This month, the boundaries are collapsing between top and bottom, art and science, the street and the white cube. A major Keith Haring retrospective at the Broad and an extensive solo show by hometown hero Mister Cartoon highlight their connections to graffiti and the gallery. Sarah Rosalena uses computers to create her beaded textile homages to forgotten female science workers and Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado creates handmade living systems for a dystopian future. Jackie Castillo recycles building materials to reflect the city’s tumultuous transformation, while Beck + Col’s anti-capitalist slasher slices and dices lowbrow cinema with tailored costumes and sleek visuals. Finally, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Frank Bowling celebrate diasporic identity, bringing together aesthetic touchstones from disparate geographic regions.
Sarah Rosalena: standard candle
Located atop a 5,700-foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, the Mount Wilson Observatory has been at the forefront of astronomical research for over a century. The discoveries made here were only possible thanks to the under-recognized work of women who analyzed and plotted data using photographs of the cosmos printed on glass plates. Sarah Rosalena pays tribute to these women with standard candlean installation of beaded textiles made with computer code based on these celestial images, located in the Observatory’s sanctuary-like 100-inch Hooker Telescope.
Mount Wilson Observatory (lacma.org)
Mount Wilson, Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles (directions)
Until June 18 (only Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.)
Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado: Porvenir/Portátil
Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado creates mobile living systems for a post-apocalyptic near future. His first solo exhibition in LA, Porvenir/Portatil, features wearable sculptures that filter air and water, made from everyday objects like PVC pipes, rechargeable batteries and hair dryer fans. Two of the units are home to saplings smuggled into the United States from the Puerto Rican rainforest, “aliens” who will provide food for the inhabitants of a brave new world.
Canary trial (thecanarytest.com)
526 E 12th Street, Unit C, Downtown, Los Angeles
Until July 14
Mister Cartoon: just my imagination
Mister Cartoon is one of the most emblematic figures of the street art/graffiti/tattoo scenes. The Los Angeles native began airbrushing t-shirts at car shows, before building a career that spanned graffiti, sign painting and tattooing, including Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Eminem among his list of famous tattooed clients. His work is inspired by lowrider aesthetics, classic soul and Chicano culture, reflecting a view that is typically LA, but often excluded (or simplistically stereotyped) from Hollywood depictions of the city. Just my imaginationthe artist’s first solo exhibition in his hometown, will be the largest display of his work, including drawings, airbrush paintings, a custom car and a tattoo station.
Beyond the Streets/Control Gallery (control.gallery)
434 North La Brea Avenue, Fairfax, Los Angeles
June 10–July 16
Kang Seung Lee: The Heart of One Hand
The heart of a hand is a memorial tribute to Goh Choo San, a Singapore-born choreographer who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1987. Kang Seung Lee weaves archival material together in an evocative way to create a patchwork portrait of his life and work , constructed from designs on goat leather and gold embroidery on Korean Sambe fabric. The centerpiece is a video collaboration with Joshua Serafin and Nathan Mercury Kim, which creatively recreates Goh’s 1981 ballet Setupsadapting it to a celebration of queer community and resilience.
Vincent Price Museum of Art (vincentpriceartmuseum.org)
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park, CA
Until July 22
Jackie Castillo: shoot
Los Angeles is a city that is constantly reinventing itself, both through the migration of people and through the disruption and development of the urban fabric. Jackie Castillo’s sculptures reference the physical transformation of the city to draw attention to the effect it has on its inhabitants. Turning features stacks on building materials such as bricks and tiles, on which have been affixed sliced images of residential architecture. These piles resemble both mounds of debris and building foundations, their ambiguous status tied to the viewer’s perspective.
As is (as-is.la)
1133 Venice Boulevard, Pico Union, Los Angeles
June 17–July 29
Beck + Collar: Red Night
Drawing inspiration from campy B movies, slick Italian Giallo flicks and theatrical professional wrestling, artist duo Beck + Col’s new film “Red Night” follows a family of friendly freaks who are chased into their suburban home by a killer. Powerless on their own, their only chance of survival is to unite against the intruder, a metaphor for the need for communal solidarity among those who wish to change society. The film will debut this month at the offsite Lauren Powell Projects location, which will be transformed into a monster house room, with artwork featured in the film by Alicia Piller, Amia Yokoyama, Ofelia Marquez, Tanya Brodsky and others.
Lauren Powell Projects (offsite) (laurenpowellprojects.com)
908 South Olive Street, Downtown, Los Angeles
June 8–July 29
Njideka Akunyili Crosby: Coming back to see through, again
Njideka Akunyili Crosby investigates diasporic identities through her richly layered works, which incorporate hand painting and photo transfers of images from popular media. Born in Nigeria, she moved to the United States when she was 16 years old. A sense of inclusive hybridity is reflected in his subjects, which are depicted in intimate domestic settings overflowing with lush foliage. Coming back to see through, again, the inaugural exhibition at David Zwirner’s new LA space, will include two new works by the The most beautiful kid-focused series, earlier examples of which are featured on Crosby’s current show at the Huntington Gardens.
David Zwirner (davidzwirner.com)
616 North Western Avenue, East Hollywood, Los Angeles
Until July 29
Frank Bowling: Landscape
British artist Frank Bowling has been exploring the idea of landscape since the 1960s when he won acclaim for his Map Paintings, which featured the sharp outlines of countries or continents in vast expanses of luminous color. His current exhibition at Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood shows his obsession hasn’t waned, with 11 new abstract paintings that suggest physical or psychological landscapes. Bowling draws from a range of techniques: pouring paint, brushing and dyeing his canvases, onto which he glues found objects. The resulting works are as reminiscent of the atmospheric light of JMW Turner as they are of the tropical palette of Bowling’s native Guyana, revealing a sort of autobiographical landscape.
Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood (vip-hauserwirth.com)
8980 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA
Until August 5
Keith Haring: Art is for everyone
Although Keith Haring’s prolific career spanned just over a decade before his untimely death at the age of 31 from AIDS, his signature bold style could be seen everywhere from the New York City subway to the gallery , the track and beyond. Keith Haring: Art is for everyone showcases his multi-faceted oeuvre, comprising over 120 artworks and ephemera, spanning paintings, sculptures, videos and prints, as well as documentation of his public murals and subway drawings. It also includes protest posters he designed in support of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, nuclear disarmament and HIV/AIDS activism. Events such as a reimagining of downtown New York’s seminal space, Club 57, and a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the origin of hip hop culture will provide a taste of the cultural milieu in which Haring lived and worked.
The wide (thebroad.org)
221 South Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles
Until October 8
Xican-aox body
This exhibition explores and challenges conceptions of Mexican, Mexican-American, Xicanx, and Latino bodies in art over the past sixty years. Organized by The American Federation of the Arts (AFA), it features around 70 artists and collectives who are committed to reclaiming and reframing their own representations. He defines xicanism as a movement born out of the Chicano movement in the 1990s, echoing its calls for civil rights and recognition with a greater emphasis on feminism, intersectionality, and indigenity. Participating artists include Laura Aguilar, Mario Ayala, ASCO, Judith F. Baca, Alice Bag, Nao Bustamante, Enrique Chagoya, Vaginal Davis, Sandra de la Loza, Rafa Esparza, Jay Linn Gomez, James Luna, Patrick Martínez, Shizu Saldamando, Patssi Valdez, and many more.
The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture at the Riverside Art Museum (riversideartmuseum.org)
3581 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA
From June 17 to January 7, 2024
