Datebook: Gabriela Ruiz uses technology to reimagine herself in strange ways at VPAM

Riffs on identity and 100 years of the Huntington Library. The fall shows keep coming. Here are 10 exhibitions and events in Los Angeles and beyond:

Gabriela Ruiz, “Full of Tears,” at the Vincent Price Art Museum. In her first solo museum show, the Los Angeles artist also known as “Leather Papi” employs a mix of media — video, 3-D mapping, sculptural installation — to examine identity and the self. Expect a full, wild immersion. Opens Saturday at 5 p.m. and runs through Feb. 15. East Los Angeles College, 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

Betye Saar: “Call and Response,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Saar is one of the icons of the Black Arts Movements, a Los Angeles assemblagist known for taking some of the ugliest pieces of our culture’s detritus and making out of them things that are stirring and beautiful. This solo show examines the arc of her practice, pairing early schematic sketches with finished versions of her work from throughout her career. Open Sunday and runs through April 5. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

Adam Linder, “The Want,” at REDCAT. This contemporary opera is inspired by the client/dealer relationship in Bernard Marie-Koltès’ play “In the Solitude of The Cotton Fields.” The libretto examines the nature of the transactional relationship — including desire, vulnerability and cunning. Through Sept. 22. 631 W. Second St., downtown Los Angeles, redcat.org.

Sayre Gomez, “X-Scapes,” at François Ghebaly. Inspired by trompe l’oeil and filmic set painting, Gomez uses a multitude of techniques to stitch together disparate aspects of the Los Angeles landscape in ways that channel the hyperreal. Themes include the more quotidian aspects of the landscape: strip mall signage and cell towers. Also on view will be sculptures that evoke elements of the urban environment. Opens today at 6 p.m. and runs through Nov. 3. 2245 E. Washington Blvd., downtown Los Angeles, ghebaly.com.

OCMAEXPAND: Six new artist installations at the Orange County Museum of Art. The museum, still in its temporary space in an old furniture showroom near South Coast Plaza (do visit — this is a great space), has a whole new rack of installations by six artists working on the Pacific Rim, all of which are inspired by the environment and the natural world. This includes installations by Carolina Caycedo, Daniel Duford, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Mulyana, Robert Zhao Renhui and Yang Yongliang. Opens Friday at 6 p.m. and runs through March 15. South Coast Plaza Village, 1661 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, ocmaexpand.org.

“Nineteen Nineteen” at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Exactly a century ago, Henry and Arabella Huntington signed the trust document that established the Huntington Library in San Marino. This exhibition marks that momentous occasion by looking at the era in which the museum was established, the roiling years after World War I. Featured in the show are photographs, paintings, sculpture, maps, posters, rare books and other objects that define that historical moment. Opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 20. 1150 Oxford Rd., San Marino, huntington.org.

“Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Lions, dogs, horses, fish and more — this survey looks at the broad representation of animals in Japanese art from the 5th century to the present. The show, which features more than 200 objects, many drawn from LACMA’s collection, examines the use of animals as zodiac symbols, in folklore and the natural world. Opens Sunday and runs through Dec. 8. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

“Paroxysm of Sublime,” at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. A group show explores the notion of “solastalgia” (a blend of the words “solace” and “nostalgia”), the feelings of distress that occur with changes in a person’s natural environment. The show, organized in collaboration with France Los Angeles Exchange, includes works by Carmen Argote, Beatriz Cortez, Candice Lin, Eddie Aparicio and many others. Through Nov. 3. 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, welcometolace.org.

Ari Benjamin Meyers, “Kunsthalle for Music,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara. Meyers, who is based in Berlin, is turning the museum into a stage in which an ensemble performs a repertoire of musical works composed by the artist and others. Opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 3. 653 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, mcasantabara.org.

Amir Zaki, “Empty Vessel,” at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. This exhibition creates pairings of two types of vessels: broken ceramic containers and the undulating concrete skateparks that dot the California landscape. But rather than present these as objects of utility, Zaki is interested, primarily, in their sculptural qualities. Through Dec. 5. The artist will lead a walk-through and sign copies of his book Saturday at 2 p.m. Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Rd. Costa Mesa, orangecoastcollege.edu.

Last Chance

Christopher Wawrinofsky, “Everything Must Go,” at 123 Astronaut. This gallery in a vending kiosk at Weller Court in Little Tokyo is being transformed into an ever-evolving installation composed of keepsakes, found objects and other ephemera by Wawrinofksy. Passersby will be invited to barter with the artist as part of the work. Through Thursday. 123 Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka St., downtown Los Angeles, 123astronaut.la.

“Black, Brown and Beige,” at Self Help Graphics & Art. This group show, organized by artist Nery Gabriel Lemus and curator Jimmy O’Balles, takes its name from a symphony Duke Ellington first performed in 1943 — a work he described as “a parallel to the history of the American Negro.” The show touches on the range of differences among groups bound by a single label — say, African American or Latino. Participating artists include Todd Gray, Mario Ybarra Jr., April Bey, Mark Steven Greenfield, Ken Gonzales-Day, Margaret Garcia and many others. Through Thursday. 1300 E. First St., Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, selfhelpgraphics.com.

Ongoing

Brian Doan, Truc Nguyen and Uu Dam Tran Nguyen, “Reunited in L.A.,” at 515. An exhibition gathers work by three friends, all born in Vietnam, whose lives and art have taken them around the world — an artistic and physical reunion in one. Through Sept. 28. Bendix Building, 1206 Maple Ave., downtown Los Angeles, 515bendix.com.

“Terry Allen: The Exact Moment It Happens in the West,” at L.A. Louver. In the work of Terry Allen, various mediums intersect: theater, painting, drawing and music. This exhibition gathers works on paper by the artist produced during a long career that dates to the ’60s. Through Sept. 28. 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, lalouver.com.

“Beyond Line: Art of Korean Writing,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In Korea, calligraphy is considered one of the highest forms of art — and this show gathers some of the highest examples of written pieces produced on the peninsula over two millennia, including works written in Chinese ideographic characters (hanja), as well as the phonetic Korean script (hangeul). This is the first exhibition outside Asia to focus on the history of writing and calligraphy in that country. Through Sept. 29. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

“Offal,” at the Municipal Art Gallery. A group show considers the viscera of which we are made — but which also nourish. The show touches on the consumption of animal offal (which can bring with it judgments about socioeconomic status) and offers depictions of the the guts (quite literally) that make us human. Artists in the show include Jim Shaw, Danial Nord and Victoria Reynolds, among many others. Through Sept. 29. 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, lamag.org.

“Guatemalan Masks: Selections from the Jim and Jeanne Pieper Collection,” at the Fowler Museum. This collection of 80 masks depicts Guatemalan historical and cultural figures, as well as sprightly animals and popular deities — all connected with a range of folkloric festivals and events that are also chronicled in the show. This includes masks employed in dances that illustrate the conquest and the story of San Simón, or Maximón, a popular folk saint inspired by a blend of Spanish and Maya lore. Through Oct. 6. 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Westwood, Los Angeles, fowler.ucla.edu.

“Bakeru: Transforming Spirits,” at Japan House. If you are looking for a kid-friendly exhibition that also offers lessons about folk traditions, this is it. In this interactive display, participants don masks that allow digital technology to render them as figures from Japanese folklore on a large screen. These are inspired by tales from the northern region of Tohoku, such as the story of Namahage, a deity that frightens misbehaving children, or Shishi-Odori, a dance in which participants mimic beasts as part of beckoning a good harvest. The show also features paper and 3-D printed masks inspired by these legends. Mask-making workshops for kids will be held throughout the run of the show. Check the website for a full schedule. Through Oct. 6. Hollywood & Highland Center, Level 2, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, japanhouse.jp.

“Where the Sea Remembers,” at the Mistake Room. This project, devoted to contemporary art made in and about Vietnam, takes several forms, including an exhibition, a program series and a related website. It also marks a new series of collaborations between the Mistake Room and art spaces in that country. The project’s title is inspired by the name of a song that was known widely among people who fled Vietnam after the end of the war in 1975 and will feature works and events by artists with connections to Los Angeles — such as Thinh Nguyen, Truc-Anh and Tuan Andrew Nguyen — as well as many artists who are based exclusively in Vietnam. Through Oct. 12. 1811 E. 20th St., downtown Los Angeles, tmr.la.

J.A. Feng, “Mothership,” Greg Colson, “Trending and Non-Trending,” and Laura Forman, “New Work,” at Craig Krull Gallery. The gallery has a trio of exhibitions on view. Colson takes elements of modern life and renders them in absurd ways — a painted taxonomy of pillows, for example. Feng produces paintings that fuse the figurative and abstract to tackle the psychological states of women. And Forman’s pastel drawings and plaster sculptures re-create ordinary objects (say, a Hallmark figurine) in odd and curious.Through Oct. 12. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Bldg. B-3, Santa Monica, craigkrullgallery.com.

“Bauhaus Beginnings,” at the Getty Research Institute. It has been the year of Bauhaus — marking the 100th anniversary of the globally influential art and design school that occupied locations in Berlin, Weimar and Dessau and then famously closed under pressure by the Nazis. This exhibition brings together more than 250 objects, primarily drawn from the Getty’s collections, that look at the school’s founding principles, which are rooted in spiritual expression and the development of a curriculum that touched all forms of artistic practice. Through Oct. 13. 1200 Getty Center Dr., Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.

Lenz Geerk, “Mixed blessings,” and Celeste Rapone, “Future Amateur,” at Roberts Projects. The gallery has two solo shows on view. The first is an exhibition of recent work by Geerk, a German painter known for bringing a disquieting intensity to portraiture, landscape and still lifes. This time around he is focusing on domestic scenes. Also on view are paintings by Rapone, who is based in Chicago, and creates portraits that channel the emotions that result from overexposure: humiliation, vulnerability and self-doubt. Through Oct. 12. 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City, robertsprojectsla.com.

“Gifted: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School 1919-1956,” at the Hilbert Museum of California Art. For almost four decades, the senior class at Gardena High School would come together to gift a work of art to their school — including pieces by notable California painters such as Edgar Payne and Maynard Dixon. Now that collection, which includes more than 70 paintings and an extensive archive of related material, is going on view at the Hilbert — the most expansive display of the collection since the 1950s. Through Oct. 19. 167 N. Atchison St., Orange, hilbertmuseum.com.

Nathaniel Mary Quinn, “Hollow and Cut,” at Gagosian. In his first exhibition with the gallery, the New York artist is presenting a series of portraits inspired by collage: curious, cobbled-together figures that are composed of fragments of photos and advertising, but which Quinn renders painstakingly by hand. Through Oct. 19. 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, gagosian.com.

Eric Beltz, “The Sun, The Moon and Stars, and the Void,” at Kopeikin. Employing only graphite pencil and Bristol paper, Beltz produces elaborate patterned drawings that also dwell on the cosmic. This new series is all about the lunar. Through Oct. 19. 2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, kopeikingallery.com.

Julian Stanczak, “The Eighties,” at Diane Rosenstein Gallery. Stanczak was a pioneer of Op -Art (a reference to optical illusions), creating paintings that employ pattern and gradations of color to create subtle plays on light. This exhibition gathers work produced by the artist during an eight-year period in the 1980s. Through Oct. 19. 831 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, dianerosenstein.com.

“The Light Touch,” at Vielmetter Los Angeles. A group show features work by more than half a dozen contemporary artists working in an abstract vein — producing canvases that layer shape and riotous color. Through Oct. 19. 1700 S. Santa Fe Ave., #101, downtown Los Angeles, vielmetter.com.

Moffat Takadiwa, “Son of the Soil,” at Nicodim. Takadiwa, who is from Zimbabwe, explores craft and contemporary culture in his first solo exhibition in the United States (taking place in Nicodim’s new downtown location). His massive wall hangings are inspired by Zimbabwean textiles but his materials are drawn from the ravages of modern waste. Through Oct. 19. 1700 S. Santa Fe Ave., #160, downtown Los Angeles, nicodimgallery.com.

Cynthia Daignault, “Elegy,” at Night Gallery. In a large new solo exhibition, the Baltimore-based artist explores environmental calamity in the form of elegiac, black-and-white paintings. Through Oct. 19. 2276 E. 16th St., downtown Los Angeles, nightgallery.ca.

Tala Madani, “S--- Moms,” at David Kordansky. The Los Angeles artist, known for her ribald depictions of middle-aged men and babies (and baby men) wreaking all manner of havoc (bodily and otherwise), is presenting a new series of paintings and videos. As the title implies, the show also examines the fraught nature of mothering. Through Oct. 19. 5130 W. Edgewood Place, Mid-Wilshire, davidkordanskygallery.com.

“Nayland Blake’s Opening,” at Matthew Marks. Blake’s work has long explored the fuzziness of identity and sexuality, topics they have tackled in the form of actions and costume play. (Blake uses gender-neutral pronouns.) This exhibition features some of these artistic ensembles, aspects of which evoke the body and nod playfully to BDSM. A novelty candle that forms the word “LOVE” also serves as a point of inspiration for a series of small sculptures. Through Oct. 19. 1062 N. Orange Grove Ave., West Hollywood, matthewmarks.com.

“Watching Socialism: The Television Revolution in Eastern Europe,” at the Wende Museum. It might be easy to think that television programming screened in the former Soviet bloc would have been an endless stream of propaganda. But reality was more complicated. Residents in border areas often received Western TV signals, complicating the picture of Soviet politics. And in the latter years under communist rule, TV networks introduced advertising — a capitalist conceit that was molded to socialist need. This exhibition looks at the television panorama in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Through Oct. 20. 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City, wendemuseum.org.

Robin F. Williams, “With Pleasure,” at Various Small Fires. The New York artist takes tropes of femininity and picks them apart on canvas, reimagining the sensual poses of advertising and imagining the physical embodiments of virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa. Through Oct. 26. 812 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, vsf.la.

Laura Krifka, “The Game of Patience,” at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles. Situations that are kind of weird (a nude couple sucking on lemons) and backdrops that are slightly oversaturated (patterned wallpaper straight out of the ’70s) — those are some of the settings for Krifka’s stylized figures. Through Oct. 26. 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, luisdejesus.com.

“Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures From the Villa dei Papiri,” at the Getty Villa. When J. Paul Getty built a museum on his Malibu property in the late 1960s, he chose to model it after the Villa dei Papiri in southern Italy, the luxurious Roman estate from AD 79 uncovered in 1750. This exhibition presents some of the most spectacular archeological finds from the site — including bronzes, marble statuary and objects from the library of papyrus scrolls that give the villa its name. Through Oct. 27. 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, getty.edu.

Elyse Pignolet, “You Should Calm Down,” at Track 16 Gallery. Pignolet takes quotidian aspects of women’s lives — cosmetics, tampons, the crude catcalls that men toss at women on the street — and renders them in Mediterranean-style ceramics, including tiles and vases. This new series takes misogynist expression and renders it in wry, decorative ways. Through Nov. 2. Bendix Building, 1206 Maple Ave., #1005, downtown Los Angeles, track16.com.

Judy Chicago, “Los Angeles,” at Jeffrey Deitch. In the 1960s, before she was known as the artist of high-profile feminist works such as “The Dinner Party,” Chicago was producing painting and sculpture in a much more minimal vein. This show at Deitch explores her early years in Los Angeles and Fresno, when Chicago was mastering the art of color and form. Through Nov. 2. 925 N. Orange Ave., Hollywood, deitch.com.

Theaster Gates, “Line Drawing for Shirt and Cloak,” at Regen Projects. In his second solo exhibition at Regen, Gates is taking his own wardrobe as a point of inspiration for a series of works that will come together to form a large-scale sculpture. The installation, which will feature a new vocal work by the artist, will also employ the storefront areas in ways that comment on questions of consumption and desire. Through Nov. 2. 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, regenprojects.com.

Ernesto Neto, “Children of the Earth,” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. The Brazilian artist is known for creating immersive environments from hand-dyed fabrics, spices and shells. These interactive spaces — which participants can often fully inhabit — are inspired by craft and the natural world. Through Nov. 2. 1010 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, tanyabonakdargallery.com.

Zak Ové, “The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The museum’s Cantor Sculpture Garden will be more than just Rodin works this summer as it becomes the installation site for the Trinidadian artist’s platoon of graphite figures evoking traditional African sculpture. The piece nods to histories of racial objectification and key works related to those issues — including Ben Jonson’s 1605 play, “The Masque of Blaqueness,” and Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel, “Invisible Man.” Through Nov. 3. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

“Air Land Sea: A Lithographic Suite by William Crutchfield,” at the Norton Simon Museum. The late artist was born in Indianapolis but settled in Los Angeles in the ‘60s, near the port of San Pedro. This provided plenty of inspiration for drawings and prints that dwell on the architectural and the industrial, images of trains, planes and buildings that were all reimagined as hybrids of each other. This show consists of a suite of 13 lithographs printed at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1970. Through Nov. 4. 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, nortonsimon.org.

Chris Hood, “Para,” at Praz Delavallade. Hood, an L.A. painter, is making his gallery debut with a series of canvases that layer landscapes, objects and figures — images that the artist harvests from his collection of personal photographs. Through Nov. 9. 6150 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, praz-delavallade.com.

Gordon Parks, “The Flávio Story,” at the Getty Center. In the early 1960s, photographer Gordon Parks traveled to Brazil and photographed a poignant story about a young favela dweller named Flávio da Silva that highlighted issues of poverty and inequity in that country. But the pictures generated controversy there, where Parks was criticized for creating poverty porn. This led various Brazilian photographers to travel to the U.S. to photograph poverty here. The Getty Museum is showing Parks’ images, along with images by the Brazilian photographers who responded to Parks’ work. Through Nov. 10. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.

Mary Corse, “A Survey in Light,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This is an overdue survey of one of the few women associated with SoCal’s Light and Space movement, an artist who has long toyed with light and the emotional states it can induce. The show highlights critical moments in Corse’s career: her experiments with shaped canvases, light boxes powered by Tesla coils (that she builds herself) and glass microbeads that make her work shimmer in hallucinatory ways. Through Nov. 11. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

“B.A.T. State III: Women Artists in Conversation With El Nopal Press,” at the Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum. A group exhibition gathers works by 37 women artists who, over a span of 30 years, made prints at Francisco X. Siqueiros’ print-making studio, El Nopal Press in downtown Los Angeles. This includes lithographs, relief prints, monoprints and other works produced by artists such as Judith F. Baca, Lisa Adams, Carolyn Castaño, Diane Gamboa, Emily Cheng, Anita Bunn and many others. Through Nov. 14. Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, csulb.edu.

“On the Surface: Wallpaper From 1797 to the Present,” at Palos Verdes Art Center. This broad survey brings together a wide sample of European, English and American wallpapers dating back to the late 18th century — including loaned samples from Zuber & Cie in France, the oldest extant manufacturer of wallpaper in the world. Through Nov. 16. 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, pvartcenter.org or onthesurface.design.

“Visualizing the People’s History: Richard Cross’s Images of the Central American Liberation Wars,” at the Museum of Social Justice. Photojournalist Richard Cross was only 33 years old when his car struck a landmine in Honduras and both he and a fellow journalist — Dial Torgerson, then Mexico bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times — were instantly killed. This exhibition gathers work from 1979 until his death in 1983, during which time Cross covered a range of liberation conflicts in Central America. The show is part of an ongoing effort at the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at Cal State Northridge to digitize their photographic collection, which places an emphasis on underrepresented communities. Through Nov. 24. 115 Paseo de la Plaza, basement of the La Plaza Methodist Church, downtown Los Angeles, museumofsocialjustice.org.

Matías Duville, “desert means ocean,” at the Museum of Latin American Art. The Argentine artist has spent two months in residency at the museum working on a suite of drawings that parallel the brutal similarities between desert and ocean. Through Dec. 1. 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, molaa.org.

“Salt & Silver: Early Photography, 1840-1860,” at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Drawn from the archives of the Wilson Centre for Photography in London, this exhibition features more than 100 seldom-displayed salt prints that hark back to the earliest days of photography. Through Dec. 8. 1130 State St., Santa Barbara, sbma.net.

Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), “The World You Know is a Fiction…” at the Vincent Price Art Museum. Rashid takes American historical narratives, scrambles them, then reimagines them in paintings that take on issues such as colonization, war and the building of empires. Produced over several years, the work on view at the museum explores the vicissitudes of power and centers on figures that occupy his so-called “Frenglish Empire,” a fusion of the French and British colonial enterprises. Expect to see battalions of militiamen, freed slaves, indigenous nobility, all drawing on the visual and material traditions of colonial art. Through Dec. 21. 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

Carolina Caycedo, “Apariciones / Apparitions,” at the Vincent Price Art Museum. As part of a project that was jointly curated by VPAM and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, Caycedo spent time at the Huntington making a work that responded to the museum collection: a collaborative dance piece with choreographer Marina Magalhães that was inspired by indigenous and African dance practices and which, in many ways, responds to the issues of colonization raised by the entire Huntington enterprise. VPAM is now showing the video from that work, which it has acquired as part of its permanent collection. Through Dec. 21. 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

“The Archival Impulse: 40 Years at LACE,” at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. LACE, the historic Los Angeles art spot that gave key shows to Mike Kelley and groups such as Survival Research Laboratories in the ’80s, is turning 40 — and to mark the occasion, the organization has been poking around its metaphorical attic (aka its archive) to see what it might turn up. This show gathers elements from that archive as well as video works by a range of Los Angeles artists, including Jim Shaw, Susan Mogul and Reza Abdoh. Through Dec. 31. 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, welcometolace.org.

Harry Fonseca, “Coyote Leaves the Res,” at the Autry Museum. The museum acquired the estate of the Sacramento-born painter and is now presenting works from his archive. Fonseca was known for his depictions of Coyote, a canine trickster who materializes in all manner of very human settings. It’s work that nods at the artist’s indigenous heritage without ever getting caught up in cliches. Through Jan. 5. 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, theautry.org.

“The Allure of Matter: Material Art From China,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A group exhibition features contemporary Chinese artists who are deeply engaged with their materials, be it wood, fabric or assembled scraps of photography. The show spans four decades and features work by Ai Weiwei, Cai Guo-Chiang, Song Dong and many others. Through Jan. 5. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

“Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley,” at the Autry Museum of the American West. This survey exhibition examines the four-decade career of Bradley (Chippewa), who is known for producing vibrant, figurative paintings inspired by the Native experience — while also wryly poking at stereotypes and Hollywood tropes. Through Jan. 5. 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, TheAutry.org.

Charles Gaines, “Palm Trees and Other Works,” and Philip Guston, “Resilience in 1971,” at Hauser & Wirth. The L.A. conceptual artist is known for using numbered grid systems to generate patterns and images — most famously, of trees. His new series is inspired by native California palms from Palm Canyon near Palm Springs. Also on view are works by the late Abstract Expressionist Philip Guston, who in his later years, became known for delving into figuration and the grotesque. The show focuses specifically on works from 1971, a pivotal year for the artist, including his Roma paintings and Richard Nixon drawings. Through Jan. 5. 901 E. 3rd St., downtown Los Angeles, hauserwirth.com.

“Following the Box,” at the USC Pacific Asia Museum. A show inspired by found photographs links past and present: 12 contemporary artists — two American and 10 Indian — have created works based on images snapped by an unknown U.S. serviceman in India at the end of World War II. The new pieces encompass a wide variety of media, including painting, installation and artist books. Through Jan. 26. 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu.

“The Foundation of the Museum,” at the Museum of Contemporary Art. This permanent collection exhibition marks the museum’s 40th anniversary with a display of history-making works, including Chris Burden’s “Exposing the Foundation of the Museum,” 1986, in which the artist dug up a portion of the museum’s floor, revealing its concrete foundations. Through Jan. 27. 152 N. Central Ave., downtown Los Angeles, moca.org.

Julie Green, “Flown Blue,” at the American Museum of Ceramic Art. Green is known for recycling secondhand porcelain to create original works in shades of cobalt blue — among them, “The Last Supper,” a large-scale installation of more than 800 plates that features last meal requests from inmates on death row. Through Feb. 23. 399 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, amoca.org.

Daniel Hawkins, “Desert Lighthouse.” The Los Angeles-based artist is obsessed with producing works that toy with ideas of grandiosity, failure and gestures that border on the Sisyphean. (One of his goals as an artist is to ultimately build a scale replica of the Hoover Dam.) Now, Hawkins has installed a 50-foot-tall, fully functioning lighthouse in the Mojave Desert in the vicinity of Barstow. The piece even features a light to guide travelers through this rugged landscape. Directions and coordinates can be found on the website. On long-term view, Hinkley, Calif., desertlighthouse.org.