The best of the season

Art

The Bible and the People The transformation of the Bible from a complex religious text to an accessible book is traced in an exhibition of more than 130 Bibles drawn from the Huntington’s rare book and manuscript collections. Includes illuminated manuscript Bibles and the first editions of major English translations. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, ends Jan. 5.

Botanica Los Angeles: Latino Popular Religious Art in the City of Angels Part spiritual center and part alternative healthcare facility, the botanica is explored in a show that includes altars dedicated to the deities of Espiritisimo, Afro-Cuban Santeria and Catholicism. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, ends Feb. 27.

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past The lives of children in ancient Greece as told through painted vases, sculptures, grave monuments, toys and other objects. Getty Center, L.A., ends Dec. 5.

Drawn to Yellowstone: Artists in America’s First National Park A visual history of Yellowstone Park looks at the changing image of the land, from romanticized, 19th century paintings by Thomas Moran to the 20th century environmental concerns about the unspoiled land and the crowds who come to enjoy it. Museum of the American West, L.A., ends Jan. 25.

Einstein A look at Albert Einstein’s life -- as the scientific genius who reconfigured concepts of space and time and socially and politically conscious individual who spoke out against anti-Semitism, McCarthyism and nuclear armament -- through original manuscripts, personal belongings and interactive exhibits. Skirball Cultural Center, L.A., ends May 29.

Rodney Graham: A Little Thought This midcareer survey focuses on Graham’s film and video work -- in which he is the lead actor in his absurdist costume dramas -- and traces its origins to his first outdoor-projection events of the late 1970s. MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, L.A., ends Nov. 29.

L.A.: Light, Motion, Dreams More than 300 objects and works of art make for an interactive exhibit that explores the makeup of the City of Angels. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, ends Jan. 9.

George Nakashima: Nature, Form & Spirit More than 50 works by the furniture designer, woodworking artist and architect are on view, including benches, tables and cabinets from private collections as well as prints, photographs and sketches. Japanese American National Museum, downtown L.A., ends Jan. 2.

Proof of Genius: The Prints of Albrecht Durer More than 30 woodcuts, engravings and etchings, including rare impressions of the German Renaissance painter’s best-known prints. UCLA Hammer Museum, ends Jan. 2.

Saluting Vodou Spirits: Haitian Flags from the Fowler Collection Made of satin, velvet or rayon and adorned with sequins, beads or applique, drapo or ritual flags are used to salute the spirits and channel the energies of devotees in voodoo rituals. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, ends Dec. 12.

Robert Smithson The first comprehensive American retrospective of a pioneering earthworks artist, best known for his “Spiral Jetty,” a 1,500-foot-long rock coil in Utah’s Great Salt Lake, also examines other aspects of his work through the themes of landscape, language, the monument and the site. Museum of Contemporary Art, downtown L.A., ends Dec. 13.

Visions of the Great Goddess: The Divine Female in South Asian Art A focus on the cultural and artistic significance of goddess imagery in South Asia, with artifacts as varied as painted book covers, 17th century devotional images and copper sculptures. San Diego Museum of Art, ends March 13.

SEPTEMBER

Specific Objects: The Minimalist Influence Exploring what Donald Judd termed, “specific objects,” -- which describes artwork that challenged the traditional categories of painting and sculpture by exploring the ideas of structure, seriality and material, -- this exhibit features work by Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Robert Mangold and others. San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, La Jolla, next Sunday-Sept. 4, 2005.

Agustin Victor Casasola: Mirada y Memoria (Glance and Memory) One of the first Latin American photojournalists, Casasola captured images of the Mexican Revolution. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, next Sunday-Jan. 9.

OCTOBER

African American Masters: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum Celebrates the contributions of such African American artists as Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold and Sam Gilliam, whose works demonstrated an awareness of mainstream artistic traditions while exploring their cultural heritage. Long Beach Museum of Art, Oct. 1-Nov. 28.

Clement Greenberg: A Critic’s Collection The articulate art critic’s collection spans 50 years and reflects his personal relationships with the artists. Works include early Abstract Expressionist paintings by Jackson Pollock, Color Field paintings by Jules Olitski and examples of the movement Greenberg dubbed “Post-Painterly Abstraction.” Palm Springs Desert Museum, Oct. 2-Jan. 2.

Trespassing: Houses X Artists House designs imagined by nine contemporary artists, including Julian Opie and Kevin Appel, in collaboration with the architecture firm Taalman Koch Architecture. Palm Springs Desert Museum, Oct. 2-Apr. 3.

Sunil Gupta: Homelands Large-scale photographs taken over a period of travel through Britain, North America and India, establishing Gupta’s identity as a gay man of color living with HIV. UCR California Museum of Photography, Riverside, Oct. 2-Jan. 2.

Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image A commissioning and publishing project designed to make video and film more accessible explores the qualities of the medium and includes new works by Paul McCarthy, Anri Sala and David Claerbout. UCLA Hammer Museum, Oct. 3-Feb. 20.

The Undiscovered Country Various approaches to the question of representation in contemporary painting include 1960s works by Vija Celmins and Gerhard Richter, later works by Philip Guston and Luc Tuymans and contemporary paintings by Enoc Perez and Richard Prince. UCLA Hammer Museum, Oct. 3-Jan. 16.

The Prismatic Palette: Four Centuries of Watercolor The evolution of the watercolor medium from the 16th through 19th centuries begins with nature studies by Albrecht Durer and culminates in the work of Paul Cezanne. Getty Center, L.A., Oct. 5-Jan. 2.

Imagining the Orient Traces the 18th century European cultural and artistic phenomenon of chinoiserie, which refers to the trend of objects and paintings that evoke such faraway lands as China, Japan and Turkey. Getty Center, L.A., Oct. 5-Apr. 3.

Deconstructing Apartheid: The Photography of Peter Maguban Images by the photojournalist document the plight of minorities in South Africa under apartheid in an exhibit that also looks at Magubane’s life and the effects of social, economic and political changes on South Africa’s indigenous cultures. Californian African American Museum, L.A. Oct. 7-May 28.

Cultivating Pasadena An exhibit based on historical images of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, 25 original, early 20th century images will be rephotographed then paired in categories of exploration, development, landscaping, transportation and canonization. Pasadena Museum of California Art, Oct. 9-Feb. 13.

California Art Club’s 94th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition From its inception in 1906, the Art Club has evolved into one of the largest and most active professional art organizations in the country. This year’s show includes 100 contemporary works in painting and sculpture. Pasadena Museum of California Art, Oct. 9-Feb. 13.

Divine Revolution: The Art of Edouard Duval-Carrie The Haitian-born artist presents his first solo show which includes sequined renditions of his paintings of the Haitian Revolution of 1804, in the tradition of voodoo flags, and an elaborate altar representing voodoo spirits “reinstalled” in the U.S. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Oct. 10-Jan. 30.

Cezanne in the Studio: Still Life in Watercolors More than 20 works focus on the intersection of the still life genre with the medium of watercolor in the oeuvre of Impressionist Paul Cezanne. Getty Center, L.A., Oct. 12-Jan. 2.

2004 California Biennial Inaugurating the museum’s renovated facility, the exhibition showcases works by emerging artists such as Mungo Thomson, Mindy Shapero, Kaz Oshiro and Libby Black, taking place throughout the museum’s galleries, its new indoor and outdoor public spaces and in its satellite location, the Orange Lounge. Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, Oct. 12-Jan. 9.

Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality Organized by the British Museum, this exhibit focuses on the significance of and mystery surrounding the legendary Queen of Sheba through more than 100 works from the museum’s collection, including prints, drawings, film stills and a bronze head lent by Queen Elizabeth II. Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, Oct. 17-March 13.

Renoir to Matisse: The Eye of Duncan Phillips More than 50 European masterworks from Phillips’ collection include paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” which Phillips called “the only Renoir I need.” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Oct. 17-Jan. 9.

Cotton Puffs, Q-tips, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha Drawings from the end of the 1950s by the artist known for using his wry humor and observation to create witty interpretations of the Hollywood sign, trademarks and gas stations as well as renderings of words and overheard phrases. Ruscha’s “Chocolate Room” installation of sheets of paper silk-screened with chocolate will also be on view. Museum of Contemporary Art, L.A., Oct. 17-Jan. 17.

Landscapes of the Mind: Chinese Paintings of Nature from the Pacific Asia Museum Collection As part of the Pasadena citywide collaborative exhibition, “The Tender Land: A Festival of Art, History, Music and Science,” the exhibit explores depictions of nature in traditional paintings from the 14th through early 20th centuries. Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, Oct. 17-Jan. 30.

Celebrities, Friends and Strangers: Portraits by Don Bachardy Ink drawings and acrylic paintings capture some of the 20th century’s cultural figures, including Truman Capote, Dorothy Parker and Anais Nin. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, Oct. 23-Feb. 6.

Past Presence: Objects of Study at the Getty Research Institute Examines how time -- past, present and future -- is represented in art and objects that contribute to present-day knowledge about the history of art. Getty Center, L.A., Oct. 26-Jan. 2.

NOVEMBER

Mungo Thompson: Centric 65 and Alice Konitz: Centric 66 A recent film, sound installation, video and several sculptures by Thompson explore phenomenology, spirituality and mass culture; a site-specific installation by Konitz investigates the relationship between actual space and represented or mental space. Cal State Long Beach University Art Museum, Nov. 2-Dec. 19.

Celestial Nights Black-and-white photography by Neil Folberg focuses on the ancient land and skies of Israel. Skirball Cultural Center, L.A., Nov. 3-Jan. 30.

Lost but Found: Assemblage, Collage and Sculpture, 1920-2002 More than 80 years of assemblages, collages, ready-mades and abstract sculptures by 30 European and American artists including Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Kienholz and Tom Wesselmann. Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, Nov. 5-Mar. 28.

Past in Reverse: Contemporary Art of East Asia Chinese, Japanese and Korean artists who use contemporary approaches to express their respective cultural and artistic heritages, combining traditional techniques such as lacquer painting and calligraphy with new technologies such as digital imaging. San Diego Museum of Art, Nov. 6-March 6.

Tastes in Asian Art Some of the most significant works in the museum’s Asian collection highlight religious art as well as diverse tastes of the imperial ruling class, scholars, warriors and common people. San Diego Museum of Art, Nov. 6-May 1.

The OsCene in Contemporary Art and Culture A survey exhibition of work produced during the last two years by Orange County artists and designers includes paintings, installations, videos and architecture and design projects. Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, Nov. 7-Feb. 27.

Passion for Drawing: Poussin to Cezanne, Works from the Prat Collection The evolution of French art in the 17th through 19th centuries, as chronicled by 100 drawings by well-known Mannerist, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nov. 7-Jan. 17

Rufino Tamayo: Mexico One of the most influential painters in Mexico, Tamayo focused less on the social, realistic murals of his contemporaries and instead painted abstracted compositions that integrated traditionally Mexican colors and themes. Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, Nov. 9-Mar. 20.

The Royal Art Lodge: Ask the Dust The first international touring exhibition by the acclaimed Winnipeg, Canada-based artist collective, the Royal Art Lodge, showcases approximately 300 of its collaborative drawings and more than 400 solo works that reflect the group’s dry wit, optimism and quirky sense of humor. MOCA at the Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, Nov. 14-Feb. 14.

Time/Space, Gravity and Light In conjunction with the “Einstein” exhibit, this show presents ways in which artists use science and technology to evoke subjective, emotional responses. Skirball Cultural Center, L.A., Nov. 16-Feb. 27.

Folk Art A-Z A broad survey of folk art and its traditions. Craft & Folk Art Museum, L.A., Nov. 19-Mar. 31.

Chihuly: Los Angeles A look at the glass artist’s 40-year career includes an overview of his floor, wall and ceiling installations. Part of a three-venue exhibition, this exhibit shows simultaneously at the L.A. Louver and Frank Lloyd galleries. Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Pepperdine University, Nov. 21-Mar. 20.

DECEMBER

Black Belt A look at the fascination with Bruce Lee, Kung Fu and Eastern martial arts imagery and the intersection of African American and Asian American cultures from the 1970s and ‘80s through the works of 19 contemporary artists. Santa Monica Museum of Art, Dec. 10-Feb. 12.

The Course of Invention: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1890--1920 The international influence of Arts and Crafts in Britain, Europe and the U.S. and its evolution as a counter movement to society’s rapid industrialization. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, L.A., Dec. 19-Apr. 3.