MUSEUMS

Reviews by Christopher Knight (C.K.) and Leah Ollman (L.O.). Compiled by Grace Krilanovich.

Critics’ Choices

After 1968: Contemporary Artists and the Civil Rights Legacy The show includes recent and newly commissioned works from six emerging artists born in or after 1968, the internationally disruptive year that in the U.S. witnessed the brutal assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the hairbreadth election of President Richard M. Nixon on a “Southern strategy” of racial divisiveness, and more. The stand-out is Nadine Robinson’s “Coronation Theme: Organon”-- 28 powerhouse audio speakers stacked high against a wall, the volume turned low so that a churning mix of choral music, vocal invocation and rhythmic electronic chants ebbs and flows. It’s a great, rumbling wall of potential power, a majestic ode to past blood, sweat and tears and a firm promise of future might (C.K.). California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, L.A. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; ends March 7. (213) 744-7432.

Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth African ceremonial costumes are a self-evident starting point for Cave’s 35 outfits. So is the wild playfulness and showy elaboration of Mardi Gras and carnival, not to mention glittery Haitian flags, chunky Southeast Asian embroidery and a high-fashion runway. The shapes usually do two things: make the figure larger than life while simultaneously obliterating the wearer’s face. Individual personality is erased, replaced by the unique formal qualities of the costumes’ scavenged materials. His work underscores the transforming possibility inherent in society’s most easily overlooked rejects (C.K.). Fowler Museum at UCLA, Sunset Boulevard and Westwood Plaza, Westwood. Wed, Fri.- Sun., noon-5 p.m.; Thu., noon-8 p.m.; closed Mon.-Tue.; ends May 30. (310) 825-4361.

A Record of Emotion: The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans Evans (1853-1943) had an impeccable instinct for form. His platinum prints -- whether portraits, landscapes or his most acclaimed studies of medieval cathedrals -- are pristine, tonally rich and consistently beautiful. He did favor respectful distance over raw intimacy, but when he ventured into personal terrain, that of pure encounter with place, person or the spiritual self, he produced some of the most profoundly moving photographs in the history of the medium (L.O.). Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. Tue.-Fri. and Sun., 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; closed Mon.; ends June 6. (310) 440-7300.

Continuing

Rachel Whiteread Drawings As a sculptor Whiteread, 46, has pretty much taken a single, elegant idea and turned it around and around in innumerable ways, both expected and not. Her drawings are not studies for the sculptures. Nor do they seem like fully resolved, independent works of art. Instead, they follow a ruminating mind moving parallel to the finished sculptures for which Whiteread is now so well known. The exhibition’s sole weakness is its size. With more than 120 drawings, it would have gained focused power with judicious editing (C.K.). Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Tue.-Wed., Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Thu., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Mon.; ends April 25. (310) 443-7000.