While fireworks shows won't be nearly as abundant as a week ago, this weekend has a lot to offer at LACMA. The Hitchcock 9 silent film series reaches its dramatic conclusion with double-headers on Friday and Saturday evenings in the Bing Theater. First, see The Pleasure Garden at 7:30 pm followed by Easy Virtue at 9:30 pm on Friday. The Pleasure Garden is Hitchcock’s first feature-length film and focuses on two dancers from different sides of the tracks. Easy Virtue follows a wrongly accused woman and her attempt to escape a marred past. Saturday evening presents The Farmer’s Wife at 5 pm and Blackmail at 7:30 pm. A departure from Hitchcock’s customary tones of betrayal and peril, The Farmer’s Wife is a romantic comedy about a housekeeper’s attempt to pair her employer with a wife. In Blackmail, Hitchcock is at his best in this thriller about a young woman turned killer and her boyfriend detective assigned to investigate the murder. Interestingly, this film was released as both a silent film and talkie, as it was made and released at the dawn of the new era of cinema. Moreover, all four films will feature live musical accompaniment by Robert Israel. This is your final opportunity to see the rare, fully restored Hitchcock gems with an expertly orchestrated live soundtrack!
On Friday nights in July and August, BCAM and the Resnick Pavilion stay open till 11 pm for Late Summer Hours. Better yet, L.A. County residents can visit select galleries and exhibitions on the west side of campus at no cost (paid admission is required for James Turrell and Perceptual Cell)! Included in this list of free access are Peter Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA, Hans Richter, Stephen Prina, Ends and Exits: Contemporary Art, and Metropolis II. Also worth noting, parking at LACMA is free after 7 pm entry.
Installation view, The Presence of the Past: Peter Zumthor Reconsiders LACMA
Free concerts are happening across LACMA each day this weekend, per usual. Friday night’s Jazz at LACMA concert will feature David Ornette Cherry and his piano stylings in front of Urban Light at 6 pm. On Saturday at Latin Sounds, Luis Conte, Modern Drummer’s Percussionist of the Year, performs in Hancock Park starting at 5 pm. And on Sunday at Sundays Live, the Angeles Consort performs music for Bastille Day in the Bing Theater at 6 pm. All concerts are free and open to the public.
Not to mention the wall-to-wall art literally everywhere around campus. In its final weeks on view, Japanese Prints: Hokusai at LACMA includes the immensely popular Red Fuji and The Great Wave by the Japanese legend, as well as his woodblock printed books and preparatory drawings. This exhibition closes on July 21. In the adjacent Hammer Building, the recently unveiled Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa features lush wooden sculptures from one of the most prominent kingdoms in central Africa (the Los Angeles Times says the collection of "fascinating objects...reveals a robust, visually sophisticated culture").
Male Mask, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luba Peoples, 19th Century, Wood (Schinziophyton rautaneii), Royal Museum for Central Africa, RG 23470 (collected by O. Michaux in 1896), Photo R. Asselberghs, RMCA Tervuren ©
Next door in the Ahmanson Building you’ll find Pinaree Sanpitak: Hanging by a Thread, an elegant display of handcrafted hammocks. A few floors down Henri Matisse: La Gerbe is an intimate look at Matisse’s large ceramic and the paper cut-outs that lead to this brilliant piece. And, in the Art of the Americas Building, see Jack Stauffacher: Typographic Experiments from San Francisco based printer as he explores the possibilities of typography. The latter exhibition closes July 21.
Jack Werner Stauffacher, Print from Wooden Letters from 300 Broadway, 1998, gift of the 2012 Decorative Arts and Design Acquisition Committee (DA2)
Lastly, Andell Family Sundays on the North Piazza from 12:30–3:30 pm introduces children and parents to the the spirit of Hans Richter in a workshop that challenges participants to express themselves through movement and painting. Come for an hour or stay for the day!
Roberto Ayala