It'll be in the mid- to high 70s this weekend here in the Miracle Mile. You, dear LACMA friend, have no reason to be inside for the next two days. There's a lot to do throughout LACMA's campus: everything from touring the permanent collection to partaking in screenings of films with costume designers in attendance to just enjoying what's currently on view. We start things off tonight with the film series Street Clothes: Contemporary Costuming in New Hollywood, featuring two films: All That Jazz at 7:30 pm and Phantom of the Paradise at 9:50 pm. On Saturday, don't miss the Academy's January series, Two Sides of a Costume Designer, which highlights the work of designer Theadora Van Runkle with trend-setting costumes in Bonnie and Clyde and an all-enveloping universe in the Best Picture from 1974 The Godfather Part II. This double feature begins at 5 pm.
Wander about the galleries and find a slew of exhibitions and installations spanning millenia and world. In the Hammer Building, see the first solo presentation in Los Angeles of contemporary Chinese artist Xu Bing in The Language of Xu Bing. Bing investigates the meaning and significance of language and, in a hands-on component of the exhibition, guests are invited to practice a unique calligraphy created by the artist. Nearby, in the Ahmanson Building, Art Deco Textiles looks at the work of artist-designers from the first decades of the 20th century who merged traditional fine arts with industrial design. Larry Sultan: Here and Home presents five major bodies of work from the California artist through more than 200 photographs. Whether a visitor to or native of L.A., Sultan's photographs present recognizable snapshots of the mundane to the unique elements of this city.
Want to engage with other museumgoers? Take part in one of our free tours of the collection. Tours such as American Ceramics at 1 pm and Impressionism: A New Way of Seeing at 3 pm on Saturday and Contemporary Art at 2 pm on Sunday showcase the spectrum of LACMA's collection. For families, the final week of the Art of the Samurai-themed Andell Family Sunday begins at 12:30 pm (next month’s focus is on Abstract art) with a performance by Tony Testa and his collective. Sunday also features a private music lesson with Kaz Oshiro and John Wiese at Art Catalogues at 4 pm. And as always, Sundays Live at 6 pm completes the weekend, this week featuring chamber ensembles from the Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute.