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Los Angeles Times
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
George Méliès movies and a Betsabeé Romero exhibition: L.A. arts and culture this weekend
April has arrived, and the Times' arts and culture staff is abuzz about all the Broadway shows, world-class art and concerts heading to Los Angeles in the coming months. Among the season's many anticipated offerings: 'Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia' at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and 'Queer Lens: A History of Photography' at the Getty Museum, chosen by art critic Christopher Knight; Evgeny Kissin at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Ojai Music Festival, selected by classical music critic Mark Swed; and 'White Rabbit, Red Rabbit' at the Fountain Theatre and 'Hamlet' at the Mark Taper Forum, noted by theater critic Charles McNulty. Peruse The Times' full list of picks, which also includes hot tickets in pop music and comedy. As for this weekend, Essential Arts has you covered. I'm Ashley Lee, here with my fellow Times staff writer Jessica Gelt with things to see and news to read. 'The Endless Spiral: Betsabeé Romero''The memories and cultures of migrants are often lost when they leave or are forced away from their homes,' Betsabeé Romero told Times contributor Gordon Cole-Schmidt last year. 'But I want them to feel a sense of pride in their origins in Latin America and beyond.' The Mexican artist's immersive, six-part exhibition, which 'pays tribute to those who have no place of refuge, those whose lives are a circle of running from violence and barbarism, interrupted only by political and economic borders,' has arrived at the Museum of Latin American Art after debuting to 'baying crowds' in Venice. It is on view through Sept. 21. Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach. 'Vilna: A Resistance Story'Holocaust Museum L.A. and the Ebell of Los Angeles are presenting a one-time performance of a new musical about Vitka Kempner, the 19-year-old Jewish girl who inspired the Jewish resistance movement in the Vilna ghetto during the Holocaust. Directed by Hannah Ryan, the piece features a klezmer-influenced pop score by Kevin Cloud and a book by Lisa Kenner Grissom, with additional story by Allison Cloud. The performance, taking place Sunday at 3 p.m., is free with online RSVP. Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., L.A. 'Right in the Eye''George Méliès built the first movie studio in Europe and was the first filmmaker to use production sketches and storyboards,' wrote former Times staff writer Susan King. 'Film historians consider him the 'father of special effects' — he created the first double exposure on screen, the split screen and the dissolve. Not to mention that he was one of the first filmmakers to have nudity in his films — he was French, after all.' This live concert 'Right in the Eye,' designed by Jean-François Alcoléa, doubles as a soundtrack to a montage of silent films by Méliès, who made more than 200 short movies at the very dawn of the cinema. The multimedia production showcases 12 titles, with the intricate score performed by a trio of musicians on a wide array of instruments. Tonight's event at the Aero Theatre begins at 7:30 p.m. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave, Santa Monica. A second local performance takes place Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. — Ashley Lee FRIDAY🎼 Chineke! Orchestra The Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents the European ensemble and trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo in a concert featuring works by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Haydn and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.8 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 🎞️ David Lynch Tribute The UCLA Film & Television Archive presents all seven episodes of 'On the Air,' the 1957-set series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch after 'Twin Peaks,' with Frost in person along with actors Ian Buchanan and Nancye Ferguson.7:30 p.m. Billy Wilder Theatre, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. 🎭 Swipe Conceived and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera, this solo nonverbal play about an older gay man living alone in L.A. — where tech and youth dominate the culture — features four actors playing the role in repertory.8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays-Mondays, through April 21. Los Angeles LGBT Center, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood. 🎭 Ulysses New York-based theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service performs the James Joyce novel.8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. Saturday. UCLA McGowan Hall Little Theater, 245 Charles E. Young Drive E. SATURDAY🎞️ Bombshell The UCLA Film & Television Archive screens the 1933 screwball comedy starring Jean Harlow followed by a conversation between former Times film critics Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang about Turan's new book, 'Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation.'7:30 p.m. Billy Wilder Theatre, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. 🎤 Judy Collins The Grammy-winning singer draws on her more than 50 albums of folk, rock, show tunes, standards and original compositions.7 p.m. Sunday. The Grammy Museum, L.A. Live, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste. A245; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Fred Kavli Theatre, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. 🏛️ Robert Irwin in Los Angeles The first California exhibition of the artist's works since his death in 2023 focuses on 1960-71, the most prolific period of his career as he shifted from object-based art to more nonrepresentational works.10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through June 7. Pace Gallery, 1201 S. La Brea Ave. 🎨 Rachel Jones New paintings from the London-based artist explore fundamental question of the body in the exhibit 'Dark-Pivot.' 6 p.m. Saturday, opening reception. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through May 10. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles. 🎸 The Linda Lindas The local rockers swing through town on their North American tour.,7 p.m. Tuesday, The Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona; 7 p.m. The Novo, 800 W. Olympic Blvd. 🎭 The Paper Escaper Terrapin Puppet Theatre tells the story of Benny, a pop-up-book character determined to break free from the constraints of his pages and a disillusioned illustrator, in a free Spring Family Fest event.11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Wallis, Lovelace Studio Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. 🎭 You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! Zi Alikhan directs Keiko Green's cheeky comedy about a man and his family facing a terminal May 3. South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. SUNDAY🎼 Terence Blanchard The Academy Award-nominated composer and jazz trumpeter performs highlights from his two operas, 'Champion' and 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones,' with the E-Collective, Turtle Island Quartet and vocalists Justin Austin and Adrienne Danrich.7 p.m. Sunday. The Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. 8 p.m. April 12. Soka Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr., Aliso Viejo. 🎞️ Capote A 35mm screening of Bennett Miller's 2005 biopic of the author and bon vivant for which star Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar, with screenwriter Dan Futterman in person.7:30 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. 🎼 🎹 Double Trouble Tesserae presents musicians Julian Perkins and Ian Pritchard for a program of works for double harpsichord, including Bach's Concerto in C Minor for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1060, and C.P.E. Bach's F Major.3 p.m. Calvary Presbyterian Church, 1050 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. 🚲 🚶♀️ 🏃🏿♂️➡️ Koreatown Meets Hollywood Join walkers, runners, cyclists and skaters for CicLAvia's 59th car-free open streets event, a 4.75-mile trip along Vine Street, Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards and Western Avenue.9 a.m.-4 p.m. 🖌️ Line, Form, Qi: Calligraphic Art From the Fondation INK Collection Experimental works by artists including Fung Ming Chip, Gu Wenda, Inoue Yūichi, Lee In, Henri Michaux, Nguyễn Quang Thắng, Qiu Zhijie, Tong Yangtze, Wang Dongling, Wei Ligang and Xu Oct. 19. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. 🎞️ Play It As It Lays The West Coast premiere of the 4K restoration of Frank Perry's 1972 adaptation of Joan Didion's novel, arguably the best cinematic exploration of Didion's style and worldview, a portrait of L.A. ennui.7:30 p.m. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave. Santa Monica. 🎼 Sacred Spaces The Los Angeles Master Chorale 'explores that divine spark through music' with a program that includes works by Anton Bruckner, Alice Parker, Moses Hogan and Hyo-Won Woo, as well as Morten Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium.'5 p.m. Sunday. All Saints' Episcopal Church, 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills; 7:30 p.m. April 11. St. Andrew Catholic Church, 311 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. In a new executive order, titled 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,' President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution of propagating 'divisive, race-based ideology' and said that his administration would end federal funding for exhibitions and programs based on racial themes that 'divide Americans.' The order, which directs Vice President JD Vance to remove 'improper ideology' from the Smithsonian's 19 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., also seeks to restore Department of the Interior public monuments and statues that were removed or changed since 2020 'to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.' The beloved indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch opened his second formal art exhibition, 'Some More Collages,' at L.A.'s James Fuentes gallery. The work is a continuation of Jarmusch's obsession with collage, which he's been creating for decades. His first show was in New York in 2021, and he's ramped up his presence in the art world since then. Times contributor Renée Reizman caught up with Jarmusch for a Q&A about his journey as a visual artist. It's been 20 years since Times columnist Steve Lopez first spotted a man named Nathaniel Anthony Ayers trying to play a tune on a violin with two strings in downtown's Pershing Square. Lopez wrote a story about Ayers' journey from Juilliard prodigy to a difficult life on the streets of Los Angeles, and what followed was nothing short of remarkable. The alliance forged by Ayers and Lopez drew attention to the mental health crisis affecting unhoused people in urban areas, and resulted in Lopez's book 'The Soloist' (later adapted into a movie), as well as appearances by Ayers at Disney Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and Dodger Stadium. Lopez looks back on the history of this rich friendship in a new column. Times staff writer Kaitlyn Huamani interviewed actor Alden Ehrenreich about his passion project, a live theater venue in Cypress Park called the Huron Station Playhouse, which celebrated its soft opening last fall. 'Ehrenreich wanted a place where art could be produced without the pressure of commercial success,' Huamani writes of the actor, who keeps a busy schedule traveling the world to film major productions including Disney+'s upcoming Marvel miniseries 'Ironheart.' Jacob Jonas the Company announced its 10th-anniversary season, titled 'From Scratch.' First up are two new site-specific dance performances presented as part of an organic work-in-progress called 'Gardening,' Saturday and Sunday at Franklin Canyon Park's Sam Goldman Amphitheater in Beverly Hills. Five additional programs and performances are on the schedule, including Jonas' first work since surviving cancer — a trilogy titled 'Keeping score.' The full season lineup and ticket information can be found here. Otis College recently released its 2025 Report on the Creative Economy. One key finding notes, 'Fine arts continue to shine as California remains a fine arts education powerhouse.' However, 'Of the nine sectors that comprise the creative economy, three saw payroll expansion in the past year, including: film, TV and sound; Fine arts performance and institutions (fine arts); and managers, independent artists, performers. Speaking to the extended lethargy in the industry, only three creative economy sectors have added employment in the state since 2019: fine arts; managers, independent artists, performers; and new media.' Read the full report, here. — Jessica Gelt Jessica Chastain as an aspiring gallerist and Adam Driver as a gifted artist? Sold, indeed.
Los Angeles Times
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The 10 best places to see Latino art in Los Angeles
Feb. 10, 2025 6 AM PT Los Angeles is a city known for its vast Latino population, and its art scene is reflective of the diversity that exists within that community. Some spaces, like the Cheech Marin Center in Riverside, specialize in Chicano art, while others, like the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, focus on contemporary works from that region. On the commercial front, the Luis De Jesus gallery and Bermudez Projects regularly spotlight Latino artists. For the art lovers among you, or for anyone looking to spark inspiration, De Los has compiled 10 of the best places in Southern California to engage with Latino art. No matching places! Try changing or resetting your filters Showing Places Art Museum In partnership with the larger Riverside Art Museum, comedian Cheech Marin showcases his vast Chicano art collection with the community of the Inland Empire at his museum. Inside the two-story building, visitors are first greeted by a piece of Marin's permanent collection — Einar and Jamex de la Torre's 'Gaiatlicue,' a two-story tall, vibrant lenticular print depicting the relationship between a Nahua deity and L.A.'s Chicano culture. Opened in 2022, the museum features a mix of community-driven exhibitions, retrospective shows from high-profile artists like Judithe Hernandez and Yolanda Lopez, rotating pieces of Marin's collection and educational programming. Previously, shows like 'Uncaged Perspectives,' a collaborative exhibit with UC Riverside's Underground Scholars program, highlighted work from formerly incarcerated youth. It consisted of dioramas of their jail cells and large-print black-and-white photographs of daily life. Route Details Central-Alameda Art Gallery Known for its unconventional programming, the Mistake Room, a nonprofit gallery in the Arts District, is centered around doing the unexpected. Curator Cesar Garcia-Alvarez opened the space in 2014 intending to create a midsize, non-collecting art space that focused on museum-quality contemporary art. Currently, the industrial space is adorned with the works of Hélio Oiticica and Neville D'Almeida. Their exhibition, 'Cosmococa/CC2 Onobject,' is an immersive experience where attendees are asked to take off their shoes and enter a foam landscape surrounded by tarps. Past shows include painter Ken Taylor Reynaga's 'A Mano,' which consisted of works depicting both surrealist, colorful landscapes and distorted animal images. Route 1811 E. 20th St., Los Angeles, California 90058 Route Details Lincoln Heights Art Gallery Located in Lincoln Heights, Altura Los Angeles prioritizes creating space for hyper-local artistic expression. Founded and run by fellow artists, the gallery hosts around four shows every year and centers most of its programming around different elements of Latinidad. Recently, the gallery has featured the portraiture of photographer Amanda Lopez ('Guadalupe — Reclaiming a Connection to the Divine') as well as framed low-rider paint job patterns in 'Meet Me at the Boulevard.' In addition to its exhibitions, Altura also hosts various events to pair with the works on display as a means to foster community. For 'Family Party,' a show curated by artist Anita Herrera, they threw a party meant to transport attendees to 'a classic '90s L.A. family backyard boogie.' The night was filled with DJs spinning cumbias and corridos, jumping lowriders and a packed dance floor. Route 1908 Griffin Ave., Los Angeles, California 90031 Route Details Venice Arts Founded in 1976 by Chicana muralist Judith F. Baca, filmmaker Donna Deitch and artist Christina Schlesinger, Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) focuses on amplifying the artistic voices of marginalized communities through public art. Between their Mural Rescue and CityWide Mural programs, the organization's biggest project is currently restoring (and adding) to Baca's 'Great Wall of Los Angeles' — a half-mile-long mural in North Hollywood depicting California's history. The nonprofit runs two galleries — one inside its Venice Boulevard office, the Duron Gallery, and the other in Santa Monica's Bergamot Station Arts Center. Previously, the Duron Gallery showed 'Exploring Metaphors: The Creative Process of the Great Wall of Los Angeles,' which consisted of original sketches and planning materials; Bergamot Station highlighted 'The 1960s: A Generation on Fire,' a new portion of the mural that depicts Martin Luther King Jr., Nina Simone and the activists who opposed the Vietnam War. Route Details Long Beach Art Museum Located in downtown Long Beach, the Museum of Latin American Art is the only museum in the country dedicated to contemporary and modern Latin American art. The large-scale nonprofit was founded in 1996 and has over 1,300 works of art in its permanent collection. The museum boasts several rotating gallery spaces and an outdoor sculpture garden that doubles as an event space. MOLAA also hosts a series of weekend docent tours, free children's workshops, evenings with educators, and a bilingual arts and culture summer camp. Past exhibitions include Brazilian artist Andrey Guaiana Zignnatto's 'Vermelho Como A Brasa,' a show in which he portrayed his Indigeneity through a wooden structure resembling a house, and 'Cross-Border Women,' which featured the large-scale portraiture of Mexican artist Alejandra Phelts depicting the everyday life of women in Tijuana. Route 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, California 90802 Route Details Downtown L.A. Arts LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is considered one of the many hubs for the Mexican American community in Los Angeles. The nonprofit's historic building across from Olvera Street doubles as an event space and a free museum. LA Plaza's programming focuses on history and art. Guests are met with a timeline of the California Latino experience — from the era of Mexican independence to the bracero program to the Zoot Suit Riots — accompanied with artifacts. The museum's second floor houses 'Calle Principal,' a permanent exhibition that re-creates a portion of downtown's Main Street from the 1920s. LA Plaza also boasts a small gallery space that spotlights various L.A.-based artists. Past shows include 'Jaime Muñoz: Truth Is a Moving Target' and 'Louis Verdad: TONÁNTZIN.' Route 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, California 90012 Route Details Downtown L.A. Art Gallery Behind a pair of blue metal doors in the Arts District lies Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, a Latino-owned contemporary art gallery focused on intersectional diversity that showcases regional and global art. Though the space doesn't focus exclusively on Latino artists, recent shows include 'Luis Emilio Romero: Fortress of Light / Fortaleza de Luz,' Edra Soto's architectural series 'por la señal' and 'Chaos Anime,' Chicano trailblazing artist John Valadez's first solo exhibition with the gallery. Route Details Cypress Park Art Gallery In the Northeast neighborhood of Cypress Park, Bermudez Project sits on the corner one of the neighborhood's main avenues. The street is filled with a few trendy restaurants, bars and neighborhood markets. Because of the gallery's wide, open almost-garage style doors, it's quite easy to stumble lofted space features high ceilings and an office space on the second floor. The art is displayed all throughout the bottom floor. The gallery spotlights artists who have just passed through the threshold of emerging artist and are entering their mid-career. With it's garage style doors, it carries the feeling of openness. The car-focused work of Jay Bell hung on each of the walls. Bell focuses on small to medium sized portraiture of all different kinds of cars around Los Angeles. Sometimes dreamy, other times realistic, the depictions of cars filled the Bermudez Projects. Route Details Chinatown Art Gallery Walking distance from the Metro Gold Line's Chinatown stop, a bright neon sign reads 'Eastern Projects.' Known for regularly spotlighting L.A.'s historic and contemporary Latino artists, the downtown art space was founded in 2016. The gallery has since held the work of photographer Estevan Oriol, painter Frank Romero and graffiti artist Chaz Boroquez. This past year, they paid homage to the 50th anniversary of Los Angeles County Museum of Art's historic 'Los Four' exhibit — the first major art show centered around Chicano artists (Romero, Carlos Almaraz, Gilbert 'Magú' Luján and Roberto 'Beto' de la Rocha). Similarly, they also presented street photographer Merrick Morton's solo exhibit 'Un-Rehearsed.' The show brought a retrospective light to Morton's career — from being known as 'the guy' taking pictures of L.A. gang life to photographing movie sets like 'La Bamba' and 'Blood In Blood Out.' The space will often host walk-throughs and Q&As with the artist, as well as short film screenings. Route Details Highland Park Art Gallery Self-described as a 'multicultural nonprofit art space grounded in Latina/o/x culture,' Avenue 50 acts as an art-centric community hub for Highland Park. The gallery will typically host up to four small-scale exhibitions at a time. Previously, it has presented 'Defining Our Legacies Ancestor to Ancestor,' a multimedia show of several artists on Dia De Los Muertos, and 'Maintaining Fire,' which featured works that portray L.A.'s Chicano culture across generations. Avenue 50 Studio also hosts monthly poetry readings and events with its featured artists. The organization's mission is to help foster intercultural dialogue through art and it regularly looks for volunteers to assist with its programming. Keep an eye out for a new location in 2025. Route Details The Latinx experience chronicled Get the Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the multitudes within our communities. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
