Shelley Holcomb

This week, the Los Angeles art scene brings you a birthday bash, an all access block party, and a look inside the deranged mind of a 1930's poet through the eyes of a contemporary LA artist.  1. Sean Townley The Third Measure at Night Gallery: Three cast aluminum lions that have been sculpted from a 3-D scan of an ancient Greek funerary lion are the central focus of The Third Measure, which has its official opening 7-10pm Saturday. Working directly with institutions to retrieve actual historical scans, Townley has repurposed the physical existence of these relics with the use of modern materials. The lions will be on display through November 21. 2. Grand Ave Arts: All Access at MOCA: Highlighting Grand Avenue’s status as a lively new arts destination, 11 cultural organizations along this arts-centric stretch of Bunker Hill in DTLA are presenting a free one-day cultural event Saturday from 10am-5pm. Of the highlights, MOCA is participating and your favorite artist-run radio station, KCHUNG, will be broadcasting live with DJ sets and performances.  3. Devin Troy Strother's They Should’ve Never Given You Niggas Money: Taking its name from a line in a Dave Chapelle comedy skit about Rick James, Devin Troy Strother’s newest exhibition at Richard Heller Gallery is colorfully humorous, to say the least. These brightly painted new works continue Strother’s exploration of contemporary stereotypes and cultural tropes in today’s African American youth. The opening reception of the show

This week, the Los Angeles art scene delves into the internet’s depths, throws a craps party, and invites you to meet a living painted horse. 1. HOW TO WATER: This multimedia group exhibition dives deeply into the Internet’s abyss, drawing parallels between its fluidity and the transience of water itself. Similar to water, the Internet is an immersive environment and the works in this show employ user interfaces, internet-sourced imagery, installations and interactive new media to submerge the viewer in an encompassing stream of virtual matter. (Eastside International, 602 Moulton Ave, Sunday, 7-10pm) 2. The Pit’s One-Year Anniversary: The Pit is throwing a party for the opening reception of their latest group exhibition When the Sun Hits and their one-year anniversary. In honor of their first year of programming, the night will feature music, drinks, a craps table made by JPW3 and an onsite food-based project by artist Emily Marchand. This is also a celebration for local LA art magazine CARLA’s launch of their second issue. (The Pit, 918 Ruberta Ave, Glendale, Saturday, 6-10pm) 3. A Benefit Auction for Human Resources: Human Resources​ is a small volunteer-run art space that has been an LA gem since they opened their doors in 2009. It’s the paragon of experimental galleries and provides a platform for the presentation and preservation of underexposed forms of expression, especially in conceptual and performance art. The auction will be held online via Paddle8 and the works w

This week, the Los Angeles art scene brings you an X-rated slumber party, the culmination of a cross-country exhibition, contemporary Kabuki theater with a werewolf and much more. 1. So Anxious: A Whits & Giggles Slumber Party at Pehrspace: Whits & Giggles is the notorious, x-rated, female-driven radio show on LA's own artist-run station, KCHUNG. This Friday, they'll be taking their show to a whole new level: a sex-themed, all-girl exhibition and coed dance party. Featuring a DJ set by the ladies themselves and a live performance by progressive rap group, Jung Money, this night is sure to tickle your FOMO bone, so don't miss it. 325 Glendale Blvd. Friday, June 26, 8pm-1am.  2. Nahuel Vecino at Del Vaz Projects: Del Vaz Projects is an LA art world gem located in a private apartment in Little Osaka. Their next exhibition features the Argentinian artist, Nahuel Vecino, whose works adopt the aesthetics of great masters like Giotto and Goya with a modern day twist. Affected by the 2001 economic collapse of Argentina, Vecino’s Renaissance-style paintings often portray everyday "lowlifes" such as prostitutes or shanty town dwellers as mythological beings. 1600 Westgate Ave. Sunday, June 28, 1-4pm.  3. The Slick & The Sticky at Various Small Fires: This group exhibition is centered around the concept of seeing poetry in art. Through their diverse practices, the artists in The Slick & The Sticky demonstrate that poetry can be simply language at play, or a play on language. Each work i

This week, the Los Angeles art scene brings you a virtual gallery that denies the laws of physics, a melancholic "mellow drama" and Duchampian structures made of junk. 1. The Gallery is Naked at New New Wight. New New Wight is a virtual exhibition space conceived by UCLA graduate students, Juileta Gils and Theo Triantafyllidis. It is an exact replica of UCLA’s New Wight Gallery with the same floor plan and interior layout, except the only way to enter New New Wight is through the Internet. Its inaugural show opens this week with a hefty roster of new media artists. Here’s your entrance. (Thursday) 2. Melancholy: A White Mellow Drama at Fahrenheit. The third in a trilogy of choreographed performances by Ligia Lewis, Melancholy: A White Mellow Drama is an exploration of the color white and its material implications toward race and social symbols. The work is performed by dancer Thibault Lac with a musical arrangement by WYNN (of Twin Shadow) accompanied by Patrick Belega. RSVP by email to reserve a seat: fahrenheit@flaxfoundation.org. (Saturday 8:30pm) 3. Tongues Untied Screening at West Hollywood City Council Chambers. Marlon Riggs was a filmmaker, writer, educator and gay rights activist known for his pivotal documentaries which voiced the concerns of African-Americans during the AIDS crisis. His film Tongues Untied is a highly-personal and emotional examination of sexuality and race amid a crucial time in queer history. This event is in conjunction with MOCA’s eponymous new

This week, the Los Angeles art scene brings you a Mutant Salon, an evening of audiovisual stimulation and a glimpse into the richness of everyday life through the eyes of a contemporary African-American photographer.  1. Is It All Over My Face?—a live performance series at Honor Fraser. A week of curated performances and video screenings, Is It All Over My Face? explores concepts of the artist alter ego. Highlights include five new videos and a live performance by rap goddess Jizzy Lizzy (Wednesday 8:30pm) and a Mutant Salon wherein performers will enact the ritual of self-beautification by synthesizing movement with sound. (Thursday 7:30pm).  2. Dawn Kasper The Age of Anxiety at Redling Fine Art. Crashing her truck while wearing only a trench coat and ski mask, conducting a musical score for hoarders by stacking furniture to the ceiling and hijacking the Whitney Museum as her personal workspace are just a few examples of the type of performance you can expect from Dawn Kasper. We don’t know what to expect for her upcoming exhibition at Redling Fine Art, but we highly suggest you be there to witness it. (Thursday 7:30pm) 3. Audiodrome: Vol.1 - Terminal Vortex at Cinefamily. The first edition of a new audiovisual series brought to you by the talents of WOAH, Tigerbeat6 and Cinefamily, Audiodrome is a showcase of live-score music performances and experimental video premieres. The night also serves to celebrate the release of glitch/mash-up artist Kid 606’s latest record Bored o

The LA art scene gets deranged this weekend with cartoonish absurdity from an art legend, creepy clowns and a show that takes place inside a replica of the Unabomber hideout. 1. Dan Colen Viscera at Venus of Los Angeles. Venus of Los Angeles is a recent gallery transplant from New York and this weekend they open their inaugural exhibition with a solo show from artist Dan Colen. With sculptures molded from mangled roadside guard rails, paintings inspired by the 1940 Disney film Fantasia and recordings from an entire year of psychic readings, Viscera explores the idea of what it means to be a “vessel” both physically and metaphysically. (Saturday 12-4pm) 2. Peter Saul Some Crazy Pictures at David Kordansky. Often times referred to as one of the fathers of pop art, Peter Saul has been an integral figure at the forefront of many important art movements throughout the past several decades. In his signature cartoonish style, Saul’s brightly painted works humorously illuminate the everyday absurdity of popular culture, money, power, politics and the art world. (Saturday 6-8pm) 3. Parker Ito A Lil Taste of Cheeto in the Night closing at Chateau Shatto. Parker Ito’s current installation, A Lil Taste of Cheeto in the Night, fills a 7,800-square-foot warehouse in Downtown LA with an astonishing maze of sculptures and paintings created over the past two years. To mark the closing of this installation, Parker Ito will also present Epilogue, an exhibition of brand new works at the adjacent

The LA art world flirts with the esoteric this week with contemporary witchcraft lessons from a real-world witch, the dark-side of emoticons and an audition to join what could be a cult.   1. E.S.P. TV live taping at Human Resources, LA. E.S.P. TV is an artist collaborative that utilizes a mobile television studio installed within a van to explore the medium of performative live broadcast. They are joined by a colorful crew of video and performance artists for your viewing pleasure this Tuesday and will be streaming the whole experience from Human Resources in Chinatown. (Tuesday 8-10pm) 2. Janne Larsen Original Seed + Dining Collective, Inner Dinner at Elephant. In Janne Larsen’s twisted world of watercolors, Monsanto employees are ironically portrayed as crusaders to end world hunger. Her silicone sculptures incorporate actual language used in the Bowman vs. Monsanto lawsuit to illuminate our ignorance of the food industry’s powers that be. Coinciding with the exhibition of works, there will be a dinner performance by Dining Collective, Inner Dinner (Chris Niemi, Andrew Choate and Janne Larsen). (Friday 7-10pm) 3. An evening with Amanda Yates Garcia, The Oracle of Los Angeles at ESMoA. Ever seen a real-world witch? No? Well, this Saturday at ESMoA you have your chance to see Amanda Yates Garcia—a multimedia artist, writer, oracle and witch—give a lecture on contemporary witchcraft and conduct a Manifestation ritual all in one night. The event is part of ESMoA’s current art

The LA art scene plays mind games this week with psychedelic scenes reminiscent of Eyes Wide Shut, string theories and highly complex mathematical concepts. If you're not having your own psychedelic experience at Coachella, you should check out these five events. 1. Emanuel Rossetti: Hems at Karma International LA. Emanuel Rossetti is a Switzerland-based artist whose recent work delves into the concepts of an all-encompassing experience being presented as an exhibition. Drawing inspiration from the torus, a geometric form consisting of only a single surface, he uses carpeted structures and a self-composed sound piece to fill the room and create an intervention of the space. (Thursday 6-8pm) 2. Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal at Otis College of Art and Design. This is a group exhibition of painting, photography, sculpture and video by 28 internationally renowned contemporary artists. The works examine concepts of political repression, individual isolation and the collective melancholy experienced during the decline of the industrial revolution. There will be a walk-through with exhibition curator Richard Rinehart at 4:30pm. (Saturday 4-6pm) 3. Tomoo Gokita: Bésame Mucho and Max Maslansky: Jouissance at Honor Fraser Gallery. Referencing vintage postcards, magazines and classic film stills, Tomoo Gokita creates surreal portraits of his subjects by distorting their hands and faces. He replaces the painted figures’ facial features with gradients and obscured shapes, imb

The LA art scene is hot and heavy this week with everything from spells for improving your sex life to intoxicating beats by multihyphenate Devendra Banhart. 1. Coaxial Inaugural Opening. Coaxial is a new media space founded by the creators of the conceptual broadcast Experimental Half­-Hour with the goal of bringing the video art community together and providing space for workshops, live experimental TV tapings and art exhibitions. This weekend, they bring you a jam-packed schedule with BBQs, music, performances, art installations and video works by some of LA’s best video artists. (Sat 2pm-12am; Sun 3pm-midnight)  2. Joseph Huppert + Jason Burgess: New Work. Influenced by textiles, patterns, and traditional crafts, Joseph Huppert’s painstakingly detailed drawings are comprised of individual graphite lines that compound to form an intrinsically beautiful surface. Jason Burgess’s entrancing oil paintings recall feelings and thoughts from a specific point in time. Airbrushed layers and visceral strokes evoke an experiential, dream­-like narrative that reflects his surroundings and mood. New Work is on view through May 9 at Harmony Murphy Gallery. (Sat 7-9pm) Photograph: Courtesy of Harmony Murphy Gallery Facebook   3. Autre Issue #3: “No More Boring Art.” Known for their bold headlines and risque photography, Autre magazine joins forces with MAMA Gallery to celebrate the launch of their third issue, “No More Boring Art.” Their latest issue features some of LA’s most interest