All things must come to an end, work weeks and elegant displays of ancient Chinese paintings included. The exhibition featuring ten early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) court painting masterpieces, Ming Masterpieces from the Shanghai Museum, has reached its conclusion. See this collection of Chinese paintings that the Los Angeles Times called “absorbing” and “a mark of distinction” before it leaves on Sunday. This type of art is rarely seen in the United States and this weekend is your last chance to experience this astonishing display of detail and grace.
Li Zai, The Daoist Adept Qin Gao Riding a Carp, Ming dynasty, 15th century, Shanghai Museum
Commemorating the final month of Stanley Kubrick (open through June 30), the film series Kubrick and Co. enters its second week of choicely-paired flicks. Beginning on Friday night at 7:30 pm, we screen two films about the hunt for justice against all odds, Paths of Glory and Time Without Pity. On Saturday evening at 5 pm we switch gears and present Lord Loves a Duck and Lolita: the former a teensploitation epic, the latter a provocative classic about a middle-aged man and his obsession with a teenage girl. The Kubrick and Co. series continues every weekend in June, till the close of the exhibition. Check out this week's LA Weekly for more on the series.
Families at LACMA will enjoy free Family Tours on Saturday at 11 am and Andell Family Sundays right after lunch on Sunday. Also on Sunday at 1 pm, Eleanor Antin will read from her darkly comic coming-of-age memoir, Conversations with Stalin. The free reading of this hilarious quest will be followed by a book signing in the Brown Auditorium.
Contemporary art is abundant on the west side of campus. In BCAM you’ll see Stephen Prina: As He Remembered It next to Ends and Exits and one part of James Turrell: A Retrospective. Next door in the Resnick Pavilion, you’ll find another showstopper, Hans Richter: Encounters. This exhibition of the prolific painter/filmmaker/writer/artist includes an interactive section with augmented reality projected through iPads. Take your time here, there’s quite a lot to see in this gallery! In the Pavilion for Japanese Art Japanese Prints: Hokusai at LACMA impresses with iconic works like the popularly known Red Fuji and The Great Wave.
Hans Richter, Dragonfly (Counterpoint in Red, Black, Gray, and White), 1943, private collection, © 2013 Hans Richter Estate, Photo © 2013 Museum Associates/LACMA
Finally, live, free music is on tap all weekend at LACMA, per usual. Friday night’s Jazz at LACMA performance from emerging modern jazz vocalist Sandra Booker starts at 6 pm. Saturday evening’s performance by Téka, a renowned Brazilian singer/guitarist, graces Latin Sounds in Hancock Park (behind the museum) at 5 pm. And on Sunday evening the UCLA Camarades perform Schubert at Sundays Live in the Bing Theater at 6 pm.
One final note, beyond this weekend: mark your calendars for two can't-miss talks next week. On Monday, LACMA Director Michael Govan will be in conversation with Peter Zumthor about the Pritzker Prize-winning architect's proposal for a new building at LACMA. Then, on Wednesday, Govan returns to speak with Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the topic of "the future of the encyclopedic art museum."
Roberto Ayala