Datebook: Innovative SoCal prints, cinematic video installation and portraits that examine race and class
And so it begins… The fall arts season is upon us with a tsunami of exhibitions that cover everything from large-scale video installation to intimate drawing to Chinese feminism. This includes historic prints at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, paintings by Henry Taylor at Blum & Poe and a new film by Wu Tsang at 356 Mission — and lots of things in between. Here are 15 exhibitions and events to keep you busy in the coming week:
“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. Opens Sunday and runs through Jan. 2. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.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. Opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 15. Geffen Contemporary, 152 N. Central Ave., downtown Los Angeles, moca.org.
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. Opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 5. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, blumandpoe.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. Opens Saturday at 6 p.m. and runs through Dec. 17. 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City, robertsandtilton.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. Opens Saturday at 6 p.m. and runs through Oct. 22. 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, luisdejesus.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 passed away in 2009). Through Oct. 29. 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, spruethmagers.com.
Tom Knechtel, “The Reader of His Own Self,” at CB1 Gallery. The Los Angeles painter 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 new 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.
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 CalArts is back in L.A. with a new selection of paintings that riff on politics, 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, runs more than 200 feet. Opens Saturday at 3 p.m. and runs through Oct. 30. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cb1gallery.com.
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. Opens Saturday and runs through Dec. 11. Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, web.csulb.edu/org/uam.
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 includes Barbie dolls and religious souvenirs. Opens today at 6 p.m. and runs through Oct. 15. 571 S. Anderson St., Suite 2, Boyle Heights, nicodimgallery.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. Opens Saturday and runs through Oct. 22. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B1, Santa Monica, shoshanawayne.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. Opens Sunday and runs through Nov. 6. 356 S. Mission Road, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, 356mission.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. Opens Saturday at 7 p.m. and runs through Oct. 23. 118 Winston St., 2nd Floor, downtown Los Angeles, thesedaysla.com.
“100 Days of Film and Performance,” at the Hammer Museum. This four-and-a-half-month program will bring a series of screenings, performances, film and video to the museum — including a Hawaiian dance troupe (from New York), the gender-bendy Dynasty Handbag, performances inspired by William Faulkner and a street march that touches on the history of women’s political power. Kicks off Sept. 13 and runs through Jan. 25. Check the schedule for events and times. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, hammer.ucla.edu.
“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. Opens Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Nov. 6. 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, welcometolace.org.
LAST CHANCE
“Ed Ruscha: Books & Co.,” at Gagosian Gallery. For its summer group show, the gallery is gathering historic artist books by Ed Ruscha (think: the seminal “Every Building on the Sunset Strip”) and exhibiting them with a range of book and book-inspired works by other artists, such as Amy Park’s ambitious paintings project that renders Ruscha’s famous work as a series of watercolors, as well as other pieces that bear Ruscha’s influence in less direct ways, such as Jennifer Dalton’s exhaustive catalogue of potentially hazardous environmental sites in Brooklyn. Through today. 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, gagosian.com.
“Phantom Limb,” at Shulamit Nazarian. A group exhibition features the work of five artists whose work treads the line between the figurative and the abstract, including the wild collaged canvases of Trenton Doyle Hancock and the paintings of Scott Anderson, whose abstracted figures and landscapes manage to nod to art history even while feeling totally sci-fi. Through today. 17 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, shulamitnazarian.com.
Ken Price, “Drawings,” at Matthew Marks Gallery. The gallery is displaying more than 40 drawings from the estate of the artist, one of the largest West Coast presentations of the famous ceramicist’s work on paper. He produced often whimsical and otherworldly renditions of mundane objects, as well as sketches for possible sculptures. The exhibition will also feature a small selection of the three-dimensional works. Through Saturday. 1062 N. Orange Grove Ave., West Hollywood, matthewmarks.com.
“Claire Falkenstein: Beyond Sculpture,” at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The 20th century California artist, whose name is circulating once again after being included in the debut exhibition at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, is now the subject of her own retrospective, tracking her entire career, from the 1930s to the ‘90s. (She passed away in 1997.) The artist, who worked in San Francisco and Los Angeles — as well as Paris — produced prints and murals, among other works, but she is best known for her sculpture: in particular, her often gritty assemblages made out of wire studded with chunks of glass. Through Sunday. 490 E. Union St., Pasadena, pmcaonline.org.
Danielle Abrams, “Quadroon,” at the Grand Central Art Center. A reference to someone who is one-quarter black, the term “quadroon” gets at the absolutist ways in which race is viewed in the United States. (Someone who is part black is regarded simply as black.) Abrams is part Jewish and part African American, and in this video installation, she picks apart the myriad elements — beyond simple ethnicity and race — that come together to make up any one person’s identity. Through Sunday. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, grandcentralcenter.com.
Hito Steyerl: Factory of the Sun, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. A video installation by the German artist takes the viewer into a dystopia where the movements of workers are harvested to create artificial sunshine. The piece, which debuted at the Venice Biennale in 2015, is a mash-up of contemporary communication, told as video game, news report documentary film and Internet video. Through Monday. MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, moca.org.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Alex Da Corte, “A Season in He’ll,” at Art + Practice. An exhibition by the New Jersey-born conceptual artist includes a series of works inspired by French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s influential prose poem, “A Season in Hell,” which explores topics of morality, desire and death. In video and in sculptural installations — works that employ banal consumer goods and pop cultural tropes — Da Corte takes on these topics and others, touching on issues of identity, alienation and instability. Through Sept. 17. 4339 Leimert Blvd., Leimert Park, Los Angeles, hammer.ucla.edu and artandpractice.org.
Tanya Aguiñiga, Loie Hollowell and Lenore Tawney, “3 Women,” at the Landing. A three-woman show — inspired by the Robert Altman movie of the same name — serves as a cross-generational gathering of works that blur the line between craft and fine art. These are represented by the weavings of Tawney, a contemporary of painter Agnes Martin; Hollowell, who paints pulsing abstractions inspired by the female form; and Aguiñiga, who uses modern and traditional weaving techniques to create wild biomorphic forms. Through Sept. 17. 5118 Jefferson Blvd., West Adams, thelandinggallery.com.
“Reflections on the Self,” at the California African American Museum. Drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, this wide-ranging exhibition looks at the representation of the self, examining the idealized and mythicized ways that artists have portrayed pop and cultural icons, from Malcolm X to Thelonious Monk to a New Orleans grand marshal. Also on view at the museum is “Oh Snap! West Coast Hip Hop Photography,” which will feature an array of hip-hop artists who came up in the ’90s, such as Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur and others. Through Sept. 18. 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, caamuseum.org.
“Play: Open Call 2016,” at the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery. A community-based biennial riffs on the notion of “play” — featuring works of painting, photography, collage and more by 300 L.A. artists. Through Sept. 18. 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, lamag.org.
“In the Cut,” at Gallery Luisotti. A group show curated by Michael Peña explores the myriad meanings of the phrase “in the cut” — from the idea of a wound to places that are remote, either physically or psychologically. The show brings together photography by Sam Contis, Whitney Hubbs, Lisa Ohlweiler and Cindy Bernard, depicting secluded desert spaces, nudist camps and a Riverside ranch, among other spaces. Through Sept. 24. An artist’s reception will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 13. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building A2, Santa Monica, galleryluisotti.com.
Fast Forward: The Architecture of William F. Cody, at the Architecture and Design Museum. A new exhibition looks at the career of one of Palm Springs’ most notable Modernist architects — known for a range of designs (some quite flamboyant) that included homes, condominiums, commercial centers and the temple-like El Dorado Country Club for a clientele that included Frank Sinatra, Walt Disney and Bing Crosby. Through Sept. 25. 900 E. Fourth St., downtown Los Angeles, aplusd.org.
“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 Oct. 8. A reception will be held Saturday at 4 p.m.; an artist talk will take place Monday at 10 a.m. 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 Oct. 8. 143 N. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, brandondavisprojects.net.
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.
“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.
WATCH: Writer-director Guillermo del Toro takes us on a tour through Bleak House, his suburban L.A. home where he has amassed a formidable collection of art, books, horror movie props and other oddities that serve as inspiration for the filmmaker.
“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.
“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 at the Fowler 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.
“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 Joaqun Torres-Garca 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.
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.
“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 only screens to 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.
SIGN UP for the Essential Arts & Culture newsletter »
Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
