Reverb,” at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. In loose, wild brush strokes, the L.A. artist captures figures in hallucinatory landscapes that evoke a painted rave. Also on view will be an exhibition of photographs and large-scale video by Bryan Zanisnik, a New York-based artist preoccupied by the architecture of monuments and theatrical sets. Through Oct. 22. 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, luisdejesus.com.
Fran Siegel, “Reconstruction,” at ACME. The artist creates elaborate pieces that integrate drawing, cut-outs and collaging to capture the urban environment on a massive scale. In a new series of works going on view at the gallery, Siegel sets her sights on Los Angeles, capturing patterns of migration, settlement and evolution. A new way to see the city that surrounds us. Through Oct. 22. 6150 Wilshire Blvd., Carthay, Los Angeles, acemlosangeles.com.
Clint Woodside, “Under Cover Cars,” at These Days L.A. The artist’s first solo exhibitions gathers five years’ worth of images chronicling SoCal cars draped in all manner of plastics and tarps. Through Oct. 23. 118 Winston St., 2nd Floor, downtown Los Angeles, thesedaysla.com.
“Hanne Darboven,” at Sprüth Magers. The first solo exhibition devoted to the German conceptualist’s work in half a dozen years contains three installations that riff on the nature of time and other concepts through monumental pieces laden with obsessively detailed charts and calendars. This includes work dating to the 1970s (Darboven died in 2009). Through Oct. 29. 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, spruethmagers.com.
Michelle Kingdom, at bG Gallery. Kingdom takes embroidery and gives it a surreal twist, using it to create scenes — a figure hovering over a crowd of faceless women, for example — that are as strange as they are fantastical. Through Oct. 29. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., G8A, Santa Monica, santamonica.bgartdealings.com.
Tom Knechtel, “Astrolabe,” at Marc Selwyn Fine Art. The artist, known for theatrical pieces that often border on the surreal (think: wrestlers in skirts and humans with bird heads) is unveiling three new paintings as well as a series of intimate new drawings consisting largely of portraiture and self-portraiture — areas that this master draftsman had not previously explored. Through Oct. 29. 9953 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, marcselwynfineart.com.
Mira Schor, “War Frieze (1991-1994) and “Power” Frieze (2016), at CB1 Gallery. Schor, the New York-based feminist artist who first made her name in the ’70s at the California Institute of the Arts, is back in L.A. with a new selection of paintings that riff on art world politics and the body. A separate space features her historic work “War Frieze,” created between 1991 and 1994, a series of panels that, when presented together, run more than 200 feet. Through Oct. 30. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cb1gallery.com.
Tom Knechtel, “The Reader of His Own Self,” at CB1 Gallery. The Los Angeles artist renowned for rendering fantastically detailed paintings that seem to channel William Blake and Hieronymus Bosch in equal parts is displaying a selection of prints and drawings produced throughout his career — including new works that riff on the personal, such as two prints created especially for the show. The exhibition also serves as a prelude to a show of the artist’s paintings that will open at Marc Selwyn in Beverly Hills next week. Opens Saturday at 3 p.m. and runs through Oct. 30. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cb1gallery.com.
Henry Taylor, at Blum & Poe. The artist’s latest solo exhibition features a series of new paintings and sculptures displayed in three unique environments that tackle ideas of class — including a dirt lot and a grassy lawn. As part of the exhibition, he will also be screening a film by friend and collaborator Kahlil Joseph, who last year hypnotized with his installation “Double Conscience” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles. The gallery will also be having a concurrent show of the early sign paintings of Mark Grotjahn. Through Nov. 5. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, blumandpoe.com.
Marnie Weber, “Chapel of the Moon,” at Gavlak Gallery. The Los Angeles artist has created a cast of mythical characters employed in her first feature film — a modern-day fairy tale titled “The Day of Forevermore,” which recently screened at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel — and these serve as the source of a new series of multimedia works at the gallery. Expect works that play with fantasy, reality and the mildly satanic. Through Nov. 5. 1034 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, gavlakgallery.com.
Wu Tsang, “The Luscious Land of God Is Sinking,” at 356 Mission. The L.A.-based filmmaker and performer is screening her recent film, “Duilian,” about a Chinese feminist revolutionary who was executed for attempting to foment revolution in the early 20th century. She will also be showing new sculptures, photographs and a limestone plaque that will be embedded in the sidewalk out front. Through Nov. 6. 356 S. Mission Road, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, 356mission.com.
“Dissent: What They Fear Is the Light,” at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. A group show explores issues of privacy, control and surveillance in our hyper-connected, always-logged-on digital world. Through Nov. 6. 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, welcometolace.org.
Karon Davis, “Pain Management,” at Wilding Cran Gallery. Employing plaster casts and shredded medicine bills, the artist has re-created the hospital environment that her husband, artist Noah Davis, was forced to inhabit as the result of a fatal illness. (He died last summer.) These are used to create a series of figurative sculptures that conjure notions of preservation and mummification. Through Nov. 12. 939 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, wildingcran.com.
Lewis Baltz, “Docile Bodies,” at Gallery Luisotti. In 1994, the renowned California photographer created a monumental photographic installation titled “Docile Bodies,” which combined images of surveillance with fragments of human bodies. The work has not been shown in the U.S. since 1998, when the Museum of Contemporary Art displayed it. Now, Gallery Luisotti has reassembled it and placed it on view. Through Nov. 12. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building A2, Santa Monica, galleryluisotti.com.
“He/She/They,” at Rosegallery. A group exhibition gathers works by photographers whose subjects go beyond the simple gender binary of male and female. Included is a range of imagery — produced by a diverse group of artists that includes Diane Arbus, Antonio Caballero, Yasumasa Morimura and Jo Ann Callis — depicting the fluid nature of gender, from drag queens to female impersonators to androgyny of all kinds. Through Nov. 12. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., G-5, Santa Monica, rosegallery.net.
“London Calling,” at the Getty Museum. Drawn primarily from the collection of the Tate in London, this exhibition brings together six of the leading British painters of the 20th century, figures who resisted trends toward abstraction to focus on the figure, revolutionizing the act of painting in the process. Through Nov. 13. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.
“Guillermo del Toro: At Home With Monsters,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The filmmaker’s work — which includes movies such as “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy” and “Pacific Rim” — all play with notions of the fantastical. This exhibition looks at the director’s artistic process, including plenty of drawings and maquettes, along with the objects that inspire him (including some truly odd and macabre works from LACMA’s permanent collection). These are presented in a series of thematic rooms that explore magic, occultism, death and monsters. A totally wild ride. Through Nov. 27. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
Marcos Ramirez ERRE and David Taylor, “Delimitations: A Survey of the 1821 United States-Mexico Border,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In 2014, Ramirez and Taylor set out on a more than 3,000-mile journey to mark the 1821 border between the U.S. and Mexico, which took them to unlikely places such as Medicine Bow, Wyo., and Dodge City, Kan. This exhibition presents photography and other documentation from that journey, one that looks at the fragile nature of political borders. Also on view will be the wild urban architecture-inspired sculptures of L.A. artist Ruben Ochoa — rising like monsters from the gallery floor. A pair of shows not to miss. Through Nov. 27. Jacobs Building, 1100 Kettner Blvd., downtown San Diego, mcasd.org.
Maggie Lee, “Gigi’s Underground,” at 356 Mission. Constructed out of the artist’s personal archive, this debut film consists of a portrait of the artist before and after her mother’s sudden death. Through Nov. 27. 356 S. Mission Road, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, 356mission.com.
“A Generosity of Spirit: Celebrating the Gift of Eugene Rogolsky,” at the Fisher Museum. The Angeleno acquired an eclectic range of works over the course of his years as a patron, including photography and paintings. One of the highlights: The significant number of works by prominent Chicano painter Carlos Almaraz. Through Dec. 3. USC, 823 W. Exposition Blvd., Exposition Park, Los Angeles, fisher.usc.edu.
“American Mosaic: Picturing Modern Art Through the Eye of Duncan Phillips,” at the Orange County Museum of Art. In the early 20th century, at a time when many U.S. moguls were focusing on amassing European masters, banking and steel scion Duncan Phillips focused his collecting efforts on American art, acquiring canvases by now venerated painters such as Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Georgia O’Keeffe and Helen Frankenthaler. This exhibition brings together more than five dozen works from his collection. Through Dec. 4. 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, ocma.net.
“The Spun Universe: Wixárika (Huichol) Yarn Paintings,” at the Fowler Museum. A new show gathers the brightly woven yarn paintings of Wixárika artist Ramón Medina Silva, known for his elaborate compositions depicting astral figures, holy plants and important ritual objects, all crafted with brilliant threads. Through Dec. 4. UCLA, 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Westwood, Los Angeles, fowler.ucla.edu.
Jud Fine and Barbara McCarren, “AND/OR,” at the University Art Museum. A survey exhibition includes works old and new by the L.A.-based art-making couple. This features a number of pieces related to such topics as offshore banking and the nature of currency, and a new installation, “Continental Edge Dwellers (CED),” that explores the coast — that blurry line between land and water. It’s a good subject to marinate in at a time when California’s coast is subject to struggles over development. Through Dec. 11. Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, web.csulb.edu/org/uam.
Yulya Dukhovny, “Fisherman’s Dream: The World in Miniature,” at Grand Central Art Center. Inspired by the traditional paper theaters of 19th century Europe, the artist has created her own version of the form, but uses it to stage narratives with a contemporary twists. The installation includes sets and video — as well as regular theatrical performances that feature unique musical compositions. Through Dec. 11. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, grandcentralartcenter.com.
Betye Saar, “Black White,” at Roberts & Tilton. The grand dame of L.A. assemblage art (who is about to open a one-woman show at the Prada Foundation in Milan) is showing four decades’ worth of sculptures and wall pieces in the gallery’s project space — transformed to reflect both the colors and politics of black and white. Also on view will be the abstract paintings of Evan Nesbit. Through Dec. 17. 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City, robertsandtilton.com.
“Sleep,” “David Adamo: Untitled” and “Devin Farrand: Heft,” at Ibid Gallery. The gallery debuts its new space in Boyle Heights this weekend with several new exhibitions, including a group show that riffs on the idea of sleep, as well as a pair of solos devoted to the work of sculptor David Adamo and the abstractions of Devin Farrand. Through Oct. 29. Adamo’s exhibition and “Sleep” are on view through Dec. 17. 670 S. Anderson St., Boyle Heights, ibidgallery.com.
Paul Sietsema, at Matthew Marks Gallery. The artist’s first solo exhibition in L.A. in more than a dozen years includes new paintings and drawings, as well as two recent films. The show is partly built around the color green, featuring one work of pure abstraction and another made with euro banknotes. The film “Abstract composition,” in the meantime, animates phrases from online auction sites. Through Dec. 23. 1062 N. Orange Grove, West Hollywood, matthewmarks.com.
Maria Lassnig, “A Painting Survey, 1950-2007,” at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel. This is the first Los Angeles solo exhibition for the late Austrian artist, known for her inventively weird figurative paintings. The show traces the artist’s journey over a nearly six-decade period, from her early abstractions to the mildly distorted, even cartoonish, paintings of people and settings that are more about capturing psychological states of being than rendering exact figures. Through Dec. 31. 901 E. 3rd St., downtown Los Angeles, hauserwirthschimmel.com.
“MOLAA at Twenty: 1996-2016,” at the Museum of Latin American Art. The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach is celebrating two decades in existence with a show that draws from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 1,600 objects. These include works by renowned Modernists Joaqíun Torres-García and Wifredo Lam, Argentine conceptualist Len Ferrari as well as contemporary figures such as Alexandre Arrechea and Patssi Valdez. Through Jan. 1. 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, molaa.org.
“Drawing: The Art of Change,” at the Getty Museum. An exhibition of drawings from the Getty’s permanent collection looks at the ways in which artists employ revision and change in their works. Through Jan. 1. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.
Ernesto Yerena Montejano, “Espejismo/Cicatriz,” at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes. A series of intensely detailed, layered collages by the Los Angeles-based artist explore issues of identity in the Latino community. Through Jan. 1. 501 N. Main St., downtown Los Angeles, lapca.org.
“Senses of Time: Video and Film-Based Works of Africa,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. For one of its long-term installations, the museum has gathered works of video or film by contemporary African artists that explore the body and the looping nature of time. This includes pieces by figures such as Yinka Shonibare, Sammy Baloji, Berni Searle, Moatax Nasr and Theo Eshetu. Through Jan. 2. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.
“The Serial Impulse at Gemini G.E.L.,” at LACMA. Over the course of five decades, the innovative Los Angeles print studio has produced historic limited edition works for renowned artists such as Richard Serra, Claes Oldenburg, Vija Celmins, David Hockney and Robert Rauschenberg. Now the museum, in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art, brings together some of the most exquisite examples of work produced at the famed West Hollywood shop, including Rauschenberg’s 1967 print, “Booster,” a 6-foot-tall print that in its day was the largest art print ever made. Do not miss Oldenburg’s pieces, which ruminate on the nature of Los Angeles.Through Jan. 2. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“The Rat Bastard Protective Association,” at the Landing. The Rat Bastard Protective Association was a close-knit group of now well-known California artists — including Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Wallace Berman and Joan Brown — that worked together in a building dubbed Painterland in San Francisco. Anastasia Aukeman, who wrote a book on the group — “Welcome to Painterland: Bruce Conner and the Rat Bastard Protective Association” — has organized an exhibition that brings the group’s works together for the first time since the late 1950s. Through Jan. 7. 5118 W. Jefferson Blvd., West Adams, thelandinggallery.com.
Kay Sekimachi, “Simple Complexity,” at the Craft & Folk Art Museum. The museum has gathered a lifetime’s worth of work — from the 1960s to today — of this innovative Bay Area fiber artist. Through Jan. 8. 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, cafam.org.
“Radio Imagination: Artists in the Archive of Octavia E. Butler,” at the Armory Center for the Arts. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the death of sci-fi writer Octavia Butler. As part of this exhibition, which is organized by Clockshop, seven contemporary artists have created work inspired by the items in Butler’s archive, held by the Huntington Library. The new pieces include drawings, a sound installation, sculpture and even a musical work, which will premiere at the exhibition’s opening. Also on view will be an exhibition of sculptures and video by Harry Dodge — making this a most excellent two-fer. Through Jan. 8. 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, armoryarts.org.
Doug Aitken, “Electric Earth,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The L.A. artist’s first North American museum survey features an array of collage, photographic and video installation works from throughout his career — including the cinematic “Song 1,” from 2012, screening on a massive circular screen, and “Electric Earth,” the 1999 video installation that earned him the International Prize at the Venice Biennale.Through Jan. 15. Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., downtown Los Angeles, moca.org.
Beatriz Cortez, “Nomad World,” at the Vincent Price Art Museum. The L.A.-based artist and cultural critic has transformed the gallery space at the museum into an arcade that picks apart global capitalism. A fortune-telling booth, a pinball machine and a jukebox have been pulled apart and put back together, in ways that grapple with issues such as migration, economics and identity. Through Jan. 28. East Los Angeles College, 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.
“California Wood Artists,” at the Maloof Foundation. A group show gathers wooden objects created by nearly 40 California wood artists, from one-of-a-kind furnishing to elaborate marquetry inspired by Google searches. Through Feb. 11. 5131 Carnelian St., Alta Loma, malooffoundation.org.
Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayón, at the Fowler Museum. The Cuban visual artist was known for powerful pieces inspired by the visual iconography of the founding myths of Abakúa, an Afro-Cuban fraternal society. Over her short life (she died at age 32 in 1999), she produced a voluminous number of prints and collages in shades of black and white that convey scenes that are both magical and enigmatic. Through Feb. 12. UCLA, 308 Charles Young Drive North, Westwood, Los Angeles, fowler.ucla.edu.
“In the Land of Sunshine: Imaging the California Coast World,” at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Covering a period that begins in the mid-19th century and spans to today, this exhibition covers beach culture up and down our state’s more than 800-mile coast — from playful abstractions of the shoreline to expressive watercolors that will make you practically taste the salt air. Through Feb. 19. 490 E. Union St., Pasadena, pmcaonline.org.
Toba Khedoori, at the L.A. County Museum of Art. This is the first major museum survey of the L.A.-based artist, known for her painstaking draftsmanship and enigmatic drawings and paintings. Her works often feature architectural elements, landscape, smoke and flame in ways that play with negative space and toy with meaning. Through Mar. 19. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“Non Fiction” at the Underground Museum. An emotionally charged exhibition curated by the late Noah Davis, in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles brings together works that explore issues of race and violence. This includes important works from MOCA’s permanent collection by artists such as Robert Gober, Kara Walker, Henry Taylor and David Hammons. Through March. 3508 W. Washington Blvd., Arlington Heights, Los Angeles, theunderground-museum.org.
“Islamic Art Now: Part 2” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Contemporary works from LACMA’s permanent collection by 20 artists who live in or have roots in the Middle East look at questions of society, gender and identity. Runs indefinitely. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.
Loris Gréaud, “Sculpt,” at the L.A. County Museum of Art. The entire theater has been taken over by the European artist for a film that screens to only one person at a time. The nonlinear picture follows “a man about whom we know very little, who seems to be constantly developing the concept of what experiencing beauty, thought, or obsession can be,” according the write-up. Times critic Christopher Knight describes it as “pretentious and uninvolving.” A good hate-watch, maybe? On view through a yet to be determined date. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
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