DCA Arts and Cultural Calendar

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January 2020
Tristan Espinoza: Index, Interiors
Tristan Espinoza’s Index, Interiors, presents the site-specific, web-based artwork, perennial, a project archiving the artist’s personal and cultural histories associated with Southern California’s ubiquitous citrus heritage. Espinoza indexes an array of recording and rendering approaches—from the hand-made artistic medium of cyanotypes to an obscured second-hand comprehension derived from artificial intelligence—poetically cultivating a discourse around societal relationships and distances to material experiences, memories, and their proxies. Tristan Espinoza [b. 1995, Tamuning, Guam (he/they)] has exhibited internationally and in the US, in…
March 2021
Carlos Almaraz: Evolution of Form
The exhibition Carlos Almaraz: Evolution of Form focuses on the artist’s early life that significantly influenced his artistic style and form, from conceptualism and minimalism when he lived in New York in the 60s, to color and figurative work when he returned to Los Angeles.
Sula Bermudez – Silverman: Neither Fish, Flesh, nor Fowl
The exhibit presents the artists’ personal and familial histories as a woman of Afro-Puerto Rican and Jewish descent, transforming genetic data into colorful pie charts that call to mind hard-edged abstractions. Elsewhere, she embroiders vintage doilies with her own hair to depict the human body, as well as language that references the legacy of colorism and passing in the African diaspora. In the works debuting at CAAM, she addresses early global trade, the beginnings of commodification, and economic hierarchies by…
California African American Museum YouTube Channel
You can access all of CAAM’s videos “from artist interviews to exhibition previews and guest profiles on CAAM’s YouTube Channel. There are short videos about their exhibitions and public programs plus full recordings of many of their archived Zoom programs including a free yoga class and an inspiring talk with Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and political commentator Bakari Sellers. New videos are added frequently.
José Bedia and Belkis Ayón
The Afro-Cuban Experience in Art from the Museum of Latin American Art The Afro-Cuban Experience in Art from the Museum of Latin American Art. Belkis Ayon’s mysterious images are based upon the mythology of the Afro-Cuban all-male secret society the Abakua.
Hammer Museum – Digital Archives
Explore collection areas and past exhibitions online through these six in-depth repositories of images and research materials. UCLA Artists in the Hammer Museum Collection Corita Kent in the Grunwald Center Collection Loss and Restitution: The Story of the Grunwald Family Collection Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960 – 1985 Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960- 1980 Take It or Leave It: Institution, Images, Ideology
Behind the Mask – Virtual Exhibition
Behind the Mask investigates the role of the mask as an icon in contemporary artistic explorations and understandings of race, gender, sexuality, mythology, histories, and cultural remembrance. Guest curated by Sarah Umles, Behind the Mask features artists Jack Black, Skount Garcia, Ashley Johnson and Alicia Piller. An interactive, self-guided virtual tour of the exhibition will be released on Friday, January 22nd at angelsgateart.org with gallery appointments pending the guidance of state and local health orders. The exhibition will run through…
For the Love of L.A.
For The Love of L.A. highlights the broad and expansive array of Angeleno creativity across diverse disciplines and geographies. More than 35 artists in total will be featured with a platform to express their views of Los Angeles that are relevant and reflective of the current time through music, dance, and visual culture.
Sanctuary: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection
Sanctuary features recently acquired works that explore the concepts of safety and refuge as they relate to the African American experience. Whether real, staged, or imagined, the worlds depicted in these photographs and mixed-media works support complex narratives and assert the importance of claiming a place of one’s own. Until the Museum reopens be sure to see interviews with Artists and the recent acquisitions on CAAM’s YouTube Channel.
FOR THE LOVE OF L.A
For The Love Of L.A. highlights the broad and expansive array of Angeleno creativity across diverse disciplines and geographies. More than 35 artists in total will be featured with a platform to express their views of Los Angeles that are relevant and reflective of the current time through music, dance, and visual culture.
Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980 Expanded Digital Archive at Hammer Museum
The exhibition Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960 -1980 chronicled the vital legacy of the city’s African American artists. The expanded digital Archive at the Hammer contains all the art and themes from the exhibition along with biographies of the artists featured in the exhibition. The archive includes lectures, performances, and other events related to the exhibition.
Nikita Gale: PRIVATE DANCER
In the installation at CAAM, theatrical lighting trusses are transformed into sculpture, and programmed lights dance to an unheard soundtrack of music by Tina Turner, an icon the artist has been referencing for over six years. By isolating the visual language of live performance in the gallery and separating it from the expectation of audio, Gale creates an uncanny experience that serves as a meditation on the limits of the body, the demands of celebrity, and silence as a political…

African American Heritage Celebrations
African American Heritage Month is a citywide commemoration of African American heritage and history in Los Angeles. The celebration will acknowledge Southern California’s African American contributions in the areas of education, religion, the arts, culture, and the humanities. Events include dance and music concerts, and gallery exhibitions.
Borderline – Virtual Exhibition
Borderline explores the notion of the border – both as a metaphor for our lived experience and as a tool to undermine the certainty of the territories it defines. By occupying the in-between space that exists between two distinct conditions, we defiantly trespass into adjacent space, breakdown conventional barriers, and explore new territories. An interactive, self-guided virtual tour of the exhibition will be released on Friday, January 22nd at angelsgateart.org with gallery appointments pending the guidance of local and state…
“The Orisha Talks” Sunday Salons
“The Orisha Talks” Sunday Salons Creative Sunday Salon of spoken word, poetry, music, dance, fashion and art – taking place onsite – in the garden, at the beach, on the porch or patio, at the lake or the park, in the sunshine maybe even the rain! Celebrating the Spring Equinox and the forces of Nature, called the Orisha! Creativity happens everywhere! Inspired by the book, The Orisha Talks: Tales of Lust, Love, & Herstorical Memory. Free – $23 includes…
Studio Soup
Studio Soup is a quarterly series of candid conversations about process, featuring guest artists who share their experience and practice. Artist, Peggy Reavey, hosts this closer look at the unique ways artists move from original impulse to finished piece – how their work comes to be. Join the conversation with Peggy Reavey and abstract painters Daniel Dove, Ron Linden and Ted Twine on Tuesday, March 23, 6:30 – 8:00pm. Registration is required for this free virtual event. Register today at…
April 2021
Made in L.A, 2020: a version
The fifth iteration of the Hammer’s acclaimed biennial bridges East and West with complementary presentations at the Hammer and The Huntington. Works by 30 Los Angeles-based artists are presented at both institutions in two versions that make up the whole. The exhibition features new installations, videos, films, sculptures, performances, and paintings, many commissioned specifically for the exhibition. Many of the featured events are online. The opening date of this exhibition is dependent on L.A. County guidelines for museums to reopen
Transcendients: Heroes at Borders
Transcendients: Heroes at Borders is a contemporary art exhibition by Taiji Terasaki, in collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum, that honors individuals who advocate and fight for those who face discrimination, prejudice, and inequality at borders both real and imagined. The reopening date of this exhibit is dependent on L.A. County guidelines.
May 2021
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is a citywide commemoration of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage and history in Los Angeles. The celebration will acknowledge Southern California’s Asian and Pacific Islander contributions in the areas of education, religion, the arts, culture, and the humanities. Events include music concerts, performances, and several gallery exhibitions.
One City One Pride 2021
Each year the City of West Hollywood celebrates pride with its One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, which runs from Harvey Milk Day (May 22) through the end of June Pride month (June 30).
November 2021
The Obama Portraits Tour
Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of the former First Lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public. In addition to the artworks themselves, the LACMA presentation of The Obama Portraits will feature teacher workshops, curatorial tours, and a richly illustrated book. These special presentations will enhance the conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its potential to engage communities. The opening date of this event is dependent on L.A. County Health guidelines.