Max Hooper Schneider at the Hammer and more museums shows in SoCal this week

Here is a list of new museum shows, Critics’ Choices, etc., for Jan. 5-12. Capsule review by Leah Ollman (L.O.).

Openings

Marks on Land & Mind Paintings by Soheila Siadate and photography by Tom Lamb. Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, 117 N. Sycamore St., Santa Ana. Now on view; ends Jan. 25. Closed Mon.-Wed. Free. (714) 667-1517. occca.org

Critic’s Choice

Max Hooper Schneider For his spectacular Hammer Projects show, Schneider has built a dystopian extravaganza of trash and downscale treasure, fascinating in its alienness, disturbing in its familiarity. Is this an alternate world or the underbelly of our own? A portent of the future or a mirror to the present? The L.A.-based artist’s first solo museum show reads as many things, including as a model — outrageous and incisive — of the beset planetary island we call our own. (L.O.) UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Ends Feb. 2. Closed Mon. Free. (310) 443-7000. hammer.ucla.edu