VOLUME 7 NO. 01
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It’s Arts, Culture and Creativity Month in California! David Bradley at the Autry • Beatriz Cortez at Craft Contemporary • Southwest Museum Update • LACMA Grows Across Wilshire • Take 3: White House Axing the Arts • Nipsey Hussle Tribute • Local Oscars: Costumes, Production Design, Documentary Short
BEATRIZ CORTEZ
REFERENCING PAST, REFERENCING FUTURE, WITH JOY
2 hierarchical shelter and processes.
The steel used throughout evokes industry, a segment of society that emphasizes uniformity. But here, installation pieces and their individual components become unique and even beautiful as their colorful patinas show the weathering effects of time and the fact that the structures have been touched by many hands. “I imagine joy, especially shared joy, as a way to resist capitalism,” says Ms. Cortez. “And I imagine the collapse of chronologies and try to experience time as simultaneities and circular motions as a way to resist colonialism.”
Visual art, literature, and film speculating on the future, and those same mediums’ depictions of the past, generally imply a divorce between past and future. The installation work of Beatriz Cortez does away with that strange dichotomy, creating a world in which the future is informed by what people of previous generations have enjoyed, found to be A separate installation, done in collaboration with artist Rafa Esparza, greets visitors utilitarian, and held dear. With “Beatriz Cortez: Trinidad / Joy Station” at Craft Contemporary, Ms. Cortez, whose at the entry to the museum. “Nomad 13” is a space capsule. But rather than Tang and work has been seen in smaller doses at such venues as The Vincent Price Museum of Art nutrition squeezed from tubes, this capsule carries a garden of plants indigenous to the and Riverside ARTSblock, is given a large solo-space, occupied by a number of fairly- Americas. The garden, resting on Mr. Esparza’s signature adobe bricks, speaks to the long history of plant migration and current efforts large pieces. Each piece stands alone, but collectively at seed banking. It also addresses the question, they create the feeling that one has entered a human “If you were moving to a space station, what habitat on a space station of the future. would you take?” The space capsule houses the References to the past are varied. They include the transportable, the familiar, the tasty, and the artist’s Salvadoran heritage, collective living practices spiritual. Reaching into the future is also an of the ancient Mayan Village Joya de Cerén, materials honoring of one’s grandparents and great-greatevocative of the industrial, railroad, and automobile great grandparents. histories of Los Angeles, geodesic dome architecture associated with the post-war utopian community Drop Beatriz Cortez: Trinidad / Joy Station City, built in Trinidad, Colorado during the 1960s. Beatriz Cortez and Rafa Esparza: Nomad Images from more recent times include allusions to 13 current migration from Central America and the Through May 12 caging of refugee children. Exhibitions curator: Holly Jerger There are visual remnants of failed capitalism and Craft Contemporary colonialism, but, as a central tenet, there is the (formerly the Craft & Folk Art Museum) carry-over and the re-discovery of coexistence and 5814 Wilshire Boulevard communalism. A cylindrical steel structure called www.cafam.org Jumbo (2018) is named for the gigantic container that housed the first atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico. Instead of a bomb, the container is imagined Beatriz Cortez, Personal objects marking periods of as a seed repository that enables the reproduction of migration and transformation in her life (detail) life and nourishment. Domes suggest shared, non-
Beatriz Cortez, Domes created from car hoods and repurposed steel
Beatriz Cortez and Rafa Esparza, Nomad 13
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Beatriz Cortez, Beds constructed from chain link, steel, and woven mylar referencing the cages in which migrant children are imprisoned and the thin mylar blankets authorities distribute as covers
Beatriz Cortez, Garden. Plants include corn, black beans, sorghum, amaranth, quinoa, chayote squash, chia, chili pepper, yerba buena, sage, and a ceiba tree.
3 and seek to bring out
SPIRITUAL MATERIAL
KENZI SHIOKAVA AT OTIS COLLEGE The art of Kenzi Shiokava transcends cultures and religions. It presents natural woods and found, discarded objects with straightforward simplicity, revealing their innate power. “Spiritual Material: A Survey of Work by Kenzi Shiokava” at Otis College of Art and Design’s Ben Maltz Gallery, presents a large sampling of work from Mr. Shiokava’s 50+ year career. Mr. Shiokava was born in Brazil of Japanese heritage. He moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and settled in Watts, just in time for the Watts Riots. He studied at Chouinard, and is a 1974 MFA graduate of Otis. Since the ’90s, he has maintained a studio in Compton. He belongs to a cadre of important assemblage artists connected to the Watts Art Center, including John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, and Betye Saar. He joins them in finding political, cultural, and spiritual sensibilities in one’s surroundings. Meanwhile, his work as a gardener and landscaper is reflected in his relationship to natural materials. He grows some of the trees and plants used in his work himself. “Archeology makes the mind wonder and bring an appealing emotion as well as understanding, and an indelible mystery of presence. From its very process I find inspiration. For any discarded material that has gone through the process of history and humanization is the potential of presence, not only physical but also spiritual. I feel in them the mystery of history
the spiritual essence and presence inherent in such materials.” —Kenzi Shiokava Spiritual Material: A Survey of Work by Kenzi Shiokava Through April 20 Otis College of Art and Design, Ben Maltz Gallery 9045 Lincoln Boulevard www.otis.edu
Kenzi Shiokava, Angel Kachina, 2003, mold
Kenzi Shiokava, Untitled, 1998, wood shelving, found objects
Kenzi Shiokava, Untitled, 1998, plastic figurines Kenzi Shiokava, Untitled, 1997, doll head, photographs, pine wood Kenzi Shiokava, Untitled, 1998, metal, toy figurines, doll head Kenzi Shiokava, Untitled, 1997, metal box, dried century plant
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ELIZABETH JAMESON AT THE KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
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Bay Area artist Elizabeth Jameson uses her struggle with multiple sclerosis as a basis for her art. Her works, on display in ”The Imperfect Body” at the Hoyt Gallery, located at The Keck School of Medicine of USC, are frank in the use of medical imaging to uncover the complexity of the imperfect brain. Yet at the same time, they are beautiful. “I’ve used medical technology to create art as a way of taking ownership of my disease,” says Ms. Jameson. “I transform the often unsettling and clinical black-and-white brain scans into work that invites others to contemplate the beauty of the brain, to discuss what it means to live in an imperfect body, and to stare directly at the imperfect brain’s beauty and complexity with curiosity.” Keck School of Medicine 1975 Zonal Avenue www.keck.usc.edu
Elizabeth Jameson, The Imperfect Body, at Keck School of Medicine (photo courtesy of Ted Meyer)
Elizabeth Jameson, Carousel, Digital illustration on canvas, various MRI views of the artist’s brain
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Elizabeth Jameson, The Imperfect Body, at Keck School of Medicine
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STAFF Publisher/ Creative Director Cathi Milligan Managing Editor Margaret Arnold Contributors: Margaret Arnold, Cornelius Peter, Brian Mallman, Amy Inouye, Stuart Rapeport, Cathi Milligan, Jennifer Hitchcock, Harvey Slater, Madame X, Larisa Code, Tomas Benitez, Ted Meyer, Peter Hess LA Art News is published monthly at the beginning of each month. LA Art News is available free of charge. No person may, without prior written permission from LA Art News, take more than one copy of each monthly issue. Additional copies of the current issue are available for $1, payable in advance, at LA Art News office. Only authorized LA Art News distributors may distribute the LA Art News. Copyright No news stories, illustrations, editorial matter or advertisements herein can be reproduced without written consent of copyright owner. How to reach us LA Art News 5668 York Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90042 323-387-9705
A NEW LOOK! You may notice a change in the paper. It looks different. Kind of feels different too... but it’s not. We still plan on covering all of the things we think all of you should know about. We just needed some freshening up. I hope everyone likes it. Inside there are some changes too. We have a fresh NELAart Second Saturday Gallery Night map created by Peter Hess. Thanks Peter. And subtle little asthetic changes here and there. More to come. I also want to thank Brian Mallman for assisting me with some of the updates, especially the masthead. Brian is one of the good ones... So spring has sprung. Art is happening all around Los Angeles. We highlight a number of shows that have gorgeous, heartfelt, thoughful art. See art...make art...be inspired. And stop by the Brewery Art Walk this weekend!! Thanks, Cathi Milligan Publisher LA Art News
On the cover: Roderick Smith. For more information please go to page 18.
Contributions cathi@laartnews.com Calendar information margaretnelaart@gmail.com Sales - cathi@laartnews.com sign up for our newsletter at laartnews.com Where’s Monica?
LUMMIS LEGACY LEAGUE About 100 people gathered at the Los Angeles River Center March 17 in honor of Charles Fletcher Lummis, a colorful and influential figure in L.A. history. Lummis (1859-1928) was the first City Editor of the Los Angeles Times, the founder of the Southwest Museum, an advocate for historic preservation and the rights of Native People, and a magnet for all manner of artists, politicians, and thinkers. He grappled with what it meant to be part of the American Southwest as a distinct region of the Americas. And he always did it with flair. The River Center gathering marked the kick-off of the Lummis Legacy League, a new organization seeking to preserve and promote the historic riches of Los Angeles’ Arroyo Seco region, where Lummis built his home of river rock and sited the first museum of Los Angeles. Participants also seek to extend that heritage into the present, furthering educational, scientific, historical, ecological, sustainable, and indigenous priorities. (The Lummis Legacy League may be found on Facebook or contacted at hollacedavidscompany@gmail.com.)
Charles Fletcher Lummis
Highland Park activist Monica Alcaraz; Christian Rodriguez, curator at El Alisal, the house that Charles Lummis built of rock from the Arroyo Seco; Suzanne Lummis, noted poet and granddaughter of Charles Lummis, at the kick-off of the Lummis Legacy League
Representatives of the Kizh Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians bless the beginnings of the Lummis Legacy League
The Lummis Legacy League at the Los Angeles River Center
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GOVERNMENT NOTES APRIL TAKE THREE: WHITE HOUSE SEEKS ARTS ELIMINATION For the third year in a row, the proposed federal budget from the White House calls for elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In previous budgets under this administration, Congress, in a bipartisan manner, has acted to preserve these organizations and also has upped their funding. The proposed budget also eliminates the U.S. Department of Education’s Arts in Education program and other K-12 education programs that support underserved children. “As misdirected as this proposal is,” said Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch, “we are confident that Congress—as it has done in the past two fiscal years—will again reject this short-sighted budget request in a bipartisan, bicameral manner, and increase funding for these important cultural agencies.” According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, arts and culture represent 4.2 percent of the annual GDP, supporting 4.9 million jobs. Meanwhile, the National Endowment for the Arts’ budget is just 0.004 percent of the federal budget. “Americans for the Arts stands ready to fight for the arts on a bipartisan basis with the 95,000 nonprofit arts organizations across the United States, the nation’s mayors, the business community, and the hundreds of thousands of arts advocates that are part of the Americans for the Arts Action Fund,” said Mr. Lynch. “We will continue to work with numerous partners from across the spectrum to make the case for federal funding and the federal role of the agencies in fostering investment, spurring job-related growth, expanding educational opportunities, and providing for the preservation of our heritage.” THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE OCEAN FRONT WALK Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin and Venice community members are seeking a process to maintain the character of Venice’ Ocean Front Walk. The beachfront walk, popular among tourists and locals, has long been characterized by an eclectic mix of unique, locally owned businesses. Lately, however, chain businesses have begun moving in, and rent increases have been pushing long-standing businesses out. Within the last year, Starbucks and Ben and Jerry’s have opened. There are rumors that several major fast food chains have been looking to move in. Dockless scooter companies have been placing scooters in front of small businesses that make a living renting bicycles. “I don’t see anyone flying halfway around the world to go to Scooterville and eat a McDonald’s burger,” business advocate David Boren told the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee April 2. “Adding more of these national chains threaten our local establishments and are detrimental to the uniqueness of this world-famous family destination,” said Mark Rago of the Alliance for the Preservation of Venice. According to Councilmember Bonin’s motion, “Other cities such as San Francisco, CA and Jersey City, NJ have enacted land use planning and zoning rules to preserve the ‘sense of place’ and unique neighborhood character in their communities by supporting small businesses and independent retail uses. These so-called ‘formula retail ordinances’ allow a local government to shape the mix of businesses in their city. Some ban all chain stores from certain neighborhoods; some cap the number of retail chain stores allowed within a neighborhood; and others require a case-by-case approval of proposed retail use projects.” Councilmember Bonin’s motion requires the Department of City Planning to study the impacts of independent retail uses on the social fabric of a community and to report back on the levels of economic, social, and cultural activity such uses support, including the number of jobs per square foot and the diversity of residents. The Planning Department and the City Attorney’s office will then report on the feasibility of using zoning and other land use planning tools to encourage the siting of independent retail uses on Ocean Front Walk in the Venice community. The motion is pending before the full City Council. L.A. AND MEXICO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS AS SISTER CITIES Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti traveled to Mexico City in March where he and Mexico City Head of Government Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum launched a year-long celebration to commemorate 50 years as sister cities. As part of the sister cities anniversary celebration, L.A. and Mexico City will host a series of cultural events in both cities — including a film festival featuring Mexican, Chicano, and Angeleno film productions; a mural unveiling at the Mexican
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Consulate in Los Angeles; and technical exchanges revolving around clean technology, sustainable mobility, and resilience. The Mayor’s visit to Mexico also focused on boosting tourism. Mexico is the top source of international visitors to L.A., accounting for 1.8 million of the 7.5 million international visitors to the city in 2018. MEXICO-LA COMMISSION FORMED Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard have announced the formation of the MexicoL.A. Commission (MEXLA), a new commission made up of residents from Los Angeles and Mexico who will work to reinforce the already strong ties between the two regions. “Mexico and Los Angeles are bound together by ties of family, history, values, and culture — and we are determined to work together to build a brighter, healthier, more prosperous future,” said Mayor Garcetti. “MEXLA will strengthen the bonds between our communities by exchanging the best ideas in trade, tourism, athletics, the arts, climate and energy, and more. Our partnership will help make life better for families on both sides of the border.” The Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles and
A new mural by Tetris Wai, at the Mexican Consulate, celebrates the monarch butterfly as a North American species that flies freely among Mexico, the United States, and Canada. COMEXI in Mexico will serve as key non-profit partners, and will organize and direct the Commission. Mexico Undersecretary for North America Jesus Seade and Mayor Garcetti will be honorary co-chairs. ARTS AND CULTURE FIGURES HONORED ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY International Women’s Day was celebrated March 8 at the Los Angeles City Council meeting. This year’s program was a tribute to pioneer women working on homelessness, domestic violence, and human trafficking. Yet several of the honorees were from various arts and culture professions, demonstrating how much the arts and social issues of great importance intersect. The theme for the 2019 Pioneer Women of Los Angeles honors
International Women’s Day honoree Jeannie Mai and City Councilmember Nury Martinez (photo: Councilmember Martinez’ office) was “Shifting Naratives: The Strength of Women Survivors.” Josefina Lopez was the honoree of Mayor Eric Garcetti. Ms. Lopez is the author of the play and co-author of the film, “Real Women Have Curves.” She is a passionate lecturer on immigrant and women’s issues. She is the founding artistic director of CASA 0101 in Boyle Heights. At CASA 0101, her commitment is to
teaching screenwriting and playwriting and to nurturing a new generation of women and Latino artists. She is the author of a novel, “Hungry Woman in Paris,” as well as two anthologies of plays. Councilmember Nury Martinez honored television personality, executive producer, and Emmy Award-Winning cohost of the daytime talk show “The Real,” Jeannie Mai. Ms. Mai has used her platform to advocate for issues affecting women. A first generation daughter of immigrant Vietnamese and Chinese parents, Ms. Mai is passionate about human trafficking and serves as ambassador for the Pacific Links Foundation, an organization committed to rescuing women and children from human trafficking and modern day slavery, and as an ambassador for Step Up, which propels girls from underserved communities toward their full potential as confident, college-bound careerfocused, ready to join the workforce and able to empower the next generation of professional women. Ms. Mai recently produced “Stopping Traffic, the Movement to End Sex Trafficking,” a documentary that investigates the international crisis of human trafficking from a very deeply personal point of view. Councilmember Paul Koretz honored Zaydee Sanchez, a photographer and photojournalist who created a collection called “The People of Skid Row.” Ms. Sanchez’ most recent project is “Migrant Crossing,” a multi-media exhibit documenting the crisis of Central American migration. “Through her photography, Zaydee has brought to life visual
Transgender Day of Visibility honoree Rizi Xavier Timane, surrounded by Councilmember David Ryu, fellow honorees Jaden Fields and Patricio Manuel, Mr. Timane’s wife and child at City Hall stories of the formerly invisible,” said Councilmember Koretz. Council President Herb Wesson honored Gia Banks. Ms. Banks is a model, a dancer, and a Trans-activist. The is also the survivor of a brutal attack. “Since 2006, she’s been an activist herself through art, doing whatever she can to assist the Trans community,” said Council President Wesson. The Council President was joined by West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore Lindsey P. Horvath, who said that Ms. Banks, “uses performance to ignite social change.” Councilmember Mike Bonin honored Meredith Harper Houston, the owner and founder of Merryland Dance Studio in Playa Vista and the founder of Swan Within: Healing Through Ballet, an organization that helps women and girls who have been incarcerated or who have suffered sexual abuse or other trauma. Through dance, she helps women heal by rediscovering their self-esteem and their agency. The City Council presents the annual awards in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women. TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY The Los Angeles City Council celebrated “Transgender Day of Visibility in the City of Los Angeles” March 28. The City’s Transgender Advisory Council spotlighted three honorees, three Trans men of color. Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell pointed out how important it is to recognize the disproportionate effects faced by Trans men in terms of employment, poverty, sexual assaults and healthcare. All three of the honorees are involved in cultural or athletic fields. Patricio Manuel is the first boxer is U.S. history to fight first as a woman, then as a man. In his profession debut in December, he defeated Mexican super featherweight Hugo Aguilar. Jaden Fields is a Patient Advocate and “a queer, black, trans community activist and poet, born and raised in Los Angeles.” “Jaden’s work saves lives in the trans community,” said Coucilmember David Ryu. Rizi Xavier Timane is a transgender advocate, public speaker, popular singer, working actor, Trans-sensitivity trainer, and founder of a grant program to support others. A native of Nigeria,
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he overcame extreme poverty, exorcisms, “reparative” therapies, bullying, alcohol, and drug use. He has written a memoir, “An Unspoken Compromise - My Story of Gender and Spiritual Transition” and is completing a doctorate in social work at USC. “I think that sharing our stories is the way that we warm hearts toward the Trans community,” said Mr. Timane. Councilmember O’Farrell said that the City should, “Celebrate the fact that Los Angeles believes that people should be exactly who they are, their authentic selves, and that is the promise, and that’s our commitment to these fine men and to Trans people everywhere.” CITY CELEBRATES NOWRUZ “It is wonderful to be here to wish everyone a very happy Nowruz,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz as city leaders celebrated the Persian New Year at the March 22 City Council meeting. “I’m honored to join my colleagues here today to celebrate the blessings of the new year and to recognize the vibrant Persian community here in the City of Los Angeles,” said Councilmember Koretz. “Nowruz, which is Persian for new day, marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It’s a day when families come together, gather around their beautiful ceremonial Haft-sin table, created with items that symbolize spring and renewal, listen to music, and enjoy delicious Persian food.” This year marks 40 yrs since the Iranian revolution, during which many Persians fled to Los Angeles. “They’ve truly woven their beautiful culture into the fabric of the city,” said Councilmember Koretz. The City Council was joined in council chambers by Mayor Eric Garcetti, State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, City Attorney Mike Feuer, City Controller Ron Galperin, and leaders of the Persian community in Los Angeles.
that, beginning in 2024-25, one semester of Ethnic Studies would be required for graduation. The model curriculum will be designed to engage a range of disciplines, including English language, visual and performing arts, and social studies including economic, gender, and sexuality studies. An Ethnic Studies measure passed the legislature last session, but was vetoed by then Governor Jerry Brown. “Knowledge of our history plays a critical role in shaping who we become,” said Assemblymember Medina. “When I was growing up, the history of those who look like me was not represented in the classroom. As a former Ethnic Studies teacher, I saw firsthand how much more engaged my students were when they saw themselves reflected in the coursework.” “When we do not include students’ cultures, students’ histories, students’ backgrounds, where they come from, the stories of their families,” the Assemblymember told the Assembly Education Committee, “we implicitly send a message that culture, that history is not of value because it is not in the curriculum, it is not taught.” The bill passed the Assembly Education Committee in March and is pending before the Appropriations Committee. R.I.P. VIRGINIA URIBE Virginia Uribe, who founded Project 10, the country’s first school-led support for LGBTQ students in 1984, passed away in March. At the time she started Project 10, Ms. Uribe was a teacher at Fairfax High School. She is survived by her wife, Gail Rolf, also a teacher, children and grandchildren.
SENATOR ALLEN APPOINTED TO FILM COMMISSION State Senator Ben Allen, who represents the Westside, Hollywood, and coastal communities in the legislature, has been appointed to the California Film Commission. Housed within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the Commission administers the State’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program, a $330 million annual incentive program for eligible productions in California, and serves as the primary liaison between the film and TV industry and government. The California Film Commission has an advisory board of 21 appointed members who work to enhance the economic climate in California by keeping film industry jobs and projects in the state. The California Film Commission supports productions of all sizes with location assistance, an extensive digital location library, free online permitting, low cost use of state properties as shooting locations, and production assistance. “This is such an exciting opportunity to support one of California’s most important industries, with historic roots in my district. Entertainment, in all its forms, has contributed so much to California’s growth and I look forward to ensuring that growth continues for years to come,” Senator Allen said. HIGH SCHOOL ETHNIC STUDIES A bill to mandate high school course work in Ethnic Studies is making its way through the State Legislature. The measure, sponsored by Assemblymember Jose Medina, would require
LA ART NEWS
PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE. Local Students Win Academy Award
A group of young women at Oakwood School in Valley Village who were members of the Girls’ League Club, part of Girls’ League International, were learning leadership skills and seeking to put those skills to work when they became aware of a significant barrier to girls and young women advancing. “In much of the developing world, in India and many other places,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian in honoring the girls at City Hall April 2, “when a young girl begins her period, there is a phenomenon of shame and exclusion and embarrassment that very very often causes these girls to discontinue their education and to drop out of school. As many as one out of four, and in some places half of girls, once they begin menstruating, drop out of school in some countries. And once they do, they are doomed to a lifetime of disadvantage.” The girls at Oakwood began a project to help a village in India. They raised money to purchase a machine that, at very little cost, could manufacture feminine hygiene products. This action, by extension, created a micro business that allowed girls who were running the machine to develop an income. Some of the Oakwood girls went to India and documented their interactions with residents of the village. They made documentary film. “Now that would be a phenomenal enough experience,” said Councilmember Krekorian, “…but it’s not the end of the story.” The film, “Period. End of Sentence.” was picked up by Netflix. It won honors at film festivals. Then it was nominated for an Academy Award. “What started as an effort of a few committed young women at a school in Valley Village, ended up bringing this message to an audience of hundreds of millions of people around the world who
AUTRY SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR SOUTHWEST MUSEUM SITE In 2003, The Autry Museum in Griffith Park and the Southwest Museum in Mount Washington merged. Since that time, the Autry Museum of the American West has removed most of the Southwest Museum‚Äôs world-class collection of artifacts, which was endangered by such forces as weevils and lack of climate control, to a new state of the art facility in Burbank for preservation and cataloguing. The historic Southwest Museum campus is open only a few hours a week. Many community members, meanwhile, are of the sentiment that the collection and the historic campus, which museum founder Charles Lummis intentionally sited overlooking the Arroyo Seco on the route between Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, to be inseparable. The Southwest Museum is now embarking on the next phase of its existence, one which will hopefully involve both the major collection of Native American art and the broader museum collection as well as new uses chosen for compatibility and economic sustainability. The Autry Museum of the American West has announced that it is seeking organizations to propose innovative and financially sustainable concepts for the revitalization and creative reuse of the¬†Southwest Museum campus and the nearby Casa de Adobe through a Request for Interest (RFI).¬† The RFI is issued by the Autry together with National Trust for Historic Preservation, the office of L.A. City Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo, and the National Trust‚Äôs broad-based Project Steering Committee. “After several years of community engagement with the Autry and National Trust for Historic Preservation on the rehabilitation and reactivation of the Southwest Museum in Mount Washington,” says Frank Parrello, one of two community representatives to the National Trust’s process for finding a just solution for the Southwest Museum, “the Autry is releasing a Request for Interest to find Partners to participate in the revitalization of the site. The document includes a description of the type of partnerships and activities that the Autry is considering for the site, including a commitment to continuing to have an active role that would include collection related activities. I feel that it is important for the community at large to read and become familiar with the RFI and for those
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10 watched as they won the Academy Award for the Best Short Documentary in the world,” said Councilmember Krekorian. Producer and Oakwood teacher Melissa Berton referred to The Pads Project as “a movement that’s catching fire,” reporting that requests for machines are coming in from around the world and that other organizations have begun raising funds for machines. More information is available at www.thepadsproject.org.
Oakwood School’s social media individuals and groups that have the ability to respond to the document with their ideas and ability to directly participate in the future of the site so that it continues to reflect our community’s diverse culture and history.” Proposals are due June 10. (More information is available at www.theautry.org.) On April 9, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis introduced a motion calling for county governance, The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and Metro to evaluate and consider submitting a proposal for use of the Southwest Museum campus, with the results of their evaluation due within 30 days. Supervisor Solis cites the museum’s proximity to a Gold Line Station, its location in Northeast Los Angeles, and County and Metro’s commitment to transit-supportive built environment and access to arts and culture for all County residents.
BLACK PANTHER OSCARS CITY HONORS PIONEERING COSTUME AND PRODUCTION DESIGNERS As part of Women’s History Month, March 27, the Los Angeles City Council honored two recent Academy Award winners who are both Women of Color. Ruth E. Carter won an Oscar for her costume designs for “Black Panther.” Ms. Carter has worked on over 40 feature films, 12 of them with Spike Lee. She has been nominated by the Academy three times. Hannah Beachler won for her Production Design for “Black Panther.” She was the first African American woman nominated in the category, and she won on her first nomination. Both women are engaged in work that extends beyond the screen. Ms. Carter is a supporter of the Black Design Collective, which provides mentorship and resources for those who want to break into the industry. Ms. Beachler has a foundation that provides scholarships at Wright University and in inner city neighborhoods, providing opportunities for students to move forward the film business. Ms. Carter told the City Council that after designing “Black Panther,” “a lot of people asked me how it felt to have designed my first super hero. And my answer has been the same. My entire career I have been designing super heroes. Malcolm X was a super hero. Martin Luther King, Selma, was a super hero, Tina Turner was a super hero. And so this time with the “Black Panther” that I spent researching the ancient African tribes and building this world of Waconda was a beautiful experience, but not unlike building the world around Malcolm X or Martin Luther King and recreating the Selma march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge. So I was honored to do that, and I was honored to be a part of the “Black Panther”
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film because I knew how full-circle a moment that would be for the culture, bringing not only my work in “Roots” to the foreground, but connecting the full circle, because our history did not start with slavery; it actually began in Africa.” “This woman has been telling me how to dress for all of my adult life,” said Councilmember Marqueece HarrisDawson. “So when do the right thing came out, we had to have that certain kind of sneakers and shorts. And then Mo Black Panther, Marvel Studios Better Blues came out and Costume Designer: Ruth Carter we had to learn how to 27th Art of Motion Picture Costume Design wear suits and how to look Exhibition cool. You’ve really shaped FIDM Museum how we present ourselves to the world and really shaped our culture.” “Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler have not only cracked the glass ceiling– they’ve shattered it,” said City Council President Herb Wesson. “They are every bit as groundbreaking and inspirational as the film ‘Black Panther’.”
Black Panther, Marvel Studios Costume Designer: Ruth Carter 27th Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition FIDM Museum
Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Best Costume Design Oscar® winner Ruth Carter, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, Best Production Design Oscar® winner Hannah Beachler, and Councilmember Curren Price (photo: Council President Wesson’s office)
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INDIAN COUNTRY: THE ART OF DAVID BRADLEY Autry Museum of the American West
“During the long process of creating a painting,” says Mr. Bradley, “I begin to layer and connect times, people, places, events, histories, and cultural realities that have meaning for me. In these paintings I am able to vent on issues I am passionate about—identity and contemporary sociopolitical realities—and to spin my stories with a healthy dose of humor and irony.” The stories are then handed to the viewer—not with resolution, but with the enticing possibility of the viewer entering the scene. “I appreciate listening to other people describe and interpret my work,” says the artist. “Each viewer brings something of their own life experiences to it, and their interpretations are often as valid as mine.” The satire is done well because it is done with affection. “My art is about my life,” says Mr. Bradley. “…I was a tumbleweed blowing in the wind. But New Mexico had such an immediate impact on me that I knew I would live the rest of my life here.” The paintings are not Mr. Bradley’s only art form, however. He is the only artist to win the top awards in both the Fine Art categories of painting and sculpture at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Mr. Bradley is a master of bronze work. The exhibit includes several busts with hauntingly beautiful faces. There are also mixed media pieces that contrast with his satirical works in their straight-on political commentary. “Guilty of Being Indian (Mankato),” 1991, tells of 38 Dakota Sioux warriors in Mankato, Minnesota, who, in 1862, were hung in the largest mass execution in American history. “Anishinaabe Fishing Rights,” 2004, tells of Wisconsin tribes’ struggles to compel enforcement of their right to hunt, fish, and gather wild rice on lands ceded by mid-1800s treaties. “Indian County: The Art of David Bradley” is curated by Valerie Verzuh and was organized by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe.
With a survey of works spanning nearly four decades, The Autry is celebrating the career of noted Chippewa artist David Bradley. Much of Mr. Bradley’s work satirizes the realities of his adopted hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Many of the 32 works in the show are panoramas, densely packed with characters. His broad and brightly colored canvasses host layer upon layer of narrative. Past and present, Hollywood and reality, fine art and kitsch, local residents and tourists with cameras, and the artist himself all intermingle. There is a dose of comic book. There are doses of Andy Warhol and Henri Rousseau. There is a large dose of René Magritte. The Lone Ranger and Tonto are omnipresent. Sometimes they are faces in the crowd. Sometimes they are key players. But in Mr. Bradley’s telling, Tonto is known to get the upper hand, as in “End of the Trail: Tonto and the Lone Ranger Revisited,” 2008, in which Tonto points an accusing finger at the Lone Ranger in front of a layered backdrop of migration across the Rio Grande, shallow Route 66 tourism, corporate business development, gentrification, the Hollywood Sign, and Ghost Riders in the Sky. Meanwhile, a compatriot of Tonto emerges from the corner of the frame to bind the Lone Ranger’s horse’s legs. In a sea of moving images, the Lone Ranger is becoming immobilized. The humor in no way negates the fact that there are serious realities presented. In “End of the Santa Fe Trail,” 2008, native miners enslaved by conquistadors, Hollywood style images of Indians, David Bradley, Feast Day, 1984/2014, Full Circle, mixed media, and tourists converge on a trading post advertising, 2015 “We sell liquors, ‘Indian’ art and crafts, wannabee tribal memberships, Indian child adoptions and land. Your tax dollars at work: publicly funded by N.E.A., N.E.H. and Columbus quincentennial funds.”
Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley Through January 5, 2020 Autry Museum of the American West Griffith Park theautry.org
David Bradley, End of the Trail: Tonto and the Lone Ranger Revisited, acrylic on canvas, 2008
Mon - Fri 10-8 Sat & Sun 10-6 5053 York Blvd Highland Park, CA 90042 323-274-4469 rosiebunnybean.com
APRIL 2019
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David Bradley, Hopi Maiden, wood and bronze with patinas, 2/12, 2000 David Bradley, End of the Santa Fe Trail, acrylic on canvas, 1992 (photo: Courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico) David Bradley, Anishinaabe Fishing Rights, mixed media, 2004
David Bradley, El Farol, Canyon Road Cantina, acrylic on canvas, 2000 (photo: Courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
THRIFT SHOP FINDS “Everyone from My Local Thrift Store is headed to Coachella” Third in a Series by Artist Ted Meyer www.tedmeyer.com
David Bradley, Feast Day, 1984/2014, Full Circle, mixed media, 2015
LA ART NEWS
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Visit us at NELAart.org Northeast Los Angeles Arts Organization, Inc.
April 13, 2019 | 7PM - 10 PM
(Individual gallery hours may vary. CHECK Gallery web sites for individual information. Just because a gallery is listed does not mean it’s open this month) 1
Avenue 50 Studio 131 N. Avenue 50 323.256.1435 avenue50studio.org
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Arroyo Arts Collective @ Ave 50 Studio 131 N. Avenue 50 323.256.1435 arroyoartscollective.org
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Bookshow 5503 N. Figueroa St. www.bookshow.com
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L34 Group 5622 N. Figueroa St. 323.788.1674 L34group.com
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Vapegoat 5054 York Blvd. 323.963.VAPE
Namaste Highland Park 5118 York Blvd. www.namastehighlandpark.com 10 Highland Cafe 5010 York Blvd. 323.259.1000 thehighlandcafela.com The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd. 323.387.9705 theglassstudio.net Future Studio 5558 N. Figueroa St. 323.254.4565 futurestudiogallery.com
APRIL 2019
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Mindfulnest 5050 York Blvd. 323.999.7969 mindfulnest.com
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Curve Line Space 3348 N. Figueroa St. 323.505.7278 curvelinespace.com
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Align Gallery 5045 York Blvd. www.aligngallery.com
Leader of the Pack 17 5110 York Blvd. 323.675.1055 theleaderofthepackvintage.com
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Mi Vida 5159 York Blvd.
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Vintage Tattoo Art Parlor 5115 York Blvd.
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Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa St. 323.635.9125 rockrosegallery.com
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Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd. 323.550.1332 leannalinswonderland.com TAJ • ART 1492 Colorado Blvd. www.tajartinc.com
Nex t Ar t Walk MAY 11, 2019
On th
businesses their doors love, get s
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he Second Saturday of Every Month galleries,
s and artists in Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Cypress Park, Elysian Valley and Lincoln Heights open s a little later in the evening and welcome visitors. Use this map for locations of art and eateries; grab someone you some dinner, and enjoy some art. Friend NELA Art Gallery Night on Facebook for the updated last minute list.
LA ART NEWS
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NELAART SECOND SATURDAY GALLERY NIGHT MARCH 2019
Glampunk by Tommy Chiffon Three Art by Trace Johansson at TAJ • ART
Dsyple, Knowledge, mixed media, at Vapegoat
Todd Westover, Scenic 2 Arroyo Arts Collective at Avenue 50 Studio
Karina Lara, Las Manos Que Curan, Chicanx Unknown at Mi Vida
APRIL 2019
Sandy Huse, wood, at L 34 Group
17 Karen Schifman, Honoring Virginia Mary Sherwood Brock, Big Valley, Flowergirl Unfettered — SCWCA All Member Show at Avenue 50 Studio
Richard Willson, The Approach, Bottom Feeder — Views from the Arroyo, at Avenue 50 Studio Art & Stuff at Future Studio
Maritza Torres, Emma, Elena y Mari, acrylic on canvas Maritza Torres, XilononChicomecoatl, soapstone Luchx Forever at Avenue 50 Studio
Erica Elzey, Fuchsia Fire, acrylic on canvas Erica Elzey, Amethyst Dahlia, acrylic on canvas Align Gallery
Cathi Milligan, glass Mary Jean Mallman, ceramics Troy Evans, leather at L 34 Group
LA ART NEWS
VEGAN CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP
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Looking for a quick comfort food to whip up after a stressful day at work? This Vegan Cream of Mushroom soup delivers creamy, delicious comfort the right way- with clean, wholesome plant-based nutrition. 2 quarts vegetable broth 8 oz crimini mushrooms 1 each large carrot 2 stalks celery ½ medium onion 1 shallots 2 cloves garlic 1 cup raw cashews ¼ cup chopped parsley ¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional) 1 tsp. cumin (optional) In a medium stock pot, start warming vegetable broth over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, shallots, and garlic, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a rolling simmer, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove lid, taste for flavor and simmer for another 10-15 minutes if necessary. The broth should taste like mushrooms. That’s when you know it’s ready to be pureed. Transfer mixture into a high-speed blender, add cashews and chopped parsley, and puree until it is very smooth. NOTE: be careful the hot liquid doesn’t explode in the blender—to avoid this, start the blender at a very low speed and increase the speed gradually. Transfer pureed soup back to the stock pot and add the optional nutritional yeast and ground cumin. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add to a serving bowl and garnish with more chopped parsley and plant-based yogurt or any other desired garnish. Harvey Slater is a Holistic Nutritionist and food & wellness blogger, practicing in Pasadena. You can find more recipes like this one on his blog: thewholedishblog. com
ABOUT THE COVER RODERICK SMITH
This broad landscape reflects a memory sensation of being overwhelmed by the staggering layers of history that are strewn all about on the island of Sicily. An exotic blend of cultures and civilizations that explode in my eye as some fantastic garden where sun and the sea play host to a miraculous and seemingly endless rebirth of human endeavor. https://rodericksmith.com/
APRIL 2019
“Conquered Lands” 96x24 inches. Wax and Oil on Wood
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CLASSES IN NELA
Besides being a haven for artists and creative types, Northeast Los Angeles is the home of a fine array of arts classes, especially the industrial arts, but not limited to them. Below is a list of some of the businesses in the area that have classes. Do check with the facility to verify times and prices of their classes. As we find more places we will bring that information to all of you. Adam’s Forge 2640 N. San Fernando Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90065 Adamsforge.org
Molten Metal Works 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 moltenmetalworks.net
Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.
Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.
The Glass Studio 5668 York Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90042 323.387.9705 info@theglassstudio.net
Rock Rose Gallery 4108 N. Figueroa Street Highland Park, CA 90065 (323) 635-9125 www.rockrosegallery.com Visit: Rock Rose Gallery News, Instagram & Twitter
Check www.theglassstudio.com . Toros Pottery 4962 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.344.8330 Blue Rooster Art Supply Company blueroosterartsupplies.com blue@blueroosterartsupplies.com 4661 Hollywood Blvd LA, CA 90027 (323) 302-5613 Check their web site for more information about their classes and events. Ave 50 Studio 131 No. Avenue 50 323. 258.1435 avenue50studio.org Guitar Lessons. Salsa Lessons too! Check their web site for more information for this and other classes. Center for the Arts Eagle Rock 2225 Colorado Blvd. Eagle Rock, CA 90041 info@cfaer.org (323) 561-3044 www.cfaer.org Check out their web site for a wide variety of fun classes for all ages.
Community Woodshop 3617 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204 626.808.3725 www.community woodshopla.com
Please check their web site for more information and a list of classes. Stained Glass Supplies 19 Backus Street Pasadena, CA 91107 626-219-6055 Classes are ongoing
A Place to Bead 2566 Mission St San Marino, CA 91108 626.219.6633 aplace2bead.com
Barndall Art Park 4800 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027 323.644.6295 http://www.barnsdall.org
Find a variety of jewelry making classes, including stringing and wirework.
Check they’re web site for upcoming classes.
Bullseye Glass 143 Pasadena Ave. South Pasadena, CA bullseyeglass.com
Los Angeles County Store 4333 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 / 323928-2781
They offer a full range of kiln forming glass classes as well as regular free artist talks.
Please check their web site for a listing of all of their classes and special events.
Leanna Lin’s Wonderland 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041 323.550.1332 leannalinswonderland.com
Sugar Mynt Gallery 810 Meridian Ave. South Pasadena, CA 626.222.7257 sugarmynt.com
Check Leanna’s web site for a current list of workshops and events.
Paint and Pinot Twice a month. Check their web site for more detail.
Fahrenheit Ceramics 4200 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90042 323.576.2052 fahrenheitceramics.com
Holy Grounds Coffee & tea 5371 Alhambra Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90032 323.222.8884
WINE OF THE MONTH Larisa Code
Note: Create joy, one sip at a time. Featured Wine: O.V.N.I. (Objet Viticole Non Identifié translated as unidentified wine object) Vintage: 2018 Color: The palest of pinks Varieties: 100% Grolleau Gris Price: $20 Country: France Region: Loire Valley Winemaker: Jean Mourat (I’ve written about his wine before, because he is good!) Farming: Organic Aged for four months in stainless steel Where to buy: Highland Park Wine 5918 ½ N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042 I have always been motivated by others’ enthusiasm; it has led to many great discoveries in my life, be it food, wine, music, countries, art, plants, whatever. It hasn’t disappointed, well maybe once or twice but that involved edibles and is a long story someone else would have to tell. So, when Andrea at Highland Park Wine gushed about a specific rosé, I was in. Especially since, unbeknownst to her, on my walk over to the wine shop, as the sun was shining and a light breeze circulated the scent of jasmine and citrus in the air, I had felt in my bones that
Check out their workshops!
today was the perfect rosé day. And it was. And I hope while you are reading this, it is yet again. Andrea’s enthusiasm was not just for the wine itself, but also for the unique choice of grape, Grolleau Gris. One writer referred to it as the “Unicorn of Grapes.” But, either way, it is not the norm for rosé, yet I suspect it will become more common because it works so well—like when the first person decided to fry potatoes (I am forever in his/her debt), it is magical. There is fluidity to this wine—the beautiful fruit, mineral, and acid blend to a silent soothing perfection. The nose is subtle and less than what I would expect, only because this wine is so generous in flavor, but don’t be fooled. At O.V.N.I.’s first meeting with your palate, you get very distinct fruit: strawberry, watermelon, and a less tart citrus, like blood orange or mandarin. But right when your taste buds start believing they are about to encounter sweet, they are re-directed to the minerality and soft acid. Leaving a fresh and refreshing remnant of what I believe rosé is meant to be, joy. This wine is easy to pair, as weather plays a primary role in the enjoyment. So, try to choose one of those rosé days. We have many in LA, but, they are still precious; before you know it, the air conditioning is on, and you are missing that breeze, those floral aromas, and the sun on your face. Honestly, I loved this wine with sole and cabbage dumplings from Mason’s, a bowl of rice and a side of the seaweed salad from Joy on York. It was perfect. But, I also would’ve loved it with some shellfish, buttery but light, or a filet of fish lightly floured and sautéed. If you can, sip this on your porch, or balcony, or front yard, enjoying the sounds of the city. For me that involves wind chimes, couples walking by chatting, waves of Spanish, Tagalog, and Chinese, and the music from cars and my neighbors’ teenagers. The oenophiles who have assisted me and been able to follow my description of what I want in a wine, usually by a free flow sort of poem about what I like and dislike, have been few and far between. Jen, at Colorado Wine, she was incredible and is missed. But, also, I have had very much luck with the staff at both Silver Lake Wine and Highland Park Wine, especially Jamil and Andrea; I very much appreciate them. I want to send out a sincere thank you from me to all of the oenophiles that have led me to enjoy so many perfect sips. à votre santé
LA ART NEWS
ARTS, CULTURE AND CREATIVITY MONTH, APRIL 2019
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by Tomas J. Benitez
When I was about 11 my Mom and I took three buses to get to Barnsdall Park from East Los Angeles, a trip that took over an hour, and then when we got there we had to hike up a big hill. But she wanted to see the Salvador Dali exhibition and share it with me. I asked her why all the fuss, and she said “Because art is good, and art is important.” When I saw the paintings I realized why she was so right. I didn’t become a painter, instead I become an actor and then a writer, but I always understood. Art is important. Art is good. I took classes at the local park and everything offered in elementary school. In middle school I studied Drama, and got in all the plays. Later, I starred in all the high school productions. I wrote my own plays, sitting in the Malabar Branch Library by the big picture windows, often as the sun was setting, great memories. I took my first screenwriting class at 18, at a new place in East LA called Plaza de la Raza, inside an old rickety boathouse that had a floor so porous that you could see the water from the lake splashing underneath! When I entered college I decided on a Theatre Major, despite my poor, suffering Dad, who wanted me to study law or anything else that would make some money. I owe my life to the arts, the legion of creative people I have met and worked with; all the things I have done and witnessed; all the places I have travelled, the wonderful life I have lived. Thanks to my teachers, my colleagues, my friends, my heroes, all I’ve experienced is due to the arts. April 2019 is “Arts, Culture and Creativity Month”, as organized by the Californians for the Arts and the California Arts Advocates. It’s a month to raise awareness of the vitality of the arts in our daily lives, as well as in our communities, and to advocate for greater support for the arts and culture, including arts education, throughout the state. I happen to be a board member of CFTA and CAA and will be traveling up to Sacramento to talk to elected officials and meet with other advocates to bang the drum and make some noise. Along the way we have been conducting advocacy training workshops up and down the state, informing and empowering people how to gain and leverage support for their creative ventures, and how supporting the arts as part of the whole benefits not only their work but the lives of all others.
APRIL 2019
Anyone can join us in Sacramento on Tuesday April 23rd, there is a link if you want to be a part of our party. Join us! But more importantly, beyond seeking state support is raising awareness, telling our stories how the arts enrich our lives and resonate with so many positive results. Our website has all the sheets with facts and data, plus materials and links so you can learn key language and strategies. There’s a list of some of the things you can do in your own community or with your group and friends to support the arts; it’s all free and waiting to be consumed and activated. I will tell you what I have learned in my life. The arts save lives, honor our different cultures, teach human being-ness, complete and enhance a good education, and the arts build communities. Artists create something from nothing, they perform and/or reflect the language of the heart and soul, they entertain us, they voice and amplify what is good, and/or what is bad in our world, they challenge our thinking and understanding and dare us to change for the better. Culture is who we are, how we live and all that is around us. Creativity is what we bring to it. The arts and artists are as critical as science and faith in the social dialogue, compassion and enlightenment of our national fabric. I still have the small catalog from that exhibition in 1964. The arts are good, and the arts are important, because my Mom said so. accm@californiansforthearts.org www.californiansforthearts.org (Tomas Benitez was born and raised in front of a TV set in East L.A. His film SALSA: The Movie was produced in 1988. He has also written for Fred Roos, Starz Encore Films, CBS, and several other producers. In recent years he has written extensively about East Los Angeles including an ongoing, online saga about his home life, titled “The Gully”. Several of his stories about East L.A. and The Gully have been published by Blue Heron in an anthology of new American fiction, and he is editing two addition collections to be published in 2018. Tomas is the former Executive Director of Self Help Graphics & Art.)
Madam X
HOROSCOPES BY MADAM CRAB
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Yeah yeah yeah. Spring has sprung. Blah blah blah. I get it. Flowers blooming, weather getting pleasant again. So you all want predictions around the freaking la-di-da love stuff. FINE. This month, let’s look at what you all have in store in your love lives. Madam Crab will give you some good advice steeped in the wisdom of the stars. And remember, Madam Crab does not give you palo santo scented feel-goody bullshit predictions handed to you on an “ooh can you feel the earths vibration” crystal-y gem-stone platter. Be prepared for real life talk. ARIES: Ooooooh YES! Look at that!!! It is your season, you spry and sprightly little Aries!!!!! Calm the fuck down. TAURUS It is not to your benefit to be Rodeo Drive in the streets, if you are Melrose Ave in the sheets. Stay in your lane, Taurus! GEMINI Beware of someone who is too charming, too magnetic, too attentive. This is merely the front for an egotistical, narcissistic, dare I say serial killer-like emotional quagmire of a person. Oh, wait. Sorry Gemini. This is the advice Madam Crab meant to give to everyone else about YOU. CANCER This is the spring you have a fling, Crab, if you listen to this simple advice from Madam Crab. Don’t ignore the special someone you like. Make eye contact and speak words out of your mouth with them. Pretend they are your cats! LEO Leo, your perfect lover is right there, full of endless adoration and high praise, staring back at you in the mirror. Go for it. The rest of us will never measure up. VIRGO You need to untie and let the love of your life out of your car trunk. Now. Or Madam Crab will be calling the cops. LIBRA Pick ONE of your favorite baristas this spring, and take it to the next level, Libra. Time to commit to something beyond a wink, a few bucks in the tip jar and a double shot of espresso. SCORPIO Don’t worry. Virgo will untie you and let you out of their car trunk soon. In the meantime, think about how the next time you need to look for love in places that are well-lit and have a proper address. SAGITTARIUS On a second date it is fun to flirt and share secrets, Sag. But probably best to refrain from revealing your dream of naming your first-born child after what you love most in life...Gay Porn. CAPRICORN Capricorn, it is time to widen your dating pool. Stop holding out for “the one” who will find your spreadsheets and file folders romantic and sexy.
BOOK SHOW EVENTS
AQUARIUS For your next relationship Aquarius, Madam Crab would like you to remember this: Human emotions…good!
Tuesday April 2nd 7pm Collage & Cry A collage art night for everyone
PISCES Don’t listen to what the earthbound people are telling you, Pisces. It is perfectly normal to be in love with a hue. You do you.
Wednesday April 3rd 8pm-9:30pm Just Write for an Hour Writing group, all welcome to join Friday April 5th HOUSE Open Mic Words & Poetry 8pm sign up 8:30 start Wednesday April 10th 7:30pm LMNOP lesbian movie night Thursday April 11th 7:30pm Michael Kass “Story maps” book release Friday April 12th 7pm-10pm Zine & Meet Tuesday April 16th Comedy Open Mic Sign up 7pm Start at 7:30 Wednesday April 17th 7pm doors Historia Storytelling Night Thursday April 18th 5pm -9:30pm Comida, Comedy & Chisme Vegan eats and eco friendly merch by Drink Leche, Dear Mama LA, Mama Chingona Vegana and Conscience Alignment Thursday April 18th 8pm Laughterhouse 5 Stand up comedy show Friday April 19th 8pm Friday Night Poetry: They’re Just Words Hosted by Ingrid Calderon-Collins poetry open mic & featured poets
Drawing by Stuart Rapeport
Tuesday April 30th 8pm-10pm Tete-a-tete Queer reading series & open micOpen mic
LA ART NEWS
MUSEUM LISTINGS
A Roundup of Arts and Culture Exhibits at L.A. Area Museums A + D Museum www.aplusd.org Translucent Vaults: digital access to cultural institutions and art through April 28 Notes on Techniques through April 28 Tangle: installation art by Sarah Jones through April 28 Shapes of Fences: installation on detainment of migrant children through April 28 American Museum of Ceramic Art www.amoca.org The Artists of Mettlach through July 2020 Lasting Impressions: Selections from the Scripps College Permanent Collection through April 7 Silver Splendor: The Art of Anna Silver through August 25 John Toki: Fault Lines through June 23 2019 SoCal High School Ceramics April 13-May 26 Annenberg Space for Photography www.annenbergphotospace.org Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop April 26-August 18 Autry Museum of the American West www.theautry.org Investigating Griffith Park ongoing On Fire: Transcendent Landscapes by Michael Scott through July 28 Out of the Ashes: Snapshots of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake through June 9 Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley Through January 5 The Banning Museum www.thebanningmuseum.org Fashioning the Fan: Innovations & Materials Within the 19th Century ongoing The Broad www.thebroad.org Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power through Sep†ember 1 Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms ongoing California African American Museum www.caamuseum.org California Bound: Slavery on the New Frontier, 1848-1865 through April 28 Gary Simmons: Fade to Black through 2019 Adia Millett: Breaking Patterns through August 25 The Liberator: Chronicling Black Los Angeles, 1900-1914 through September 8 Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary through August 25 Aspects of Nude: Selections from the Permanent Collection through September 8 California Heritage Museum www.californiaheritagemuseum.org California Science Center www.californiasciencecenter.org Dogs! A Science Tail Science in Toyland Mission 26: ET Comes Home Mission 26: the Big Endeavor
APRIL 2019
22 Chinese American Museum www.camla.org Lightscapes: Re-envisioning the Shanshuihua through November 10 Claremont Museum of Art www.claremontmuseum.org Living with Clay: The Julie and David Armstrong Collection through April 20 Craft and Folk Art Museum www.cafam.org Beatriz Cortez: Trinidad / Joy Station through May 12 Beatriz Cortez and Rafa Esparza: Nomad 13 through May 12 Focus Iran 3: Contemporary Photography and Video through May 12 El Segundo Museum of Art www.esmoa.org Eat: inspiration about what a diverse and creative power food can develop through May 18 Forest Lawn Museum www.forestlawn.com Women of Vision, 11 award-winning female photojournalists from National Geographic through April 7 Fowler Museum at UCLA www.fowler.ucla.edu Guatemalan Masks: Selections from the Jim and Jeanne Pieper Collection April 7-October 6 Dressed with Distinction: Garments from Ottoman Syria through August 18 Inheritance: Recent Video Art From Africa through July 28 New Orleans Second Line Parades: Photographs by Pableaux Johnson through April 28 Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives ongoing Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art www.arts.pepperdine.edu The Grammy Museum www.grammymuseum.org Deep Heart: Roots, Rock & the Music of Carlos Vives through Spring, 2019 The Prison Concerts: Folsom And San Quentin ( Jim Marshall’s Photographs Of Johnny Cash) through April 22 Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Popular Music and the National Pastime through Fall, 2019 Cheech & Chong: Still Rollin’—Celebrating 40 Years Of Up In Smoke April 20 through Spring 2019 Backstreet Boys: The Experience April 10-September 2 Hammer www.hammer.ucla.edu Allen Ruppersberg: Intellectual Property 1968-2018 through May 12 Dirty Protest: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection through May 19 Un chemin escarpé / A steep path, an immersive, five-channel video installation by Jamilah Sabur through May 5 Hammer Projects: Tschabalala Self—Bodega Run through April 28 Hammer Projects: Yunhee Min through October 27 Heritage Square Museum www.heritagesquare.org
The Huntington www.huntington.org Celia Paul through July 8 NASA’s Orbit Pavillion Sound Experience through September 2 Project Blue Boy through September 30 Prospects of India: 18th- and 19th-Century British Drawings from the Huntington’s Art Collection through June 10 Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles www.theicala.org Patty Chang: The Wandering Lake, 2009-2017 through August 3 Lucas Blalock, An Enormous Oar through July 31 Maryam Jafri: I Drank the Kool-Aid But I Didn’t Inhale through June 30 Brognon-Rollin: Maybe Some of Us Will Change This through May 12 Italian American Museum of Los Angeles www.iamla.org Leo Politi’s Los Angeles, Works of Love and Protest through May 19 J. Paul Getty Museum www.getty.edu The Getty Center: Flights of Fancy: The Galle Chandelier April 9, 2019-April 19, 2020 Leonardo da Vinci: 500 Years April 30-June 2 The Wondrous Cosmos in Medieval Manuscripts April 30-July 21 Mapping Space: Recent Acquisitions in Focus through July 14 Marks of Collaboration: Drawings in Context through April 14 Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters through April 28 Artful Words, Calligraphy in Illustrated Manuscripts through April 7 Spectacular Mysteries: Renaissance Drawings Revealed through April 28 MONUMENTality through April 21 Eighteenth-Century Pastel Portraits through October 13 J. Paul Getty Life and Legacy ongoing Greek and Roman Sculpture from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art ongoing Encore: Reenactment in Contemporary Photography through June 9 Oscar Rejoinder: Artist Photographer through June 9 The Getty Villa: Palmyra: Loss and Remembrance through May 27 Japanese American National Museum www.janm.org Kaiju vs Heroes: Mark Nagata’s Journey through the World of Japanese Toys extended to July 7 Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit through April 28 Kidspace Children’s Museum www.kidspacemuseum.org LA Plaza de Cultura Y Artes www.lapca.org Landscapes and Land Dwellers, Photography of Place by Rafael Cardenas through April 15 La Brea Tar Pits & Museum www.tarpits.org Mammoths & Mastodons through 2019
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continued from page 22 Lancaster Museum of Art and History www.lancastermoah.org Peace on Earth through April 21 Los Angeles County Museum of Art www.lacma.org Charles White: A Retrospective through June 9 The Bauhaus at 100: Modern Legacies through May 5 Life Model: Charles White and His Students (at Charles White Elementary School) through September 15 Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection through August 11 The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka through June 23 Rauschenberg: The 1/4 Mile through June 9 West of Modernism: California Graphic Design, 1975-1995 through April 21 Miracle Mile ongoing Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler: Flora through April 7 Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust www.lamoth.org Women at the Frontline of Mass Violence Wordwide opens April 14 MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House www.makcenter.org Shelter or Playground: The House of Dust at the Schindler House, Alison Knowles through June 2 Marciano Art Foundation www.marcianoartfoundation.org Glenn Ligon: Selections from the Marciano Collection through May 5 Yayoi Kusama, With All My Love For the Tulips, I Pray Forever, 2011 ongoing Museum of Contemporary Art www.moca.org MOCA Grand Open House: Elliott Hundley, exploring collage April 14-September 16 40 for LA, celebrates the forty-year history of MOCA April 14-September 16 Selections from the Permanent Collection ongoing
MOCA Mural: Njideka Akunyili Crosby ongoing The Geffen Contemporary Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions) (1990/2018) through November, 2020 Museum of Latin American Art www.molaa.org La Huella Múliple, established and emerging Cuban print artists through May 12 Gráfica América through September 1 Chiachio & Giannone: Celebrating Diversity through August 4 Museum of Neon Art www.neonmona.org Museum of Tolerance www.museumoftolerance.com Aliyah: The Rebirth of Israel, 25 Lithographs of Original Gouaches by Salvador Dali ongoing Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County www.nhm.org Art of the Jewel: The Crevoshay Collection through May 12 Barbara Carrasco, Sin Censura, Un Mural Recuerda L.A., A Mural Remembers L.A. ongoing Norton Simon Museum www.nortonsimon.org Once Upon a Tapestry: Woven Tales of Helen and Dido through May 27 Matisse/Odalisque through June 17 Pasadena Museum of History www.pasadenahistory.org Something Revealed; California Women Artists Emerge, 18601960 extended through April 13 Pomona College Museum of Art www.pomona.edu Stories: Selections from the Permanent Collection through May 19 Courtney M. Leonard: Intermodal through May 19
Spotlight: Andy Warhol, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century April 11-September 1 Southwest Museum www.theautry.org/visit/mt-washington-campus Torrance Art Museum torranceartmuseum.com Co/Lab 4 Los Angeles & Rotterdam through May 18 Auratic Geometries / Ryan Taber, A Grammar of Period Furniture and Periodic Eversion through May 18 The BEACON Project, rotating video installation fusing art and contemporary social and political issues through May 17 University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach www.csulb.edu/university-art-museum Call and Response, When We Say…You Say through April 14 USC Fisher Museum of Art www.fisher.usc.edu Staged Meaning/Meaning Staged: Landscapes from Fisher’s Permanent Collection through April 13 Suppression, Subversion and the Surreal—The Art of Czechoslovakian Resistance through May 10 USC Pacific Asia Museum www.pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu Tsuruya Kōkei: Modern Kabuki Prints Revised & Revisited through July 14 Vincent Price Art Museum www.vincentpriceartmuseum.org Catalyst, the Art and Animation Club at East Los Angeles College through April 20 Edgar Fabián Frías: Perpetual Flowering April 13-July 20 York Chang: The Signal and the Noise April 13-July 20
Skirball Cultural Center www.skirball.org Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite April 11-September 1
LA ART NEWS
April 4 STATE SENATE ADJOURNS IN MEMORY OF ENTERTAINER, ACTIVIST, ENTREPRENEUR NIPSEY HUSSLE
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by Senator Holly J. Mitchell of Los Angeles
Today is the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And I rise today to adjourn in memory of another dream not just deferred, but a dream lost, once again to gun violence. Ermias Asghedom, who was known more popularly by his moniker, Nipsey Hussle, a 33-year old young man, who was gunned down, mid-day, with family members present, in front of his very own establishment. He was a manifestation, from my perspective, of the American dream, even the California dream, where you can live and work in the neighborhood you grow up in. To have that dream growing up in South L.A. during the turbulent era of the 90s was indeed visionary. He was a member of an investment group, leading a bid to acquire Santa Monica’s historic Viceroy Hotel. That’s just one example of the fact that he represents a new generation of entertainer-turnedactivist-turned-entrepreneur. But what was unique about this young man was that he encompassed all three spaces simultaneously. He was an active participant in local protests and meetings around police brutality, gun violence. He not merely purchased franchises, but he incubated new concepts of enterprise. He opened a co-working space in the STEM Center called Vector90 in South L.A. He pioneered innovative measures and marketing in self-promotion. He opened the first smart store for his own franchise brand in South L.A., where visitors use an app to enhance their shopping experience. He was the early supporter of the new art and culture project along the Crenshaw corridor. At the young age of 33, he had a ten-year history in the music industry, and his current album premiered to critical acclaim at number four on the Billboard chart. He and his family were recently featured in a spread in “Gentlemen’s Quarterly” magazine that included artistically stunning photos taken in the heart of my beloved South Los Angeles community. Those images represent what he believed, what I believe, is indeed possible.
LACMA REDESIGN APPROVED
I rose on this floor just several weeks ago to talk about the trauma our community was experiencing as a result of the death by violent gunshot of a young student at USC. And once again, my community of South Los Angeles is experiencing trauma based on the loss of a brand new, young icon. When we use the term icon, we typically are referring to someone far more advanced in age. But this 33-year old was an icon—in the industry and in the community. An amazing “L.A. Times” article about two weeks before his untimely death talked about this new co-working science and technology lab in South L.A. that he opened, and he shared the fact that as a young man, music and technology were his dreams, his passion. And because of the lack of resources, he learned how to build a PC himself, out of parts found, til he could record his own music. He was an innovator in the industry because he didn’t sign with a label until this very last recent album after ten years in the industry. He created models by which he could own his own image, own The site of Nipsey Hussle’s death, outside his South his own music, and sell L.A. store, became a site for an outpouring of it by cutting out all the emotion. various middlemen that encompass that space. And so I’m hoping that young people, and old people like me, across this State, won’t lose the dream of buying property, truly owning and envisioning small businesses in the neighborhoods in which we grew up, regardless of one’s socio-economic status. I think that it’s appropriate today that I ask that we all adjourn in memory of a young man of Eritrean and African American decent, by the name of Ermias Asghedom, also known as Nipsey Hussle.
that, although the new building has less gallery space than the buildings it is replacing, in the context of the decade, LACMA has nearly doubled exhibition space and has doubled attendance. The design is not without its detractors, including those who decry the lack of a public process in the selection of an architect The County Board of Supervisors has okayed an environmental and those who support adaptive reuse of the existing structures. impact report for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The County is contributing $125 million toward the project. Also, (LACMA), and the museum may proceed with a substantial $300 million in bond proceeds will go to the project, to be repaid redesign. by Museum Associates. LACMA is in the process Museum Associates, a non-profit that manages of raising $560 million toward its capital campaign, LACMA under the authority of the County, proposes meaning that the public-private partnership is creating a 347,000-square foot new building on the eastern a 4:1 match for the County contribution. side of the campus, which is located in Hancock Park. The museum is billing the new building as innovative The building will extend over Wilshire Boulevard. The in its non-hierarchical approach, stating, “The display project also includes a parking structure. of all art on one level avoids giving more prominence The new building will replace four buildings which are to any specific culture, tradition, or era, offering visitors considered outmoded—the Ahmanson Building, the a multitude of perspectives on art and art history in a Hammer Building, the Art of the Americas Building, more accessible, inclusive way.” and the Bing Center, which contains the LACMA The Wilshire corridor is expected to grow as an arts, Café, the Dorothy Brown Auditorium, the Bing culture and history destination, with the increased Theater, and outdoor covered areas. Overall, the new visibility of LACMA, the coming Academy Museum building will result in a decrease in the square footage of Motion Pictures, The La Brea Tar Pits and of museum buildings by approximately 45,371 square Museum, Petersen Automotive Museum, and Craft feet and a reduction in theater occupancy from 716 seats Contemporary (formerly CAFAM) grouped in close The Peter Zumthor design for LACMA (Atelier Peter Zumthor to approximately 300 seats. proximity. A new Metro Purple Line subway station is & Partner/The Boundary) The new building, dubbed The Museum Building in under construction. Construction on the LACMA project environmental documents, but referred to by LACMA as The appear more accessible. is scheduled to begin in early 2020 with completion anticipated David Geffen Galleries, is designed by Swiss minimalist architect LACMA Director Michael Govan told the County Supervisors in late 2023.
APRIL 2019
Peter Zumthor. It is to be composed of seven semi-transparent structures at the ground level (referred to as Pavilions), that would support an elevated, continuous, transparent main exhibition level, extending over Wilshire. The building is designed to provide outdoor landscaped plazas, space for public programming, and educational spaces, sculpture gardens, and native and drought tolerant vegetation. It is meant to be in greater relationship to Hancock Park and the Tar Pits than the current structures and to
THE BORDER BETWEEN THE FUTURE AND THE PAST
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Iran Focus 3 at Craft Contemporary “Young Iranians are beyond a revolutionary generation; they are the revolution itself. They are the rebirth of a phoenix rising from the ashes; the thirst for change lives under their skin and moves like a river through their souls. They are the border between the future and the past.” —Sanaz Khosravi, photographer
Hushidar Mortezaie & Jiyan Zandi, The Brotherhood, digital photograph, 2018. Courtesy of the artists
The lives of young people in Iran is a subject about which most Americans know next to nothing. Youth culture in that county is vibrant and varied. “Focus Iran 3: Contemporary Photography and Video” at Craft Contemporary presents 42 works by artists residing in Iran or diaspora countries including the United States. Subject matter includes fashion, music, family, social relationships and
more. Tradition meets a new openness about such issues as sexual orientation and gender roles. The exhibition’s jury panel consisted of prominent Iranian photographers Mehrdad Afsari, Babak Tafreshi, and Maryam Zandi; Iranian cinematographer and director Seifollah Samadian; the J. Paul Getty Museum’s associate curator of photography Amanda Maddox; Iranian gallerist and educator Aria Eghbal; and CAFAM exhibitions curator Holly Jerger. The top three cash prize winners are a photograph by Hushidar Mortezaie and Jiyan Zandi ($3,000); a video work by Labkhand Olfatmanesh and Gazelle Samizay ($2,000); and a photograph by Milad Karamooz ($1,000). “…the focus on youth culture has opened a door to imagination and social reporting that combines the fresh and ancient in an extraordinary way,” says Craft Contemporary executive director Suzanne Isken. The exhibition is made possible by the support of Farhang Foundation, a nonreligious, nonpolitical, and nonprofit foundation established in 2008 to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community at large. Focus Iran 3: Contemporary Photography and Video Through May 12 Craft Contemporary (formerly the Craft & Folk Art Museum) 5814 Wilshire Boulevard www.cafam.org
Sanaz Khosravi, Beyond My Blood, digital photograph, 2017. Courtesy of the artist
LA ART NEWS
SANDRA DE LA LOZA: MI CASA ES SU CASA
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“In order to contend with one’s own history and identity, one must contend with the representation of that identity which has been nothing less than problematic.” —Sandra de la Loza Looking at family photographs, Sandra de la Loza realized how much, in post-war suburbia and amidst white flight, her Mexican American family was imitating the socially-established idea of what a happy family should look like. With “Sandra de la Loza: Mi Casa Es Su Casa” at the Armory in Pasadena, the artist alters family photographs to address issues of power, memory, and history. “By obscuring and replacing the bodies and faces in the photographs,” says the Armory’s statement about the exhibit, “de la Loza calls attention to how the familiar elements of the family snapshot—the landscape, architecture, pose, and fashion—conceal embedded dynamics of race, class, and gender.” Sandra de la Loza: Mi Casa Es Su Casa The Armory Center for the Arts Through May 12 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena Curated by by Irene Tsatsos www.armoryarts.org
Sandra de la Loza: Mi Casa Es Su Casa” at the Armory Center for the Arts Sandra de la Loza: Mi Casa Es Su Casa” at the Armory Center for the Arts
APRIL 2019
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LA ART NEWS