The Pearl’s Art Beat: Premier Exhibitions & Shows
Art lovers rejoice! This season marks the biggest news to hit LA since 2018. After a six-year absence, Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART (previously Pacific Standard Time), returns this September with 800+ artists and 70+ exhibitions. The Mid-City stretch of Wilshire Boulevard known as Museum Row will be bustling with PST ART activities, not far from The Pearl. Another event you won’t want to miss is LUMINEX, an outdoor multimedia extravaganza taking place in DTLA’s South Park neighborhood. And mark your calendars for the first Thursday of every month, when DTLA ArtNight opens its doors to over 25 galleries.
PST ART: Art & Science Collide – Various locations
Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART (previously Pacific Standard Time), returns in September 2024 with 800+ artists, 70+ exhibitions, and 1 mind-blowing theme: Art & Science Collide. One of the most expansive art events in the world, PST ART is a Getty initiative in partnership with museums and institutions across the region. This “collision” will explore the intersections of Art and Science, both past and present, with diverse organizations activating exhibitions on topics like ancient cosmologies, Indigenous sci-fi, environmental justice, and artificial intelligence.
ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN LACMA 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
As his first comprehensive, cross-media retrospective in over 20 years, ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN traces Ruscha’s methods and familiar subjects throughout his career and underscores the many remarkable contributions he has made well beyond the boundaries of the art world. The exhibition includes his early works produced while traveling through Europe, his installations—such as the Chocolate Room and the Course of Empire presented at the Venice Biennale in 1970 and 2005, respectively—and his ceaseless photographic documentation of the streets of Los Angeles beginning in 1965.
Ai Weiwei: The Zodiac Project LACMA 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
While you’re at LACMA, don’t miss The Zodiac Project, Ai Weiwei’s first major public sculpture. For this monumental new work, Ai has recreated the famous twelve bronze animal heads that once adorned the Zodiac Fountain in Yuan Ming Yuan, the Old Summer Palace, in Beijing. Cast around 1750, the original heads were looted by Anglo-French troops who took part in the destruction of Yuan Ming Yuan in 1860 during the Second Opium War. The heads remain a potent trigger for Chinese nationalist sentiments. Ai’s new work suggests a dialogue about the fate of art objects that exist within dynamic and sometimes volatile cultural and political settings. With his subversive wit, the artist adapts objects from the Chinese material canon going back to antiquity, twisting traditional meanings toward new purposes.
Storm Cloud & Growing and Knowing The Huntington 1151 Oxford Rd. San Marino, CA 91108
Art and science collide in The Huntington’s new exhibitions, on view Sept. 14, 2024–Jan. 6, 2025. “Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” and “Growing and Knowing in the Gardens of China” trace the dovetailing histories of the relationship between humans and the environment and emphasize the significant role that close observation has played in art, science, and ethics. When viewed together, provocative questions emerge about our interconnectedness with the natural world. The exhibitions are part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide, a regional event presented by Getty.
Color in Motion Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 6067 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
From hand-tinted silent films to digital film production, color has always played an essential role in creating cinematic landscapes and narratives. Color in Motion explores the power of color as a filmmaking tool, the science and technologies behind it, and its physical and psychological impact on audiences. The story of color is told in high-energy film clips, photographs, posters, production cels, color charts, equipment, and iconic costumes and props such as a costume worn by Kim Novak in Vertigo.
Cyberpunk Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 6067 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema examines the global impact and lasting influence of the science fiction subgenre cyberpunk on cinema culture. Featuring near-future scenarios set in worlds that resemble our own, cyberpunk films juxtapose technological advances with social upheaval, ecological crisis, and urban decay. Central to these stories are outcasts and rebellious characters who fight against corrupt political systems, technology gone haywire, and global mega-corporations.
Mark Dion: Excavations La Brea Tar Pits & Museum 5801 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
Mark Dion’s immersive, uncanny installation at La Brea Tar Pits, Excavations, evokes a behind-the-scenes museum space, displaying new work alongside early museum murals, dioramas, and maquettes of Ice Age mammals in a playful, irreverent presentation. During an extended residency at the Tar Pits, Dion assisted with excavations, sorted microfossils, shadowed a taxidermist at the Natural History Museum, explored collections and archives, and interviewed researchers, educators, and floor staff to create this installation.
Breath(e) Hammer Museum 10899 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90024
Part of Getty’s region-wide initiative PST ART: Art and Science Collide, Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice considers the connections between climate change, environmental justice, and social justice through the lens of contemporary art. The indoor/outdoor exhibition brings together approximately 100 works focused on climate change by a group of intergenerational contemporary artists, scientists, and activists, addressing anthropogenic disasters such as deforestation, ocean acidification, coral reef bleaching, water pollution, extraction, and atmospheric politics.
LUMINEX 3.0 1105 S Olive St. Los Angeles 90015
Save the date for October 5 when LUMINEX returns for a third year, bringing art and community together in an engaging outdoor exhibition using buildings as the canvas. For one night only, free and open to all, eight multimedia artists will transform a five-block radius in the South Park District of downtown Los Angeles. Featured artists this year include JOJO ABOT, Refik Anadol, Alice Bucknell, Nao Bustamante, Petra Cortright, Marc Horowitz, Carole Kim, and Sarah Rara, as well as special installations with Los Angeles Video Artists (LAVA). Don’t forget to book your pedicab!
DTLA ArtNight Emerging Artist Gallery 125 W 4th St. #102, Los Angeles, CA 90013
DTLA ArtNight is a cultural gathering and art walk organized monthly on first Thursdays where over 25 galleries debut new exhibitions from their fine arts collections. These collections encompass a wide array of mediums from artists across LA, the U.S. and the world. DTLA ArtNight is also an opportunity for emerging artists to display their art in participating galleries.
Photo Credits:
Photo #1: LACMA
Photo #2: Getty Center
Photo #3: LACMA
Photo #4: LACMA
Photo #5: The Huntington
Photo #6: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Photo #7: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Photo #8: La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
Photo #9: Hammer Museum
Photo #10: NOW ART LA (LUMINEX LA)
Photo #11: DTLA ArtNight