There has never been more worldwide attention on the creative culture of Los Angeles. People from all over the world came to L.A. for the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) and the recent celebration of the 30th anniversary of MOCA, and are already planning for Pacific Standard Time in 2011. We are living in the city everyone is watching and visiting. Get engaged.
Every week, ForYourArt highlights select cultural offerings throughout the week ahead to help you Plan ForYourArt.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 28
Smith on Smith
Hammer Museum (Westwood)
7pm
Visionary poet and singer Patti Smith remembers Harry Smith - the legendary bohemian artist and ethnologist with whom she remained a close friend until his death in 1991- and celebrates the publication of Harry Smith: The Avant-Garde in the American Vernacular with a night of film and music. Free, tickets required and available an hour prior.
Artists for Haiti
Track 16 (Bergamot Station)
8-11pm
Artists for Peace and Justice's one-night event to benefit earthquake relief in Haiti, with a silent auction with work by Ed Moses, Ed Ruscha and Raymond Pettibon, among others, and music by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. $100 minimum donation at the door, with all of the proceeds going to St Damien's Hospital.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29
Ads or Art or ?
Farmlab (Downtown)
12pm
In advance of the panels she will be moderating for the MAK Center's upcoming public art project How Many Billboards?, Freewaves Director Anne Bray leads a discussion of the nature of billboards in Los Angeles, and the ways in which these monuments filling our public spaces often blur the boundaries between intrusive advertisements and inclusive cultural objects. The presentation will include examples of artist billboards and advertisements. Free and open to the public.
Ferus Gallery Greatest Hits Volume I
932 La Cienega Blvd (West Hollywood)
5-7pm
The original site of the renowned Ferus Gallery reopens for an exhibition that celebrates the gallery's legacy to contemporary art in Los Angeles and beyond, with an installation of works once shown at this historic gallery between 1957 and 1966. The exhibition is only on view until January 31.
Kamrooz Aram: Generation After Generation, Revolution After Revelation; Artemio: ChakrAK-47
LAXART
6-9pm
The opening reception for two new exhibitions. Kamrooz Aram's first Los Angeles solo show includes a suite of ten new paintings that touch upon the subjects of religious and nationalistic iconography, and create a sense of abstract ceremonial space. In the project space, Mexican artist Artemio has created a site-specific exterior talavera tile wall installation, which, while abstract, evokes the iconography of violence that populates general perceptions of Mexico. A neon sculpture in the center of the room echoes the form of the wall. Exhibitions on view until March 20.
The Posters Came From the Walls
Cinefamily (Fairfax)
7:30pm
The premiere of a film by 2004 Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller and Nick Abrahams, The Posters Came From the Walls (Depeche Mode fans from around the world), tells stories of faith and devotion from around the world in this documentary about fame and fandom. Friday and Saturday only, tickets $12.
ALL WEEKEND
Art Los Angeles Contemporary at the Pacific Design Center includes 55 galleries with a focus on Los Angeles, and an in-depth series of arts programming. See schedule for more information. The fair runs through Sunday, January 31.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30
I Image I Minute
Pacific Design Center (West Hollywood)
4pm
A special event benefitting the non-profit art journal X-TRA that culls together 45 artists, curators and historians to present a significant photograph of their choice for one minute. The presentations will range from historical and iconic to comic, and celebrate the connection between idea, memory and imagery. Tickets $15.
Mexicali Biennial Border Intervention
Colonia Pueblo Nuevo (Mexicali / Calexico border)
12pm
Artist collective Homeless conducts a soccer intervention at the Mexicali / Calexico border at Colonia Pueblo Nuevo. The biennial includes the work of 27 artists and collectives, working in both traditional and new media, and aims to provide a progressive platform for continual and fluent "border crossings" with exhibitions and related performances, panel discussions and events. Through March 20, check schedule for details.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Paul Chan: Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: An Illustrated Lecture
REDCAT (Downtown)
8:30pm
Video and media artist Paul Chan gives an illustrated lecture on a community project he spearheaded in New Orleans, where he staged five site-specific performances of his widely celebrated project Waiting for Godot, in the Katrina-devastated neighborhoods of Gentilly and Lower Ninth Ward. Chan will discuss the social, political and intellectual underpinning of this endeavor. Tickets $9.