Happy Fourth of July Weekend! This is a great weekend to hit up LACMA: we’ve got a couple of exhibitions closing, a new show opening, plus free concerts and family activities all weekend.
Nam June Paik, Video Flag Z, 1986, gift of the Art Museum Council
The Fourth will mark the last day you can see Human Nature: Contemporary Art from the Collection (which includes Nam June Paik’s breathtaking Video Flag Z). Also closing will be the installation R. B. Kitaj’s Covers for a Small Library—a must-see for any and all bibliophiles.
R.B. Kitaj, Towards a Better Life, from In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969, gift of S. A. Feld through The Martin S. Ackerman Foundation
On view starting tomorrow is a new exhibition, Possible Worlds: Mario Ybarra Jr., Karla Diaz, and Slanguage Studio Select from the Permanent Collection. Like our current Burton Selects show, we invited artists to comb through our permanent collection to create an exhibition. The show is in conjunction with Ybarra, Diaz, and Slanguage’s LACMA-sponsored collaboration with Watts House Project on the revitalization of a house just across the street from Watts Towers. (We’ll have more about that collaboration in a future blog post on Unframed.) The results of their picks range from ancient American objects to twentieth-century works on paper and contemporary pieces like Chris Burden’s LAPD Uniform.
Mexico, Nayarit, House Group, 200 BC-500 AD, The Proctor Stafford Collection, purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch
Outside of the galleries, there’s plenty to do on this three-day weekend no matter what day you come. Tonight, as always, is Jazz at LACMA. The concert series has been packed all season long and is a terrifically energized way to spend an evening. Tonight, Larry Nash brings his Jazz Symphonics to the stage.
This evening also marks the start of a summertime series for families, inspired by our Tim Burton exhibition: Stories ’round a (Flashlight) Campfire. Gather in the first level of BCAM, just across the way from Tim Burton, to hear stories inspired by the strange worlds of Burton’s imagination. Tonight, “Tales with a Twist—Creation Myths and Other Mysteries of Nature”. The stories are free with general admission (Tim Burton admission not included).
That’s not the only Burton-related program we’re kicking off this weekend. Saturday begins a new Monster Matinees film series—classic monster movies, sci-fi flicks, and others that inspired a young Tim Burton. This weekend it’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Tickets to the matinee series are free for LACMA members and $5 for non-members.
When the matinee is over, pop over to Hancock Park to hear Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Freddie Ravel, who will be giving a free concert as part of our Latin Sounds series.
The free concerts continue on Sunday evening when the Encore Saxophone Quartet with pianist Bryan Pezzone perform works by Gershwin, Kern, Arlen, and Guiffre in the Bing Theater for our Sundays Live series.
If you’re looking for something to do on Independence Day before the fireworks, the museum will be open. In addition to the exhibitions mentioned above we’ve got plenty of others, so have a look and see what strikes you. If you’ve got some kids itching to get out of the house, bring them to the Boone Children’s Gallery for free art-making activities (here’s a summertime tip: you can do this every day the museum is open). Bring the youngsters at 2 pm for story time.
Scott Tennent