Experience a Franco-Angeleno multimedia extravaganza; view some innovative ideas from our community colleges; discuss how the past gives meaning to the present at the Wende Museum; take in the Palm Springs photography of Tim Street-Porter among other treats at Modernism Week; and see facades reinterpreted by Elena Manferdini at A+D Museum.
1) France Los Angeles Exchange Presents: “The Dialectic of the Stars” Multi-media, Multi-venue Performance Festival
Borders be damned. The France Los Angeles Exchange (FLAX) has created a multi-sensory experience that draws the best from both cultures. Assembled by curator-in-residence Fabien Danesi and program director Anna Milone, The Dialectic of the Stars features 19 emerging and established French and American artists showcasing their works at five venues, including LACE and The Ford Theatre. Attractions include a “hypnotic video piece seen from Hollywood Boulevard” by artist duo Nøne Futbol Club (at LACE), a motorcycle concert by Fouad Bouchoucha, and an exhibit at the Ford Theatre on Sunday, “Drag Me Crazy,” featuring videos and installations on the theme of illusion and transformation by Scoli Acosta, Hoël Duret, Alison O’Daniel and Assaf Shaham.
When: Thursday, Feb. 15, 7-9 pm and Sunday, Feb. 18, 2-8 pm. More dates and times listed here.
Where: LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), 6522 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles 90028 and Ford Theatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd E, Los Angeles 90068, respectively.
Tickets: Free; the festival continues through Feb. 25 with more events you can read about here.
2) Woodbury University Presents PLATFORM
Thinking of sending your child to design school — but shocked at the price tag? How about the community college track? With more than 2.1 million students on 114 campuses, the California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the United States, and has a strong curriculum in architecture and design. Now Woodbury School of Architecture hosts PLATFORM, an exhibition of art and design work by students from eleven Southern California community colleges, including Orange Coast, Santa Monica and Pasadena colleges. Curated and organized by Dr. Marc J. Neveu, Associate Dean at Woodbury’s architecture school, the exhibition is intended to draw attention to the community college system as a path for developing our future design thinkers and innovators.
When: Opening Saturday, Feb. 17, 6-9 pm
Where: Woodbury University Hollywood Outpost (WUHO), 6518 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles 90028
Tickets: Free. Click here for more information.
3) Wende Museum Discussion Series Art – Past – Present with Corrina Peipon and Bari Ziperstein
Art – Past – Present is a series of dialogues at the Wende Museum about how the past gives meaning to the present. Chief Curator Joes Segal launches its 2018 series with a conversation he will moderate between writer Corrina Peipon and artist Bari Ziperstein. Worth checking out both for the quality conversation and to see the Wende Museum of the Cold War in its 7,000 square foot new home in the old Culver City Armory (the new location was discussed on DnA last November).
Wende was founded to address the neglect and rampant destruction of Cold War material culture in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The goal of founder Justinian Jampol for the collection and related programming is to explore the complicated legacy of the Cold War and its relevance to contemporary social and political issues.
When: Sunday, Feb. 18, 4-6 pm
Where: Wende Museum (new location), 10808 Culver Blvd., Culver City 90230
Tickets: Free. Please RSVP here.
4) Palm Springs Modernism Week
If it’s February, it must be time for Modernism Week and sure enough, lovers of all thing midcentury and ratpack-related will want to head to Palm Springs for the annual 10-day fest that starts this Thursday, Feb. 15.
There is a blizzard of events, including the chance to tour a Moroccan Modern home, see a new film about Albert Frey, and ponder such questions as, “Are Social Media Influencers Today’s Modern Day Rat Pack?” Singled out below are a couple events worth catching this weekend.
“Palm Springs Paradise” Book Signing by Tim Street-Porter
Midcentury Palm Springs is arguably one of the most photographed architecture-scapes in the country. So why do we need another book now? Tim Street-Porter is why. The British born-Los Angeles-based photographer was to experimental LA architecture in the 1970s and 80s what Julius Shulman was to the 1940s and 50s. He got interested in the desert city 10 years ago while photographing Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s redo of the Colony Palms Hotel and has now produced Palm Springs Paradise, featuring 17 properties, ranging from iconic (Frey House II, Sunnylands and the Ship of the Desert) to less known (Hearst residence, the Cody Glass House, and the Leff-Florsheim House). They are always shot with natural light on 35 mm and sizzle with freshness and color thanks in part to last year’s record rains.
When: Sunday, Feb. 18, 12-3 pm
Where: Just Fabulous, 515 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs 92262
Tickets: Free. Find the full schedule here.
Home as Art, Art as Home: A panel discussion on J.B. Blunk’s Hand-Built Residence
In Conversation: Alma Allen and J.B. Blunk is an exhibition at Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center that “stages an encounter between two people who never met but whose work shares a deep affinity”: Alma Allen and the late J.B. Blunk, both known for their evocative organic work from natural materials. This Sunday, Palm Springs Art Museum presents a related conversation, “Home as Art, Art as Home: A panel discussion on J.B. Blunk’s Hand-Built Residence.” Gerard O’Brien, a Blunk specialist and owner of Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, will talk with Roman Alonso, principal of Commune design group, and artist Ido Yoshimoto about Blunk’s handbuilt home in Marin County.
When: Sunday, Feb. 18, 5-7 pm
Where: Palm Springs Art Museum, Annenberg Theater, 101 N Museum Dr, Palm Springs 92262
Tickets: $25 per person, seating is limited. You can get tickets here.
5) “A Line of Inquiry”
A+D Museum is entering a new phase. Anthony Morey takes the helm as director following the recent departure of Dora Epstein Jones, and how better to kick off than with a show by the always awe-inspiring work of architect, engineer, fashion and rug designer Elena Manferdini. She calls the drawings that will be on show “a suite of elevation studies” exploring “the potential of intricate scripted line work at the scale of building facades. The collection exists simultaneously as architectural research and as autonomous artwork, and tests ideas of shape vs form, ground vs figure, patterns vs collaboration, orientation vs posture.”
When: Opening Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 pm; exhibition runs through April 20.
Where: A+D Museum, 900 E. 4th Street, Los Angeles 90013 (Complimentary parking at 350 Merrick Street, between Traction Avenue and 4th Street)
Tickets: $5. Get tickets here.