Datebook: Duchamp's influence, fantastical worlds and collages that get political

8/20/2019 Datebook: Duchamp's influence, fantastical worlds and collages that get political

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Datebook: Duchamp's influence, fantastical worlds and

collages that get political

Landscapes of fanciful worlds. Collages that take on violence, race and militarism. And a work that

explores 20th century history in video. Plus: The long-running influence of Marcel Duchamp. Here

are fiveexhibitions and events to see in Los Angeles and beyondin the coming week:

"Duchamp to Pop," at the Norton Simon Museum.Drawing mostly from the Norton Simon's

permanent collection, this exhibition looks at the influence Duchamp likely had on generations of

artists, from assemblagists to pop painters figures who have appropriated elements of the everyday

world and transformed them into art. The show is also a nod to the museum's roots. In the early

1960s,when the Norton Simon was still known as thePasadena Art Museum, the institution was the

first to give the seminal French-born artist a major museum retrospective.Opens Fridayand runs

through Aug. 29. 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, nortonsimon.org.

Jasmin Sanchez, Flux, at the Grand Central Art Center. The Orange County-based Sanchez is takingover thewalls ofthe art center with drawings that meld landscape with abstraction andmapping to

produce images that feel just a little bit magical. In addition, artist Paul Ramirez Jonas will be there

to perform his piece Public Trust,which will engage members of the public to create a record of a

promise. Opens Saturday at 7 p.m. and runs through May 15. 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana,

grandcentralartcenter.com.

Martine Syms, COM PORT MENT, at Karma International. Syms has been on a roll, with a recent

performance at the Broad under her belt, as well as an exhibit of short videos at Human Resources

Los Angeles. Now she is showing a new series inspired bytext and film stills. Opens Saturday at 5

p.m. and runs through April 9. 9615 Brighton Way, Suite 426, Beverly Hills, karmainternational.org.

Ed Bereal, Disturbing the Peace: Assemblage, Sculpture, and Painting 1963-2011, at Harmony

Murphy Gallery. Bereal becameknown in the '60s for participating in the infamous 1961 L.A.

exhibition War Babies,whose poster featured the artist, along with three others, eating foods that

were stereotypical to each of their cultures over a table draped with an American flag. Over the

years, he worked as teacher, writer and in theater, but has returned to art-making: primarilycollage,

assemblage, sculpture and other works that deal with violence, war and racial clichs. Through April

2, 358 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles, harmonymurphygallery.com.

Carrie Mae Weems: Coming Up for Air, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. MOCA is teaming upwith the Los Angeles Film Forum to present a screening of the noted photographers first major foray

into film. Coming Up For Air weaves together historical themes from throughout the 20th century as

well asthe 19th, touching into established themes of race, gender, politics and power. The screening

will also include Weems's2009 video Afro-Chic, which explores the way in which African American

style has permeated American popular culture. March 10 at 7 p.m. at MOCA Grand Avenue. 250 S.

Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, lafilmforum.organd moca.org.

FINAL WEEK

John K., Women, at Farago. Little is known about the North Dakota-born, L.A.-based photographerwho for years took erotically charged photos, transparencies and 8mm films of women both clothed

and nude. These go well beyond the average nudie picture taken by some hobbyist. The artist (whose

surname was Kayser) had an inspired eye when it came to tone and light, not to mention



composition. Through Saturday. 224 W. Eighth St., downtown Los Angeles, farrago.xyz.

Mark Dutcher: The Time Machine at Jason Vass. This new downtown art gallery is kicking off with a

show of works by the L.A. abstractionist. The exhibition will feature his Time Machine series as well

a painting inspired by the poetry of American wordsmith Hart Crane. Through Saturday. 1452 E.

Sixth St., downtown Los Angeles, jasonvass.com.

Rain Room, at the L.A. County Museum of Art. It wasuniversallypanned by the critics when it

appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. (New York Magazine critic Jerry

Saltzdescribed it as the worst single work of art that I saw all this year ... a high-tech amusement-

park ride.) And my colleague Christopher Knight labeled it"brainless amusement"in his review of the

experience.But who cares when you can take the worlds most awesomeselfie inside it and share it

with the world on Instagram? Through Sunday. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los

Angeleslacma.org.

Derek Fordjour: Eight Paintings and Yashua Klos: How to Hide in the Wind, at Papillion. A pair of

new shows at Papillion explore the black figure in unique ways. In a series of new paintings,

Fordjour places arrangements of figures against patterned and other carnivalesque backgrounds.

Klos, in the meantime, creates elaborate collages that find ways of integrating faces and heads into

architectonic elements that appear to float in space. Through Sunday. 4336 Degnan Blvd., Leimert

Park, Los Angeles, papillionart.com.

ONGOING EXHIBITIONS

Morgan MacLean, Massing the Void, at the Landing. Raised among a community of boat-builders in

Massachusetts, MacLeans sculptural pieces take their cue from the fine craftsmanship of traditional

wood sailing vessels. In this series, which spans seven pieces and three years, he used a crushed

cardboard box as a point of inspiration to make a series of abstracted sculptures that are as muchabout form as they are about space. Through March 12. 5118 W. Jefferson Blvd., West Adams, Los

Angeles, thelandinggallery.com.

Dansaekhwa and Minimalism, at Blum & Poe. A survey of some 35 works pairs pieces by key

American minimalists (Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Agnes Martin) with important works from Koreas

Dansaekhwa movement, whose artists (figures such as Lee Ufan and Kwon Young-woo) were

renowned for creating monochrome works in imaginative and textural ways. A trulymeditative

show.Through March 12. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, blumandpoe.com.

Ron Jude: Lago, at Gallery Luisotti. In his fourth solo show at the gallery, Jude explores thelandscape of the Salton Sea, the famously polluted body of water, near which the photographer

spent some of the formative years of his childhood. Through March 12. Bergamot Station, 2525 S.

Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, galleryluisotti.com.

Disguise: Masks and Global African Art, at the Fowler Museum. This exhibition looks at the art of

disguise through the work of a dozen contemporary African and African American artists touching

on everything from elaborate masks to the illusionistcamouflage ofthe digital sphere. Expect to see

work by artists such as Zina Saro-Wiwa, Jacolby Satterwhite and Brendan Fernandes. Through

March 13. UCLA, north campus, Westwood, fowler.ucla.edu.

Siren at Five Car Garage. A group show of 10 artists who hail primarily from the Los Angeles area

looks at works that employ or reference sound. This includes works of video and a pair of sound

baths that provide sound healing. (The sound baths require advance RSVP and an admission of $30.)



Five Car Garage is located in the garage of a private home; address and other details are provided

with an RSVP. Through March 18. Santa Monica, emmagrayhq.com.

Joshua Abelow, Moving Pictures, at Tif Sigfrids. A show of paintings by the New York-based artist

revels in crude form-making: stick figures, witch figures and abstracted, colorful forms. The series

emerged out of a period the artist spent in rural Maryland. Through March. 19. 1507 Wilcox Ave.,

Hollywood, tifsigfrids.com.

... Loss, Desire, Pleasure, at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC. For four years, the

Los Angeles nightclub known by a word that cant be printed in this newspaper, served as rejoinder

to the clean cut-world of West Hollywood gay bars a gritty setting wheredance, performance and

activism were blurred into a single act, and where the human body served as statement and canvas,

displaying piercings, tattoos and all kinds of other bod-mods. This exhibition tracks the clubs

historical legacy and connects it with contemporary artistic practices. Note: the related link contains

NSFW images. Through March 19. 909 W. Adams Blvd., University Park, Los Angeles, one.usc.edu.

Frank Gehry, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Featuring more than 200 drawings and 65

models, as well as countless photographs and video, this retrospective looks at the life and career of

one of L.A.s most celebrated architects. Totally worth it just to see the original design for

downtown'sDisney Hall. (Glad they went for the option that was built.) Through March 20. 5905

Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.

Outsource Show, at werkrtz. In a show that toys with ideas of conceptual art as much as it does with

globalism and outsourcing, curator Alexander Tarrant got 17 nonpainter artists to submit proposals

for paintings that he then had executed in the arts production center of Dafen, China. Paintings in

this show are considered floor models. Any time a painting sells, another is created in Dafen to

replace it. In other words, art as the ultimate global commodity. Through March 23. 927 S. Santa Fe

Ave., downtown Los Angeles, outsourceshow.com.

Christian Eckart, post-post, at Wilding Cran. The Canadian-born, Houston-based artists first solo

show in Los Angeles features a series of new abstract paintings as well as a curious sculpture titled

The Absurd Vehicle, a seemingly enticing objetwhose many wheels and impractical body look as if

they would simply send a rider scurrying in circles. Through March 26. 939 S. Santa Fe Ave.,

downtown Los Angeles, wildingcran.com.

Evan Holloway at David Kordanksy Gallery. Holloway, a Los Angeles artist, is known for making

curious arrangements out of seemingly simple materials: Geometric pieces of tree branches turn out

to be cast bronze, while spherical shapes studded with spent batteries nod to spiky Nkondi nailfetish sculpture. Through Mar. 26. 5130 W. Edgewood Place, Mid-City, Los Angeles,

davidkordanksygallery.com.

Erwin Wurm: One-Minute Sculptures at the MAK Center. The Austrian sculptor brings a wry

approach to the form with pieces that can only be completed by the viewer which means standing on

a pedestal with a pink plush doll on your head or sitting inside a white plinth turned on its side. Its

all a tribute to the absurd nature of the monuments men make to themselves. Go with friends for

maximum enjoyment. Through March 27. Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood,

makcenter.org.

Ayotzinapa: A Roar of Silence, at the Durn Gallery at SPARC. The disappearance of 43 students from

a rural teachers college in the Mexican state of Guerrero in the fall of 2014 led to protests and

outrage over impunity and violence all over Mexico. Artist Francisco Toledo used it as a call to



action, getting artists from all over the world to submit graphic works that dealt with their

disappearances. Now these incredible posters areview in Los Angeles thanksto a collaboration

between SPARC. the Center for the Study of Political Graphics and Self Help Graphics & Art.

Through March 27. 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, sparcinla.org.

In Focus: Daguerreotypes, at the Getty Museum. A selection of some of the museums 2,000

daguerreotypes go on view alongside daguerreotypes from the collection of singer-songwriter

Graham Nash, a prominent collector of this early type of photography. Through March 30. 1200

Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, getty.edu.

Reveal the Rats, at the Pit. A group show featuring work by Anna Betbeze, Rebecca Morris, Sterling

Ruby, Lara Schnitger and Despina Stokou explores the idea of rat as architect, a creature that is

constantly remaking its environment.The artists in the show do much the same: deconstructing and

reconstructing ideas and objects in their work, which includes collage, quilting, textiles and

painting. Through March 31. 918 Ruberta Ave., Glendale, the-pit.la.

A Marcel Duchamp Collection at LA Louver. Over a period of 40 years, a single collector amassed a

rich assortment of works and ephemera by the seminal French artist Marcel Duchamp including

numerous book covers and magazines that the artist helped design even after hed bid goodbye to

art-making in order to focus on chess. The show is presentingthese works, as well as editioned

objects and prints, ready-mades and collaborative designs. In a separate gallery, LA Louver is also

showingan exhibition of the television sculptures of L.A. assemblage artist Ed Kienholz. Runs

through April 2. 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, lalouver.com.

Robert Cremean: The Beds of Procrustes and The Seven Deadly Sins, at the Pasadena Museum of

California Art. The California artist is known for cool, diagrammatic pieces that employ the human

figure in ways that riff on bigger questions of art, myth, faith and sacrifice. For his show in

Pasadena, one installation examines the legendof Procrustes, the Greek mythological bandit whowould torture people in various ways in order to force them to fit onto an iron bed, while another

uses human figures to interpret each of the deadly sins. Through April 3. 490 E. Union St.,

Pasadena, pmcaonline.org.

Nathan Hayden: Pure Pretty Feverand Tight Ass: Labor Intensive Drawing and Realism,at CB1

Gallery. The downtown gallery hasa pair of shows: The first, by Hayden, his debut showat the

gallery, features abstracted paintings and ceramics that channel the patterns and colors of the

desert. The second is a group show organized by painter Brett Reichman that revels in the act of

drawing realistic, labor-intensive depictions that engage the breadth of contemporary life.Through

April 9. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cb1gallery.com.

Lita Albuquerque, 20/20: Accelerando, at the USC Fisher Museum of Art. In an exhibition that melds

film, sound and performance, Albuquerque tells the story of a 25th century female astronaut who

lands on Earth in the year 6,000 BC. The piece is drawn from a text that Albuquerque has been

working on since 2003, re-imagined in the museum as an impressionistic environment that, among

other things, features original music by film and theater composer Robbie C. Williamson. Through

April 10. 823 W. Exposition Blvd., Exposition Park, Los Angeles, fisher.usc.edu.

Rebecca Campbell and Samantha Fields: Dreams of Another Time at the University Art Museum at

Cal State Long Beach.A two-person show looks at the works of two important Los Angeles-basedartists: Campbell, known for her meticulous portraits composed out of broad lines, and Fields, who

uses old-fashioned paint to create the sensations of digital blurring. In the permanent collection

galleries, the museum will also be displaying a number of prints by renowned painter Wayne



Thiebaud. Through April 10. CSULB, 1250 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, web.csulb.edu/uam.

Lester Monzon, Si vis pacem para bellum, at Mark Moore Gallery. The second solo show at Moore by

the Los Angeles artist features paintings that deftly fuse minimalist grids with bold, expressionistic

brushstrokes for abstractions that read like sci-fi dreamscapes. The gallery also hasa show of the

pop-infused abstractions of Jason Salavon on view. Through April 16. 5790 Washington Blvd., Culver

City, markmooregallery.com.

Skin, at the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery. The work of three dozen contemporary artists including

figures such as Kara Walker, April Bey and Ken Gonzales-Day examines issues related to race and

identity in this new group show. Through April 17. There will be a related Un-panel Conversation on

the subject held on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, lamag.org.

Hard Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond, at the California African American Museum.A

new exhibition features the work of 46 artists from emerging figures to well-established names

working in the arena of geometric abstraction. This includes works by fresh voices and standard-

bearers, including well-known figures such asRashid Johnson, Senga Nengudi, David Hammons and

Tim Washington. Through April 24. 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, caamuseum.org.

Alice Knitz, Los Angeles Museum of Art (LAMOA), at Occidental College. This is a work of sculpture

that also serves as a micro exhibition hall. The space was established in Knitzs backyard in 2012 but

will be on view at Occidental College for the course of the academic year. The inaugural exhibition

features work by L.A. artist Alice Clements. Through spring 2016. In front of Weingart Hall at

Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, oxy.edu.

High Priestesses, at 323 Projects.The popular phone line gallery (all shows are audio, accessible on

your telephone)has a new show going up that is all about aural healing and New Age-y teachings as

imagined by a crew of Los Angeles artists: Michelle Andrade, Michelle Chong, Meg Cranston andBridge Kane. It's theideal sort of thing forworking that artsy third eye. Through May 1 by calling

(323) 843-4652,323projects.com.

Catherine Opie: 700 Nimes Road at MOCA Pacific Design Center. For six months in 2011, Los

Angeles photographer Catherine Opie documented the Bel-Air estate of Elizabeth Taylor the clothes,

the photographs, the jewelry, the little bits of personal ephemera that make a house a home. Now

she is showing the series, one that chronicles a life of wealth and fame, at the Museum of

Contemporary Arts West Hollywood space. Through May 8. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose

Ave., West Hollywood, moca.org.

Noir: The Romance of Black in 19th Century French Drawings and Prints, at the Getty Museum.

Figures in deep penumbra and sprightly creatures in dim settings. In the middle of

Europe'sindustrial revolution, some artists became intrigued by the non-color of the color black,

creating prints and charcoal drawings that evoked the nocturnal, the dark and the deep recesses of

the cosmos not to mention the not-quite-realstate of dreaming. Through May 15. 1200 Getty Center

Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.

Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College, 1933-1957, at the Hammer Museum. Black

Mountain College in North Carolina wasnt open very long, not even 20 years. But in its short lifetime

it brought together bands of seminal artists, musicians, dancers and thinkers John Cage, MerceCunningham, Cy Twomby, Ruth Asawa, Robert Rauschenberg and countless others as both teachers

and students. Key to that dynamism was the presence of Josef and Anni Albers, a pair of Bauhaus

artists who fled Germany to join Black Mountain in the late 1930s. This critically acclaimed



exhibition, which first opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, shows the far-reaching

effects a single institution can have. Through May 15. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood,

hammer.ucla.edu.

Linda Arreola: Architect of the Abstract, at the Vincent Price Art Museum. This one-woman

exhibition looks at roughly a 10-year period in the work of this abstract Los Angeles artist. Arreola is

known for creating taut, gridlike arrangements using bright blocks of color. Her work extends into

the sculptural realm, too.Through May 21. 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park,

vincentpriceartmuseum.org.

PLAN, at the El Segundo Museum of Art. An exhibition organized by the Wende Museum and the El

Segundo Museum of Art brings together works by disparate figures from Camille Pissarro to Egon

Schiele to Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid exploring the idea of plans and planning. This

includes references to five-year plans, a map for the projected Soviet invasion of West Berlin and

other works that play with the idea of fate versus meticulous intention. Through May 22. 208 Main

St., El Segundo, esmoa.org.

Making Waves: Japanese American Photography, 1920-1940, at the Japanese American National

Museum.In the early 20th century, groups of Japanese American photographers all along the Pacific

coastlinelaunched photography clubs, through which they published and exhibited their work. Their

striking imagery ranging from abstract compositions to scenes of everyday life drew the attention of

artists such as Edward Weston and Lszl Moholy-Nagy. Unfortunately, much of their work was

destroyed or lost when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps by the U.S. government

during World War II. Butexamples remain and JANM has gathered more than 100 of these prints for

a show that explores the history and legacy of the clubs. Through June 26. 100 N. Central Ave.,

downtown Los Angeles, janm.org.

Popol Vuh: Watercolors of Diego Rivera, at the Bowers Museum. The Popol Vuhis a nearly 500-yea--old Mayan text, written in Quich, that recounts that cultures creation myths. This sacred text

inspired a series of watercolors by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, an artist who was preoccupied

with indigenous themes. Now 17 of these paintings, on loan from a museum in Mexico, are onview at

the Bowers. Through May 29. 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, bowers.org.

Alex Israel, at the Huntington. In 2012, the San Marino library and museum unveiled the first of its

contemporary interventions with low-key works byRicky Swallow andLesley Vance. Now the museum

is getting bolder, with a series of installations by painter Alex Israel, whose pop-inspired canvases

and objects touch on topics such as celebrity, glamour and power. Through July 11. 1151 Oxford

Road, San Marino, huntington.org.

Jos Montoya, Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper / Works on Life, at the Fowler Museum.

Throughout his life, activist, poet and painter Jose Montoya drew on whatever was at hand: napkins,

hotel stationery and notebooks. And in those drawings he recorded the quotidian aspects of Mexican

American life in the United States: dogs and children, women and sailors, pachucos and pachucas,

the architecture of low-lying Central Valley neighborhoods, industrial warehouses and agricultural

settings, as well as the glamorous profile of lowrider cars. It is the first comprehensive look at this

vital Chicano artists drawing practice. Through July 17. UCLA, 308 Charles E. Young Drive North,

Westwood,fowler.ucla.edu.

Sam Maloof Woodworker: Life/Art/Legacy, at the Maloof Foundation. The foundation is celebrating

the centennial of the birth of the renowned Southern California woodworker, whose elegant objects

and furnishings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the L.A. County Museum of



Artand the Smithsonian.The exhibition will feature more than 60 objects from throughout the artists

life, including furnishings, drawings, photographs and other ephemera. The show is part of a years

worth of events that will celebrate Maloofs life and work. Through Aug. 27.5131 Carnelian St., Alta

Loma, malooffoundation.org.

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 Sept. 12. MOCA Grand Ave., 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, moca.org.

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

museums 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 AlexandreArrechea and Patssi Valdez. Through Jan. 1. 628 Alamitos

Ave., Long Beach, molaa.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. 2,2017. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.

Islamic Art Now: Part 2 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.Contemporary works from

LACMAs permanent collection by 20 artists who live in or have roots in the Middle Eastlook at

questions of society, gender and identity.Runs indefinitely. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-

Wilshire,lacma.org.

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.

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Datebook: Duchamp's influence, fantastical worlds and collages that get political