Three-day forecast

ART

‘Our Sponsor’ goes for satire

The scandals and cover-ups that make the headlines every day get ironic commentary from artist Ryan Villiers, with his “Artichokes and Automatons” show, opening Tuesday. Villiers’ solo exhibit ties in with the group show “And Now a Word From Our Sponsor,” with works by Grande and Doug Murphy and a collaborative window display by Oliver Ressler and David Thorne that incorporate and subvert corporate logos, consumer branding, advertising, commercialism or capitalism.

“And Now a Word From Our Sponsor,” Gallery 825/LAAA,

825 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles.Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Ends Sept. 26.

(310) 652-8272.

WORDS

Hightower reads and lectures

Some may not agree with his assessment

of America, but there’s no denying that “High- tower-risms,” as the author calls them, are a hoot. Jim Hightower begins the first of at least three engagements in the Southland tonight. The Texas populist and raconteur will share his views from the lectern and in his book, “Thieves in High Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country and It’s Time to Take It Back.”

Jim Hightower, Dutton’s Bookstore, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood. Tonight, 6:30 p.m. (310) 476-6263.

JAZZ

Party’s so hot

it’s cool

Are you ready for some end-of-the-summer straight ahead jazz sounds? Get over to the 9th West Coast Jazz Party happening this holiday weekend in Irvine. The reigning king of the Hammond B-3 organ, Joey De Francesco, headlines a show that also includes such top-notch players as Jeff Clayton, Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Rickey Woodard and Wycliffe Gordon and big bands such as Ann Patterson’s Maiden Voyage and Frank Capp’s Juggernaut. For a complete schedule, see www.westcoastjazzparty.com.

West Coast Jazz Party, Irvine Marriott, 18000 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. Thursday, Friday, 4 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Saturday, noon-12:30 a.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-12:30 a.m. $10-$295. (949) 759-5003.

THEATER

Friends and wealth collide

In “Art,” Yasmina Reza’s comedy adapted by Christopher Hampton and directed by Jenny Sullivan, three men find their friendship sorely tested when one buys a costly white-on-white piece of modern art. With Cliff DeYoung as the acerbic Marc, Joseph Fuqua as the amateur art collector and Bruce Weitz as the friend who finds himself caught in the middle.

“Art,” Rubicon Theatre Company at the Laurel, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. Opens Saturday, 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Sundays, 7 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Thursdays, Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m.; ends Sept. 28. $28-$43. (805) 667-2900.

POP MUSIC

Joe Jackson set to light up L.A.

British rocker and jazz man Joe Jackson tells visitors to his Web site that he’s ready to pack his bags and exit his adopted home in the Big Apple because of the city’s smoking ban. He’s looking to relocate to a place “where I’m treated like an adult.” He doesn’t, however, mind laws governing smoking in L.A. -- “Los Angeles has a very different culture,” he writes, “not to mention more space and a better climate for outdoor smoking” -- which is good in that he’ll be swinging through for performances today and Friday at two House of Blues clubs. He’ll have with him the Joe Jackson Band that accompanied him on his breakthrough late-’70s and early-’80s albums and reunited for this year’s “Volume 4” album. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

Joe Jackson. House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Tonight, 9. $33. (323) 848-5100. Also Friday, House of Blues, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim. 9 p.m. $31. (714) 778-2583.

MOVIES

Loneliest night of the week

Claire Denis follows up the controversial “Trouble Every Day” with “Friday Night,” a subtle two-character drama with Paris as the voyeuristic host. Valerie Lemercier plays Laure, a woman on the eve of giving up her apartment and moving in with her boyfriend. Stuck in a colossal traffic jam, Laure find that her isolation is broken when a stranger (Vincent Lindon) asks for a ride. Denis co-wrote the film with Emmanuele Bernheim (Francois Ozon’s collaborator on “Under the Sand” and “Swimming Pool”), based on Bernheim’s novel. The moody score is by Dickon Hinchliffe of Tindersticks.

“Friday Night,” unrated, opens Friday exclusively at the Landmark Cecchi Gori Fine Arts, 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 652-1330; and Edwards Park Place 10, 3031 Michelson Drive, Irvine, (949) 440-0880.

ART

Latinas look at their lives

Issues of identity, sexuality and femininity are explored from four distinct Mexican American points of view in “Chica Chic,” opening Saturday. Photographs by Sandra De La Loza, pin-up style drawings objectifying men and their bodies by Diane Gamboa, graffiti-style paintings by JERK (pseudonym for a Boyle Heights-based graffiti artist) and paintings showing altered versions of acceptable ethnic portrayals by Veronica Soto are takes on the same theme.

Chica Chic, Patricia Correia Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., E-2, Santa Monica. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Also, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Ends, Oct. 4. (310) 264-1760.

DANCE

Eisenhower Ensemble takes steps

California politics may be anybody’s game right now, but in Michigan they still like Ike: the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. Local audiences will get a first look at this popular troupe’s acumen (and Laurie Eisenhower’s choreography) during the latest edition of “Split: Dance In and Out of L.A.” at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Veterans of tours throughout the Midwest and East Coast, as well as a 1997 visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, the Eisenhower dancers will perform the assaultive “Stop,” the biblical “Trilogy” and the Scottish

jamboree “Ceilidh.” Also featured in this shared event are the Los Angeles-based JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble, Orange County’s Brockus Project Dance Company and Rei Aoo’s Dance Planet, clearly a company from another world.

“Split: Dance In and Out of L.A.,” Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Saturday, 8 p.m. $15 to $25. (818) 243-2539.