5 design things to do this week

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Take a trip down memory lane, on the Red Car; see mystical Huichol yarn paintings at the Fowler; catch Revolution in the Making before it closes; hear about the heyday of Neon Art in Los Angeles and enjoy movies in Sunset Triangle Plaza.

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The Red Car ran all over Los Angeles, including Venice and the West Side from the 1880’s until the 1950’s. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

  1) Take a Trip on the Red Car: A Lecture & Slideshow by Red Car Maven & Historian Alan Fishel

If you thought the new Metro Rail was the first train to the beach, think again, and consider learning all about the original Pacific Electric Red Car through this presentation by the Venice Historical Society.  Historian Alan Fishel will take you down memory lane on two virtual rides on the Red Car, one from downtown to Venice via Hollywood and West L.A., and the other along Venice Boulevard through Culver City and Santa Monica.  Learn about the Red Car’s debut in the 1880s, its expansion at the turn of the 20th century and its eventual decline following WWII.

When: Wednesday, August 31, 7 pm

Where: Oakwood Recreation Center, 767 California Ave., Venice, CA  90291

Tickets: $8 ($5 members) Pay at the door. Click here for more information.

Silver Lake Picture Show
Silver Lake Picture Show, screening classic movies 1st and 3rd Thursdays through September. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

2) Silver Lake Picture Show

The Silver Lake Picture Show is a drive-in movie without the cars!  Walk or bike over to Sunset Triangle Plaza, and join friends, family and neighbors for a summer movie under the Southern California night sky. Come early for the best seats and enjoy a musical performance and a short film from local artists.  Bring a picnic or grab some snacks from nearby restaurants and trucks.  This week’s feature is the 15th anniversary showing of “Super Troopers,” about five over-enthusiastic but under-stimulated Vermont State Troopers raising hell on the highway. On Sept 15, come out for the 30th anniversary presentation of “Labyrinth” with David Bowie.

When: Thursday, Sept 1, 7 – 11 pm

Where: Sunset Triangle Plaza, Junction of Griffith Park Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, and Edgecliffe Drive.  Look for the large neon-green dots!

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

neon signs
Felix the Cat was erected in 1957 to watch over Felix Chevrolet at 12th Street and Grand Avenue. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

3) Book Signing ~  Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965

In its heyday from the 1920s-1960s, neon art had no greater muse than Los Angeles.  The glitter and glamour of the neon signs pulsating throughout the Southland reflected — and helped create — a metropolis on the charge.  In their book, Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965, Tom Zimmerman and J.Eric Lynxwiler present pictures of more than 200 signs that lit Los Angeles from Broadway in DTLA to suburbia (several have been preserved at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale).

When: Thursday, Sept 1, 7:30 pm

Where: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz, CA  90027

Tickets: Free; click here for more information.

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4) The Spun Universe: Wixárika (Huichol) Yarn Paintings

Mythology and shamanic visions associated with the use of peyote inspire the amazing paintings by the Wixárika, or Huichol, people of Western Mexico. The paintings of sacred animals, ancestral figures, holy plants, and important ritual objects are made of colorful yarn attached to wooden boards with beeswax. Highlighted in this exhibition are early works by influential Wixárika artist Ramón Medina Silva. The image above is a detail of an image by José Benítez Sánchez, 2005 (gifted to the Fowler Museum by Ronald Lanyi.)

When:  Through December 4, 2016; Wednesday through Sunday, noon – 5 pm (8 pm on Wednesdays)

Where: UCLA’s Fowler Museum, 308 Charles E Young Dr N, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tickets: Admission is Free; click here for more information.

revolutio in the making
Works by Lynda Benglis, including Wing, 1970, are exhibited as part of Revolution in the Making: ABSTRACT SCULPTURE BY WOMEN, 1947 – 2016 (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5) Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016

Revolution in the Making, the inaugural exhibit at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, has been a well-received kick-off for the new DTLA location of the global art powerhouse. To mark the conclusion of this show of nearly 100 works made by 34 artists over the past seventy years, this Sunday 750 female and female-identifying artists gathered at the gallery for a large group photo in front of the exhibit, “honoring the past and the future of women in art.” It was organized by Venice-based artist Kim Schoenstadt, and the photograph was taken by Isabel Avila and Carrie Yury.

When: Closing Sunday, Sept 4.  Gallery hours Wed, Fri-Sun 11 am – 6 pm, Thursday 11 am – 8 pm

Where: Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, 901 E. 3rd St. Los Angeles, 90013 (DTLA Arts District)

Tickets: Free.  Call to confirm space 213.943.1620.

UPCOMING

Design For The Ages: Up Close With Frances Anderton and Roman Alonso

Let’s get older in style! On Thursday, September 15th, Roman Alonso, founding partner of Commune Design, creators of ACE hotels in Palm Springs and DTLA, will sit down with Frances Anderton, host of KCRW’s Design and Architecture, to talk about how our environmental needs evolve as we age. Tickets are free but you should RSVP, here.