ArtRx LA
LOS ANGELES — This week, a show of seldom-seen work from legendary artist Jack Goldstein opens, an artist builds towers and walls out of his paintings, both the Pasadena Armory and the Torrance Art Museum are having art sales, and more.
LOS ANGELES — This week, a show of seldom-seen work from legendary artist Jack Goldstein opens, an artist builds towers and walls out of his paintings, both the Pasadena Armory and the Torrance Art Museum are having art sales, and more.
Jack Goldstein: Burning Window and Aphorisms
When: Opens Wednesday, September 9, 6–8pm
Where: 1301PE (6150 Wilshire Boulevard, Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles)
With an artistic output spanning conceptual art, film, and painting, the late Jack Goldstein was one of the most elusive and influential artists of the Pictures Generation. After graduating from the inaugural class at Cal Arts, Goldstein created dryly comic short films and audio recordings, before reinventing himself as a painter of cool detachment in 1980s New York. 1301PE presents two bodies of work that fit outside these categories: the dazzling, theatrical installation “Burning Window”; and “Aphorisms,” a series of cut-and-paste poetic text fragments whose meanings are as hard to pin down as the artist himself.
Keith Rocka Knittel: Let it Yellow
When: Opens Thursday, September 10, 7–10pm
Where: Human Resources (410 Cottage Home Street, Chinatown, Los Angeles)
For his upcoming exhibition, Let it Yellow, Keith Rocka Knittel transforms Human Resources’ cavernous space into an interactive painting playground. Paintings don’t just hang on the walls, but are the walls — specifically, a room divider composed of large canvases depicting the artist’s cats. Elsewhere, a stack of “$40 paintings” invites viewers to sift through and rearrange them. The show’s high point (literally) is a tower made out of old work that reaches from the ground to the gallery’s second floor windows.
5 or Less Fest
When: Opens Friday, September 11, 8pm—Midnight
Where: Basic Flowers (242 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles)
Despite the much-needed resurgence in longform journalism, there’s something to be said for a critic who favors economy over logorrhea. Take for instance Alex Miller’s website 5 or Less, where he reviews film in — you guessed it — five words or less (his take on Magic Mike XXL: “Hot Dads’ Road Trip”). In honor of the site’s five-year anniversary, Miller has put together a group show of artists who exhibit a similar restraint, producing work and performances that feature less than five of something (actors, inches, steps, minutes). Participating artists include Amy von Harrington, Joel Kyack, Bettina Hubby, and Paul Pescador among others. Fittingly the price of admission is $5.
Monster Drawing Rally
When: Saturday, September 12, 12–5pm
Where: Armory Center for the Arts (145 N. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California)
In our popular imagination, art-making is considered a solitary endeavor, the artist fitfully laboring in her studio, away from the public eye. Turning this notion on its head is this Saturday’s Monster Drawing Rally, where 100 artists will create works in front of a crowd of art lovers. Better yet, you can take home one of these newly completed drawings for only $75, with all proceeds going to benefit exhibitions at the Armory. Admission is $10, and be sure to consult the drawing schedule to catch your favorite artists in the act.
Nick van Woert: Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In
When: Opens Saturday, September 12, 6–8pm
Where: Moran Bondaroff (937 N. La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Grove, Los Angeles)
Taking its title from a psychedelic Kenny Rogers song (featured prominently in The Big Lebowski), Nick van Woert’s upcoming show at Moran Bondaroff (formerly OHWOW) explores the dark side of the American utopia. Slyly altering wooden cigar store Indian figures to recall the Native American genocide, van Woert then focuses on more recent events. These include a detailed recreation of the Philadelphia row house occupied by black liberation group MOVE, which was destroyed in a 1985 police siege which killed 11, as well as recordings of the noise and music blasted by the FBI at David Koresh and his followers before storming their compound.
An Odyssey: 10 Years of the Torrance Art Museum
When: Saturday, September 12, 6–10pm
Where: Torrance Art Museum (3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, California)
It’s not often that you can walk into a museum and walk out with a piece of art, but that’s exactly what happening this Saturday at the Torrance Art Museum. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the TAM will be be holding a fundraising gala, where you can purchase artworks by over 200 artists who have exhibited at the museum over the past decade. With every work priced at only $100, it’s a great opportunity for beginning collectors to pick up some museum-quality art. Doors open at 5:30pm for TAM member, half an hour before the public opening.
