Datebook: A sprawling desert biennial, African art that captures life’s transitions, a key Mono-ha artist
A new biennial in the desert. African art that captures moments of transition. And paintings inspired by the smell of rain and earth. Plus: a Mono-ha artist, art that addresses fear and a solid rack of performances. Here are 10 exhibitions and events to check out in the coming week:
“Desert X,” in locations around the Coachella Valley. This new biennial crash lands in the desert this weekend with a variety of installations and land art pieces installed along the length of the Coachella Valley. (Expect some driving … or Lyfting or cycling.) On the rundown is a high-profile assortment of SoCal and international figures, including Doug Aitken, Tavares Strachan, Gabriel Kuri, Richard Prince, Lita Albuquerque and Claudia Comte — creating site-specific pieces that take advantage of their scenic desert environs. Opens Saturday and runs through April 30. A special opening night party will take place on Friday at 5 p.m. in Rancho Mirage; an advance ($50-$150) ticket is required to attend and for location. The exhibition is free and takes place in locations around the Coachella Valley, desertx.org.
“Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts,” at LACMA. A new display of African art gathers objects that touch on important life transitions: initiation pieces, iconic masks and the reliquary guardians that guide people into the afterlife. The works on view, which include metalwork, sculpture and textiles, date from the 13th to 19th centuries, and cover various African regions, including Mali, Nigeria, Liberia and Congo, among others. Opens Sunday and runs through July 9. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
Lisa Adams, “Petrichor,” at CB1 Gallery. The L.A. artist has a new show of small paintings inspired by petrichor, the smell of dry earth as it is pelted with rain. The works — all diminutive in scale, and integrating elements of the urban and the abstract — were begun during California’s period of drought and completed after the season’s first rains. Opens Saturday at 4 p.m. and runs through April 9. 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cb1gallery.com.
Kishio Suga, at Blum & Poe. The gallery is hosting a solo exhibition of the influential Japanese sculptor and installation artist, one of the key figures in the Mono-ha movement, a group known for often ephemeral installations that combined natural and industrial materials in mostly unaltered ways. For his show at Blum & Poe, the artist will re-make several key works from the 1970s to the 1990s. He will also display an extensive selection of early works on paper. Opens Saturday at 6 p.m. and runs through March 11. 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, blumandpoe.com.
Pop-Up Magazine, at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. The creative story-telling show is back in town with a new lineup of contributors, including Emmy Award-winning writer Kelley L. Carter of “The Undefeated,” Pushcart Prize-nominated poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib and bestselling author Laurel Braitman. On Friday at 7:30 p.m., 933 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, popupmagazine.com.
Jennifer Dalton, “Participation Trophy,” at Charlie James Gallery. A new exhibition by the New York-based artist gathers video, sculpture and drawings that are inspired by the act of overcoming a fear — all brought together by a title that nods to the idea of the unearned accolade. In some of the works, she addresses her own fears — including public speaking and learning how to do a backflip — while in others, she presents her own design for odd unbalanced trophies, inspired by the “Successories” office tchotchkes. Opens Saturday at 6 p.m. and runs through April 1. 969 Chung King Road, Chinatown, Los Angeles, cjamesgallery.com.
“Ich Sehe Das Licht: Kembra Pfahler and the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, in film, video and performance,” at Human Resources Los Angeles. This new exhibition is the first comprehensive screening of the video work of Pfahler, the noted frontwoman for the arty glam-punk band, Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Staged in collaboration with the LA Art Book Fair, the show also features contributions by fellow artists such as Annie Sprinkle, Mike Kuchar and Charles Atlas. Friday at 8 p.m. Admission $12. 410 Cottage Home St., Chinatown, humanresourcesla.com.
Rachel Mason, “The Moving Mountain,” at Human Resources Los Angeles. The noted Los Angeles performance artist has put together a show inspired by the humans who make it their life’s mission to observe planet earth — including artists, physicists and a survivor of the atomic blast at Hiroshima. Tuesday at 8 p.m. Admission $7 at the door. 410 Cottage Home St., Chinatown, humanresourcesla.com.
#MyDayinLA at Art Share L.A. A new group show gathers images by Angelenos who photograph every aspect of the city, be it shuttered storefronts on quiet Sundays to vistas of the mountains. Participating artists include Mark Indig, Diane Cockerill, Peter Bennett and Jose “Lalo” Garcia Jr. Opens Saturday at 7 p.m. and runs through March 12. 801 E. Fourth Pl., downtown Los Angeles, artsharela.org.
A screening of “Memorias del subdesarrollo” (Memories of Underdevelopment), at the Getty Center. A groundbreaking work of cinema when it first emerged in 1968, director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s feature film follows the life of a well-to-do intellectual who opts to stay in Castro’s Cuba, even as his family flees to the United States. Employing a mix of fictional scenarios and historic footage (including film from the Bay of Pigs invasion), the film examines a key period of social upheaval. Following the screening, actress Daisy Granados, who starred in the film, along with editor Nelson Rodriguez, will join Luciana Castillo, director of the Cinemateca de Cuba, and Rani Singh, of the Getty Research Institute, for a discussion. Tuesday at 7 p.m. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, getty.edu.
And, if you have plans to visit the Los Angeles Art Book Fair this weekend check out my guide to some of the most intriguing booths, events and happenings.
Last chance
“Truc Anh: Vacuphilia,” at Varola. The first exhibition by the Vietnamese-French artist at Varola has paintings and installations that feature bodies and body parts inhabiting an abstracted world of black and white. Through Friday. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., Suite B256, West Hollywood, helenvarola.com.
“Tastemakers and Earthshakers: Notes on Los Angeles Youth Culture, 1943-2016,” at Vincent Price Art Museum. A multimedia exhibition organized by the museum’s new director, Pilar Tompkins Rivas, looks at eight decades of youth culture — from the pachucos and pachucas of the ’40s, to the connections between Los Angeles and British youth culture, to the emergence of social spaces geared at youth. In addition to work by more than 35 area artists, the exhibition also features documentary photography, video and other cultural ephemera. Through Saturday. East Los Angeles College, 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org.
Theaster Gates, “But to Be a Poor Race,” at Regen Projects. When writing his seminal work, “The Souls of Black Folk,” civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois created a series of data visualizations about black advancement in the United States — including circular charts that show taxable property owned by African Americans and other graphics that tracked city-versus-rural populations. Now Gates, a Chicago-based artist, has created a series of paintings inspired by Du Bois’ elegant graphics: bright color field canvases that are as much an homage to the sociologist’s work as they are to recent art history. The show includes various works of sculpture, too. Through Saturday. 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, regenprojects.com.
Mark Verabioff, “Civil Piss War” and “Quorum: Organized by Regina Rex Gallery NYC” at the Pit. The Glendale gallery has a pair of exhibitions. The first features the work of Verabioff, who is known for large-scale collages that incorporate black and white portraits, magazine imagery and even chewing gum. “Quorum,” in the meantime, is a group show organized by Regina Rex gallery, an artist-run space in New York City. Through Sunday. 918 Ruberta Blvd., Glendale, the-pit.la.
“Creepy Crawl These Days: Raymond Pettibon Flyers,” at These Days. This exhibition gathers 130 punk handbills from the 1970s and ‘80s created by Pettibon, now renowned as a high-profile painter, for bands such as Black Flag, Minutemen, Throbbing Gristle and the Circle Jerks. Through Sunday. 118 Winston St., 2nd Floor, downtown Los Angeles, thesedaysla.com.
Ongoing Exhibitions
“Guerrero: Calder and Nevelson, in Their Studios,” at Edward Cella Art + Architecture. Guerrero made a name for himself as a photographer when he was hired to document Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture at Taliesin West in the early 20th century. A pair of providential assignments connected him with artists Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson, whom he would devotedly capture in their environments in ways that are both poetic and frank. Through March 4. 2754 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, edwardcella.com.
“Pulped Fictions,” at the Torrance Art Museum. A group exhibition features works created from that most pliable of materials: cardboard. This includes large-scale installations and small, intimate wall-hangings by artists such as Ann Weber, EVOL and Dani Tull. Through March 4. 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, torranceartmuseum.com.
Llyn Foulkes, “Old Man Blues,” at Sprüth Magers. The Los Angeles artist, known for his assemblages of scavenged objects that explore dark corners of the American cultural psyche, is having his first show at Sprüth Magers. On view are a series of new works made since the retrospective of his work organized by the Hammer Museum in 2013. Some of these are informed by U.S. electoral politics; others consist of the large-scale tableaux that, with their deep layering of materials, create startling plays on depth and perspective. Also on view at the gallery is a two-man show featuring Jon Rafman and Stan Vanderbeek, inspired by the pair’s interest in cinema, animation and video games. Through March 4. 5900 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, spruethmagers.com.
“Jacob Hashimoto: Another Cautionary Tale Comes to Mind (but immediately vanishes),” at Mixografia. The legendary Los Angeles print shop shows works by the New York-based artist, known for his wild installations crafted from rice paper and fishing wire. The prints on view take their point of inspiration from these forms, showing what appear to be delicate kites hanging from a tablet made of wood. Through March 7. 1419 E. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, mixografia.com.
Allan Sekula, “Early Works,” at Christopher Grimes Gallery. The gallery has gathered a number of early works by the photographer and theorist, including preliminary versions of some of his documentary pieces, which tackled issues of labor and politics, as well as never before exhibited prints. Also on view are well-established works such as “Long Beach Notes” and the video “Reagan Tape,” which mashes up pieces of Reagan’s early films with footage from his political career. Through March 11. 916 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, cgrimes.com.
“Unique and Singular,” at Cirrus Gallery. A group show at the venerable print studio features works by the likes of Mark Bradford, Ruben Ochoa, Mary Weatherford and Lita Albuquerque and explores the ways in which artists manipulate multiples to create works that are one-of-a-kind. Through March 11. 2011 S. Santa Fe Ave., downtown Los Angeles, cirrusgallery.com.
“Incarceration,” at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. Featuring works by almost four dozens artists from Southern California and beyond, this new exhibition explores the burning issue of incarceration in U.S. society — “a shadow nation, hidden and forgotten.” Through March 11. 117 N. Sycamore, Santa Ana, occca.org.
“Pop for the People: Roy Lichtenstein in Los Angeles,” at the Skirball Cultural Center. A new exhibition of the pop artist looks at more than 70 works spanning four decades, many of which are connected to Los Angeles and the artist’s collaboration with important print studios here — including Gemini G.E.L. and Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Through March 12. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles, skirball.org.
“Cole Case: Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt,” at Chimento Contemporary. This exhibition — the first solo show by Case at Chimento — brings together eight new oil paintings by an artist who is obsessed with landscape of the decidedly non-pastoral kind: Airport flight paths, harbors and sporting arenas. Through March 18. 622 S. Anderson St., #105, Boyle Heights, chimentocontemporary.net.
“Echo Location,” at Eastside International. A group show at this Eastside space brings together a disparate group of artists who participated in a series of talks hosted at the Inglewood studio of artist and exhibition curator Lisa Soto. This includes sculpture, painting and video by the likes of Nery Gabriel Lemus, Zeal Harris and Cindy Rehm, among others, as well as an opening performance by Amitis Motevalli. Through March 18. 602 Moulton Ave., Lincoln Heights, eastsideinternational.com.
Toba Khedoori, at the L.A. County Museum of Art. This is the first major museum survey of the L.A.-based artist, known for her painstaking draftsmanship and enigmatic drawings and paintings. Her works often feature architectural elements, landscape, smoke and flame in ways that play with negative space and toy with meaning. Through March 19. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“Becoming America: Highlights from the Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection,” at the Huntington Library. The Huntington has just redone its American art galleries and now features a new expansion by architects at Frederick Fisher and Partners that adds eight rooms for display. Up first is an exhibition devoted to the Fielding Collection, featuring more than 200 works of 18th and early 19th century American art, including paintings, furnishings and decorative art. While you’re at the museum, pop in to see the show “Real American Places: Edward Weston & ‘Leaves of Grass,’” which features the portfolio of photographs that Weston made to accompany Walt Whitman’s seminal poem. “Becoming America” runs indefinitely; Weston runs through March 20. 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, huntington.org.
Chambliss Giobi, “Arcadia,” at 101/Exhibit. Inspired by the Greek region, an icon of the pastoral ideal, this show features a series of works that explore the nostalgic and the idealized in nature — including a large Möbius strip sculpture made from some of these very elements. Through March 25. 668 N. La Peer Dr., Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, 101exhibit.com.
“Ursula Schulz-Dornburg: Bricks and Mortals,” at Gallery Luisotti. The German photographer has long been intrigued by transitory pieces of architecture — from her studies of brutalist, Soviet-era bus stops in Armenia to her images of ruins in Syria. Her first exhibition at the gallery gathers the early bus stop pictures, as well as later series that document a nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, the abandoned Hejaz Railroad in Saudi Arabia and an 8th century chapel in Spain. Through March 25. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, galleryluisotti.com.
“Edgar Arceneaux: Library of Black Lies,” at the Main Museum. First exhibited in Paris, this installation by the Los Angeles artist explores themes of African American progress through the selection and modification of books in a library of Arceneaux’s creation. At a time when questions about the fake and the real occupy the media, the piece looks at the complex, in-between stories that shape our current moment. Through March 26. 114 W. 4th St., downtown Los Angeles, themainmuseum.org.
“Non Fiction,” at the Underground Museum. An emotionally charged exhibition curated by the late Noah Davis in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles brings together works that explore issues of race and violence. This includes important works from
Rachel Lacowicz, “Lay Back and Enjoy It,” at Shoshana Wayne Gallery. The Los Angeles-based artist has created a large-scale installation modeled after structures from Clint Eastwood’s 1973 western “High Plains Drifter” — two of which she has covered in red lipstick. It’s a look at the ways in which male power imbues our society’s governing institutions — not to mention the architecture that represents them. Through April 1. Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., B1, Santa Monica, shoshanawayne.com.
“Environmental Communications: Contact High,” at LAXArt. In the 1960s, a group of architects, photographers and psychologists began to create extensive slide libraries that they sold to academic and cultural institutions as a way of infiltrating student consciousness. These often contained hundreds of images that recorded the design and other forces that shape the vernacular city, from gas stations to fast-food outlets to the facades of commercial buildings. The show captures the group’s process through images, videotapes and other ephemera. Through April 1. 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, laxart.org.
Frank Uwe Laysiepen, “Ulay the Animist,” at the Depart Foundation. It’s the first West Coast presentation of the performance artist known as Ulay — former collaborator of Marina Abramovic. The show includes works from his early Polaroid works from the ’70s to his large-scale experimental photographic projects from the 1990s, as well as documentation of his various performances. The exhibition’s title refers to the artist’s 1995 film, “The Animist,” which incorporated ritual and other elements, to determine the boundaries of reality. Through April 1. 9105 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, departfoundation.com.
“For Your Information We The People Are All Immigrants,” at Gavlak Gallery. A group show brings together works by women, feminists and artists that identify as LGBTQ in an effort to promote human rights and issues of equality. This includes work by Lisa Anne Auerbach, Betty Tompkins, Marnie Weber, Judie Bamber and others. Through April 1. 1034 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, gavlakgallery.com.
“Escape Attempts: Curated by Kathy Battista,” at Shulamit Nazarian. The gallery is debuting its new Hollywood location with a group show that features artists who are tangling with the legacy of minimalism. This includes figures such as Carmen Argote, Virginia Overton, and Naama Tsabar engaging the clean lines and formal qualities of minimalism, but grounding it in the cultural references of our era. Through April 1. 616 N. La Brea, Hollywood, shulamitnazarian.com.
“L.A. Exuberance: New Gifts by Artists,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This exhibition brings together more than 60 works of art donated by artists to the museum, including pieces by photographer Catherine Opie, light and space master Larry Bell, multimedia artist Analia Saban, photographer James Welling and conceptualist Mario Ybarra Jr. Through April 2. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“Between Words and Silence: The Work of Translation,” at the Armory Center for the Arts. A group exhibition — featuring the works of artists such as Gala Porras-Kim, Sid M. Dueñas and Naotaka Hiro — explores the ideas of communication and understanding. This includes works that reference Zapotec whistle codes, the transactions between Chinese and Mexican businessmen and the parallel realities occupied by Brazilian and American children. Through April 2. 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, armoryarts.org.
“Forms of Identity: Women Artists in the ’90s,” at the Orange County Museum of Art. A show drawn entirely from OCMA’s permanent collection focuses on works by 16 women whose art in the 1990s underwent a transformation, from overtly political to something more poetic and personal. This includes works by photographer Laura Aguilar, sculptor Jacci Den Hartog, light and space artist Helen Pashgian and installationist Polly Apfelbaum, among others. Through April 2. 850 San Clemente Dr., Newport Beach, ocma.net.
April Bey, “Comply,” at Coagula Curatorial. An installation of art, paintings and multimedia works explore the demands of womanhood — in particular that of black women. Among the objects on view is a series of portraits produced by the artist that features celebrities as well as everyday women she met during a residency in Ghana. Through April 2. 974 Chung King Rd., Chinatown, Los Angeles, coagulacuratorial.com.
“The Birth of Motion Pictures: An Illustrated History of Silent Cinema, 1910–1929,” at the City of Brea Art Gallery. This exhibition is devoted to silent film — specifically, 60 original silent movie posters and a very rare “Silent Oscar” (one of only 15 ever awarded) from the private collection of Dwight Manley. Included in the show will be original posters for the Charlie Chaplin films “A Dog’s Life” (1918) and “The Kid” (1921), as well as a Spanish-language poster from the lost mystery flick “London After Midnight” (1927), which starred Lon Chaney as a vampiric inspector. Through April 14. One Civic Center Circle, Brea, breagallery.com.
Arne Quinze, “Jungle Cities,” at Denk Gallery. This is the debut show for the new Los Angeles gallery, which has kicked off its program with an exhibition by the Belgian sculptor known for his wild architectural installations. Quinze has created a new series of metal sculptures and wall hangings that play with the idea of disappearing nature. This includes a standing sculpture that evokes a wild creature and a work that resembles a log — full of growths and other bits of wild nature — but is actually a piece of cast bronze. Through April 15. 749 E. Temple St., downtown Los Angeles, denkgallery.com.
“John McLaughlin Paintings: Total Abstraction,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. One of the most important artists of SoCal’s postwar period, McLaughlin is known for quiet, minimalist works that explore total abstraction: geometries and lines that explore ideas of shape and space, but not representation. This exhibition gathers 52 paintings and a selection of collages and drawings — representing the first major museum retrospective of the artist’s work. Times critic Christopher Knight says this is the show he has been waiting 40 years to see. Do not miss. Through April 16. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.
“Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media,” at the Getty Center. An exhibition that couldn’t be timelier: Curator Arpad Kovcs has put together a show that looks at the ways in which artists have turned bucolic magazine images and fragments of news programming into sharp political statements against events such as the Vietnam War and the so-called war on terror. The show features work by Martha Rosler, Alfredo Jaar, Catherine Opie and Robert Heinecken. Through April 20. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, getty.edu.
Jimmie Durham, “At the Center of the World,” at the Hammer Museum. For the last 20 years, Durham, who was born in Arkansas, and who came of age as an artist in New York’s downtown scene in the 1980s, has chosen to show primarily outside the United States. (He is of Cherokee descent.) This makes his first North American retrospective all the more special. Gathering his works from the 1970s to the present, the show features wry assemblages and wall sculptures that combine natural and discarded elements, riffing on classical architecture, the nature of portraiture and colonization. While you’re there, don’t miss the exhibition featuring drawings by French artist Jean Dubuffet, a figure who turned the graffiti-like gesture into high art. Through May 7. 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, Los Angeles, hammer.ucla.edu.
“Picasso and Rivera: Conversations Across Time,” at the L.A. County Museum of Art. This exhibition compares the artistic trajectories of two of the 20th century’s most towering Modernists: Pablo Picasso and Diego Rivera. This covers the period from the 1920s to the ’50s as they explored Cubism, classical forms and ancient cultures in innovative ways. The shows features 150 paintings, etchings and watercolors. Through May 7. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“Masculine — Feminine,” at the Beall Center for Art + Technology. A group show that gathers the works of 12 artists, including Cassils, Micol Hebron, Julie Heffernan and Danial Nord, explores issues of gender and sexuality — sometimes playing with the malleability of these identifiers, at other times eliminating them completely. Through May 13. UC Irvine, 712 Arts Plaza, Irvine, beallcenter.uci.edu.
Jason Rhoades, “Installations, 1994-2006,” at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel. The Los Angeles artist — known for sprawling, ribald installations made with everything from neon to cardboard to peas — often touched on issues of religion, sex and commerce in his work. This show, his first comprehensive survey in Los Angeles, brings together six of his most significant installations, including a tribute to sculptor Constantin Brancusi and a massive, sexually charged piece that features 240 neon words that describe female genitalia — a temple-like set-up where the viewer is invited to be wildly seduced. Through May 21. 901 E. Third St., downtown Los Angeles, hauserwirthschimmel.com.
Dreamland: A Frank Romero Retrospective, at the Museum of Latin American Art. The first museum retrospective of the storied Los Angeles painter brings together more than 200 works from throughout his career — pieces that frequently contend with various aspects of the urban experience, in particular that of L.A. The show covers all periods of his more than five-decade-long career, including his early works, pieces from his time with the collective Los Four in the 1970s and ’80s, his large-scale paintings and murals, as well as his more recent work in neon and ceramics. Through May 21. 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, molaa.org.
“Aaron G. Green and California Organic Architecture,” at the Palos Verdes Art Center. Green was an architect inspired by the complex patterns and rugged textures found in nature, and this exhibition, curated by architectural historian Alan Hess, gathers rare photographs, along with original architectural renderings and other materials, to show a school of modernism that turned away from the glass box in favor of more organic forms. Through May 28. 5504 West Crestridge Road, Palos Verdes, aarongreen.org and pvartcenter.org.
“Women of Abstract Expressionism” at the Palm Springs Museum of Art. The Abstract Expressionist movement has been widely regarded as a boys club, one bursting with the macho antics of painters such as
“Moholy-Nagy: Future Present,” at the L.A. County Museum of Art. This sprawling exhibition examines the career of the influential Bauhaus artist and teacher, known for stripping art down to fundamentals of color and shape. Moholy-Nagy was a polymath who worked in painting, printmaking, photography and industrial design and the show gathers more than 250 works of his in all formats. Moreover, it will also feature his installation “Room of the Present,” a concept for an exhibition space that was never realized in his lifetime. Through June 18. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
“In Focus: Jane and Louise Wilson’s Sealander,” at the Getty Museum. For roughly three decades, twin sisters Jane and Louise Wilson have created large-scale photographs inspired by important events in European history — in the process, capturing the nuclear site at Chernobyl and the former headquarters of the East German secret police. In this series, they turn their attention to the brutal concrete bunkers deposited by Adolf Hitler along the French coast during
“Chinese Ceramics from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,” at the Vincent Price Art Museum.” Part of a new series of partnerships that will take LACMA works to other organizations around L.A., this show represents an overview of Chinese ceramics from the museum’s permanent collection that take the viewer from c. 2500 BC to the 19th century — as well as the museum’s own long history as a collector of Chinese ceramics. Through July 22. East Los Angeles College, 1301 Cesar Chavez Ave., Monterey Park, vincentpriceartmuseum.org and lacma.org.
“Instructions to All Persons: Reflections on Executive Order 9066,” at the Japanese American National Museum. At a time when executive orders are transforming U.S. society, it’s a good moment in which to study one of the most notorious ones: President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Order 9066, which allowed for the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans living along the West Coast during World War II. This exhibition brings together historical ephemera from this dark period in U.S. history, as well as works of art and performance that reflect on the issue of internment. Beginning on March 24, the museum will present “Moving Day,” a nightly public art piece in which exclusion orders will be projected on the side of the building at night. Through Aug. 13. 100 N. Central Ave., downtown Los Angeles, janm.org.
“Islamic Art Now: Part 2” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Contemporary works from LACMA’s permanent collection by 20 artists who live in or have roots in the Middle East look at questions of society, gender and identity. Runs indefinitely. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, lacma.org.
Loris Gréaud, “Sculpt,” at the L.A. County Museum of Art. The entire theater has been taken over by the European artist for a film that screens to only one person at a time. The nonlinear picture follows “a man about whom we know very little, who seems to be constantly developing the concept of what experiencing beauty, thought, or obsession can be,” according the write-up. Times critic Christopher Knight describes it as “pretentious and uninvolving.” A good hate-watch, maybe? On view through a yet to be determined date. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.
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