Datebook: Digital art before GIFs, Afrofuturistic paintings, more

Afrofuturistic works by an L.A. painter, performance in downtown, stepping back from the 3-D craze to take in digital art from the 1960s and a memorial for a museum. Here’s what we’ve got in the art hopper:

Mark Steven Greenfield, “Lookin’ Back In Front of Me,” at the California African American Museum. Greenfield is best known for his stints directing the Watts Towers Art Center and L.A. Municipal Art Gallery. But he is also a prolific artist — one who has spent years creating bright, abstract and calligraphic pieces that take as their point of inspiration everything from Afrofuturism to the stereotypical portrayals of African Americans in early 20th-century cartoons. Looking forward to this one, which just opened on Thursday. Through April 5, 2015, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, caamuseum.org.

Stan VanDerBeek, “Poemfield,” at The Box. With everyone and their mother ink-jetting and 3-D printing and jamming out animated GIFs in the name of art, it’s a good time to take a step back and consider the roots of digital art-making. As in: Where does all of this stuff descend from? This show is a great place to start. In the late 1960s, VanDerBeek worked with programmers at Bell Labs to create abstracted computer animations that are also laced with the occasional word. Sharon Mizota has a good review of the show. Through Oct. 25, 805 Traction Ave., downtown Los Angeles, theboxla.com.

“Step and Repeat” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). The museum once again puts on its performance cap as part of its “Step and Repeat” series. This go-around includes the youthful art-rapper Yung Jake, installation and performance artist Barbara T. Smith and the L.A. comedy collective Power Violence, among many others. Sounds like a winning combo to me. 6 p.m. Saturday at the MOCA Geffen in Little Tokyo, 152 N. Central Ave., downtown Los Angeles, moca.org.

Zachary Drucker & Rhys Ernst in conversation with Jennifer Doyle at Luis de Jesus. Writer and cultural critic Jennifer Doyle leads a discussion with Drucker and Ernst, two photographers who have each recorded their gender transitions, as well as their romantic relationship, in absorbing photographic installations. Their work was featured in the Whitney Biennial this spring and is now on view at Luis de Jesus through Nov. 1. Definitely worth checking out. 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, luisdejesus.com. Email or call in advance to reserve a seat.

“@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz Island.” And in the event that you’re going to be floating around San Francisco, there’s Ai Weiwei’s installation extravaganza on Alcatraz Island. The works explore questions of freedom and human rights — an important topic for the artist, who is unable to leave China after having his passport revoked by the government. Opens Saturday, Alcatraz Island, for-site.org.

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