ArtRx LA
LOS ANGELES — This week, performance artists Dynasty Handbag and Jaimie Warren get weird at El Cid, the Craft & Folk Art Museum hosts a workshop on painting on black velvet, the Museum of Contemporary Art brings music to its galleries, and more.
LOS ANGELES — This week, performance artists Dynasty Handbag and Jaimie Warren get weird at El Cid, the Craft & Folk Art Museum hosts a workshop on painting on black velvet, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) brings music to its galleries, and more.
Black Light / Black Velvet Painting Workshop
When: Thursday, April 7, 7–9pm
Where: Craft & Folk Art Museum (5814 Wilshire Boulevard, Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles)
From images of buxom temptresses that adorn the walls of dimly lit bars to majestic portraits of late-period Elvis, black velvet paintings hold a special place in the culture of kitsch and camp. Velveteria, LA’s only art gallery dedicated to the art form, invites you to a workshop at the Craft & Folk Art Museum to experience firsthand what it feels like to paint on the sensuous fabric. Afterwards, you can hold your masterpiece under black light for an eye-popping twist. $8 / free for members, space is limited, RSVP requested.
Monument: Metal Rouge and Palmbomen II
When: Thursday, April 7, 6pm
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Grand (250 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles)
Taking its name from Dan Flavin’s neon “monument” for V. Tatlin, Monument at the Museum of Contemporary Art is a yearlong series featuring LA-based musicians and sound artists performing amongst the artworks in MOCA’s current permanent collection exhibition. This Thursday’s lineup includes experimental ambient / noise duo Metal Rouge and throwback electronic artist Palmbomen II.
Yoko Ono & John Lennon: Rape
When: Thursday, April 7, 7:30–10pm
Where: Public School (951 Chung King Rd, Chinatown, Los Angeles)
Preceding Laura Mulvey‘s seminal essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” by four years, Yoko Ono’s and John Lennon’s “Rape” (1969) is an unsettling illustration of the violence inherent in the gendered cinematic gaze. No actual assault takes place in the film. Instead, the structure follows from Ono’s simple directive for a cameraman to silently but persistently follow a woman on the street. The mood grows increasingly tense as the woman’s reaction changes from bewildered amusement to frustration, anger, and fear.
Brujaja: a Witch’s Brouhaha
When: Thursday, April 7, 9pm
Where: Human Resources (410 Cottage Home, Chinatown, Los Angeles)
Christy Roberts Berkowitz’s “The Center for Strategic Magick and Healing Shit” is a six-week long residency at KChung Radio that explores “the intersections of magick and social justice, personal empowerment and collective strategy.” This Thursday, Human Resources hosts Brujaja (combining “Bruja,” the Spanish word for witch, and brouhaha, an uproar or hubbub). The evening opens with a cleansing performance by artist Rafa Esparza, followed by music from Electric Sound Bath, Glitzer, and MRK, a reading by Sarah Gail Armstrong and an anti-capitalist spell cast by The Oracle of Los Angeles.
Ed Bereal: Disturbing the Peace
When: Closes Saturday, April 9
Where: Harmony Murphy Gallery (358 E 2nd St., Downtown, Los Angeles)
Ed Bereal emerged in the early 1960s as an important figure in the California assemblage art movement, creating a politically oriented body of work that expanded to include performance, video, and social engagement. Surprisingly, his current exhibition at Harmony Murphy Gallery, Disturbing the Peace, is his first solo show in Los Angeles. Spanning almost 50 years, it includes drawings, collages, and mixed-media sculptures, providing a much-needed reassessment of the work of this overlooked LA artist.
Dynasty Handbag & Jaimie Warren Host Weirdo Night
When: Sunday, April 10, 8pm
Where: El Cid (4212 Sunset Blvd, Silver Lake, Los Angeles)
The art world is full of personalities who lack a sense of humor, taking themselves altogether too seriously. Then there’s Dynasty Handbag who dances, sings, and acts her way across the stage in hilarious and fearless performances. She brings her talents to Silver Lake bar/restaurant El Cid this weekend for Weirdo Night!, an evening of experimental comedy and video. Joining her will be New York-based photographer and performance artist Jaimie Warren, who has her own brand of bizarre, yet wholeheartedly sincere, antics. $5 cover.
