Pencil in a visit to the museum this weekend! In the Bing Theater, our two film series, Street Clothes: Contemporary Costuming in New Hollywood and Two Sides of a Costume Designer, press on. Friday, an unsettling performance from Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver begins at 7:30 pm, followed by Uptight, from blacklisted noir director Jules Dassin. Saturday, compare and contrast costumes from Milena Canonero; first, in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at 5 pm, a comic adventure from Wes Anderson, then in the luxurious Barry Lyndon, directed by Stanley Kubrick, at 7:30 pm. Finally, on Sunday at 6 pm, Sundays Live presents members of the Capitol Ensemble performing Schubert. Sundays Live is always free and open to the public.
Expect large crowds on Saturday during Museums Free-for-All, when LACMA opens its doors to the city to offer free general admission all day. In its 10th year, this popular day is organized by SoCal Museums and has over 20 participating cultural centers. See the entire list here and find out what other organizations are joining in on the fun. Avoid the hassle of looking and paying for parking and Go Metro—bus lines 20 and 720 on Wilshire and lines 217, 218, and 780 on Fairfax all stop within half a block of the museum.
In the galleries, Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East opens to the public on Sunday, February 1, with a Member Preview on Saturday. And it’s the final days to see Samurai: Japanese Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection, featuring more than 140 objects of ceremonial armor dating from the 14th through 19th centuries, the exhibition illustrates the evolution of samurai equipment. From the premiere collection of samurai regalia, Samurai: Japanese Armor, displayed under a “blood-red sky,” sends visitors back in time and illuminates the life, culture, and pageantry of the fabled warriors. Also reaching its conclusion, Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist presents a full-scale survey of one of the most important artists of the Harlem Renaissance. See vibrant dancehall scenes alongside solemn portraits in a study of the painter's visual examination of African American culture during the Jazz Age.
Free tours throughout the weekend further your appreciation and understanding of the collection, including a 20-minute tour of Art of the Pacific on Saturday and an hour-long walkthrough of Latin American Art on Sunday. And don’t forget Andell Family Sundays at 12:30 pm on Sunday experiments with materials, subjects, and colors in the month of February.