You could take out a small loan and plan an intricate getaway to a faraway place in a quest for a new outlook on life or simply see inspired works of art and diverse perspectives from around the globe by visiting LACMA, your local encyclopedic museum, this weekend.
Beginning on the east side of campus and working westward, two of our newest exhibitions in the Pavilion for Japanese Art highlight distinct periods and styles: Kitasono Katue: Surrealist Poet and Lingering Dreams: Japanese Painting of the Seventeenth Century. In the Ahmanson Building the graceful Pinaree Sanpitak: Hanging by a Thread and genre-blending Princely Traditions and Colonial Pursuits in India showcase artists from South and Southeast Asia. Lastly, in the Resnick Pavilion, Hans Richter: Encounters brings to life the work of a German Renaissance man and his league of international collaborators from the early and mid-20th century.
Chaganlal (India, active 1916–45), Maharana Bhupal Singh (r. 1930–55), India, Rajasthan, Mewar, Udaipur, c. 1940, South and Southeast Asian Acquisition Fund
Eclectic tastes also extend into our weekly music offerings. On Friday evening beginning at 6 pm, Jazz at LACMA welcomes Luther Hughes & Cannonball/Coltrane Project, paying tribute to its two namesake jazz legends through arrangements and original compositions à la Cannonball and Coltrane (naturally). On Saturday evening at 5 pm, Latin Sounds plays host to two-time Grammy Award–winning Brazilian artist Dori Caymmi, who has performed with the likes of Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Gilberto Gil over the course of his career. Then, on Sunday at 6 pm, Sundays Live presents the Theodore Norman Legacy Concert, featuring the Ensemble Fret and UCLA Guitarists, in honor of the late guitarist. Enjoy all this music for free!
A man awaits the start of a film at San Bernardino Art + Film Lab. Photo by Duncan Cheng.
The Art + Film Lab in San Bernardino continues to offer its slew of free community programming at Perris Hill Park. Bring your blanket and a picnic basket for two nights of free outdoor movies; see the animated Wes Anderson flick Fantastic Mr. Fox on Friday at 8:30 pm and the Mexican classic Macario on Saturday at 8:30 pm. Fantastic Mr. Fox tells the story a fox trying to become a better husband and father and the heist meant to deliver his friends and family from an evil bunch of humans. Macario, a parable of greed and cynicism, features the work of acclaimed cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, whose work is featured in the upcoming Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa—Art and Film (opening September 22). Beyond films, guests are invited to partake in Oral History Drop-ins and a Mini Docs Workshop. This is the second-to-last weekend the Art + Film Lab is in San Bernardino. Next stop: Altadena (September 13–October 13).
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Finally, families visiting the museum this weekend are invited to the free Andell Family Sundays event, Sunday from 12:30 to 3:30 pm, with craft workshops inspired by Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa. Children can make lukasas (Luba memory boards), kingship staffs, toddler tarps, sketching, and even take part in free bilingual family tours. And, lastly, school may be back in session, but at LACMA the summer sun hasn’t yet set—LACMA stays open late, until 11 pm, on Friday, with free general admission for L.A. County residents beginning at 3 pm. Come one, come all!
Roberto Ayala