Body/Head (via bodyheadmusic.com)
Art Los Angeles Contemporary, that annual behemoth of an art fair, comes to Santa Monica this week, but there’s still a lot going on outside the fairgrounds. In addition to our picks below, there’s another fair across town, Printed Matter’s third LA Art Book Fair, which will once again fill the cavernous MOCA Geffen with a cornucopia of art publications, from zines to limited edition artist books. (FYI: Hyperallergic is the media sponsor.) On top of that, there’s a fire sale of Larry Clark photos, a performance by legendary experimental rocker Kim Gordon’s new group, the beginning of a year-long celebration of Armenian culture, and so much more!
Calendar, by Atom Egoyan
When: Wednesday, January 28, 7:30pm
Where: Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles)
still from “Calendar” (1993) by Atom Egoyan (via worldscinema.org)
With the largest Armenian-American population in the country, Los Angeles county (including Glendale) is the undisputed center of Armenian cultural life in the US. It’s fitting, then, that LA’s Hammer Museum is launching I Am Armenian: A Year of Armenian Culture and History on Film to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The program starts this Wednesday with a screening of Atom Egoyan’s Calendar (1993), an early film by the Canadian-Armenian director. A post-film Q&A features Dr. Carla Garapedian of the Armenian Film Foundation and Robert Lantos, producer of Ararat, Egoyan’s acclaimed film about the Genocide.
Larry Clark $100 Photograph Sale (via larryclark.com)
Larry Clark $100 Photograph Sale
When: Thursday, January 29–Wednesday, February 4
Where: Ooga Booga (943 N Broadway, Suite 204, Chinatown, Los Angeles)
For the last 50 years, photographer and filmmaker Larry Clark has focused on the dark side of youth, from his 1971 photo series Tulsa, which documented the junkies and dropouts in his hometown, to films like Kids (1995) and Wassup Rockers (2005), fictional narratives based around teen skate culture. Faced with an accumulation of thousands of photos shot around his film sets over the past twenty years, Clark has decided to offer these prints for $100 each as “a pay back to all the skate rats and collectors who would like a souvenir so I can die happy,” he says.
Paramount Ranch 2 (via the event’s Facebook page)
Paramount Ranch 2
When: Saturday, January 31–Sunday, February 1, 11am–5pm daily
Where: Paramount Ranch (2903 Cornell Road, Agoura Hills, CA)
For the second year in a row, Paramount Ranch will be the site of a smaller, funkier alternative to this weekend’s big-time ALAC fair. Located just outside of Los Angeles on a movie ranch formerly owned by Paramount Studios, this year’s fair will have over 50 participating exhibitors from young upstarts Jenny’s and Chin’s Push to more established spaces like China Art Objects and Overduin & Co. There will also be outdoor projects from artists including Amy Yao, Oscar Tuazon, and fair organizer Liz Craft. The dusty, mountain setting and Wild West Hollywood sets make this a truly LA experience, “a cross between an art fair, a party, a curated show and a performance,” as Craft recently told Flash Art.
Body/Head
When: Saturday, January 31, 7:30pm
Where: Getty Center (1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles)
When Sonic Youth broke up in 2012, they left a void in the underground/experimental/indie music scene that they helped create over 30 years ago. It didn’t take long, however, for Kim Gordon to come back with Body/Head, a improvisational duo she formed with noise guitarist Bill Nace. Their performances are often accompanied by video and draw on sources as disparate as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and the films of French director Catherine Breillat. Unlike their show at the Echo on Thursday, the Getty performance is free, but requires a reservation.
Museum Free-For-All (via socalmuseums.org)
Museums Free-For-All
When: Saturday, January 31
Where: 20+ Museum around Los Angeles
This Saturday marks the 10th annual Museum Free-For-All, wherein over 20 museums in LA will open their doors for free. Ranging from fine art institutions like LACMA and the Armory Center to those dedicated to culture and science like the California Science Center and the LA Fire Department Museum, the offerings represent a rich and varied selection of LA’s myriad museums. Special exhibitions are not included, and some museums are free on Sunday instead, so check the site for details.
DL: LA, image from Aykan Safoğlu, “Off-white Tulips” (2013), HD video, 24 minutes (via the event’s Facebook page)
DL: Los Angeles – We’ve Only Just Begun…
When: Saturday, January 31, 8:30pm
Where: François Ghebaly Gallery (2245 E Washington Boulevard, Downtown, Los Angeles)
Dirty Looks, a NY-based platform for queer experimental film, is coming West this Saturday with DL: Los Angeles. The screening at François Ghebaly Gallery will feature recent short films by Aykan Safoğlu, Pauline Boudry + Renate Lorenz, and collective My Barbarian that explore gay icons James Baldwin, Marilyn Monroe, Valerie Solanis, and Pedro Zamora, the AIDS activist who shared his struggle with the disease as a cast member of the Real World: San Francisco.
