Gehry Partners chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd said that his death followed a brief respiratory illness.

Gehry recently designed the Louis Vuitton flagship store that will open in Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle in 2029. Bernard Arnault, the Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton’s parent company, the luxury conglomerate LVMH, expressed his sorrow over Gehry’s passing.

“I am profoundly saddened by the passing of Frank Gehry, in whom I lose a very dear friend and for whom I shall forever retain boundless admiration,” Arnault said. “I owe to him one of the longest, most intense, and most ambitious creative partnerships I have ever had the privilege to experience. His oeuvre, crowned by the Pritzker Prize, is immense. He will remain a genius of lightness, transparency, and grace. Frank Gehry—who possessed an unparalleled gift for shaping forms, pleating glass like canvas, making it dance like a silhouette—will long endure as a living source of inspiration for Louis Vuitton as well as for all the Maisons of the LVMH group. With the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création, he bestowed upon Paris and upon France his greatest masterpiece, the highest expression of his creative power, commensurate with the friendship he bore our city and the affection he showed for our culture. My wife, my children, and I express our deepest condolences to his wife, Berta, and to his children.”

Born Frank Owen Goldberg on Feb. 28, 1929, in Toronto, Canada, Gehry moved with his parents to Los Angeles after finishing high school and enrolled in art and architecture classes at L.A. City College.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from USC in 1954, and that same year changed his last name to Gehry.

Gehry gained the attention of the design and architecture world thanks to his renovations of his own Santa Monica home, which he remodeled into a livable work of art using unexpected materials such as corrugated metal and chain link fencing.

He went on to become the most recognized American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright. He received international acclaim for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and many more structures.

In the hours following the announcement of his death, condolences and remembrances have poured in.

“Frank Gehry didn’t just design buildings—he created spaces that lift up artists and have brought generations of people together,” L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn posted on X. “His design of the SELA Cultural Center on the LA River will be a lasting gift to the families of Southeast LA. We’ve lost a giant. Thank you, Frank.”

In a statement, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said that working alongside Gehry was “one of the great honors of my life.”

“Frank’s brilliance was matched only by his generosity of spirit, and his ability to see possibility where others saw limits transformed not only the County of Los Angeles and communities across the world, but all of us who had the privilege to work with him,” she said.

Gehry is survived by his wife, Berta, and four children.

The post Legendary Architect Frank O. Gehry Dies at 96 appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

Art Events

Gagosian Beverly Hills has welcomed local artist Alex Israel for his first show in a decade running until March 22. The “Noir” exhibition features new paintings of iconic Los Angeles locations at night from the Troubadour to a tattoo parlor. Israel’s hometown is LA, and this exhibition is a celebration of the city he loves and draws inspiration from. He is donating a portion of the sale proceeds to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. This fund was set up by the J. Paul Getty Trust to provide critical emergency support for artists and arts workers impacted by the fires. 

Other institutions such as the Hammer Museum, as part of the Mohn Art Collective alongside LACMA and MOCA, have also joined the J. Paul Getty Trust in the creation of the $12 million LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. Frieze Los Angeles (Feb. 20-23) at the Santa Monica Airport, is a founding contributor to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund and will help in aiding recovery efforts. Maison Ruinart is supporting Frieze’s efforts, alongside the “Conversations with Nature” debut, artist Sam Falls has created limited-edition collectibles including hats and books available in the Ruinart Art Lounge with 100% of proceeds going to aid this cause. Visit frieze.com for tickets.

ArtWalk returns to the West Hollywood Design District on Feb. 19, for an evening of support for the local community by raising funds for those affected by the LA wildfires. Take a stroll while shopping, dining and gallery hopping on Melrose, Beverly and Robertson corridors before and after dark with extended hours. Visit westhollywooddesigndistrict.com for more information.

Chef’s Unite 

Beverly Hills has launched “EAT. DONATE. LOVE” now through Feb. 15. The dine-out-to-help campaign will take a portion of the proceeds at participating Beverly Hills hotels, over 20 restaurants and bars to raise a total of up to $175,000, which will support Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts for the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu and Pasadena, and the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund.

Participating hotels include The Beverly Hills Hotel, the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, The Maybourne Beverly Hills, The Peninsula Beverly Hills and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. Check lovebeverlyhills.com for more information.

CHEFS ❤ LA is an all-star fundraising benefit bringing together the biggest names in food, hosted at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills on Feb. 27.

The driving forces behind this event are producers Brad Metzger, a former waiter at The Grill on the Alley and Jacqui Leanza, hosted by “Somebody Feed Phil” creator Phil Rosenthal, along with auctioneer Billy Harris. With 100% of proceeds directly benefiting Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen and Restaurants Care, Andres’ new Mexican-inspired Butterfly in Culver City is also participating in the event, along with chefs including Daniel Boulud, Ludo Lefebvre, Michael Cimarusti, Suzanne Goin, Josiah Citrin, Nyesha Arrington, Jordan Kahn, Burt Bakman, Jon Yao, Curtis Stone, Jeremy Fox, Michael Voltaggio, and Sherry Yard among others.

The event will also honor a distinguished group of community heroes, including chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, who have gone above and beyond to support those affected by the wildfires.  

“Food has the power to bring people together, and the hospitality industry is built on community and giving back. Hosting this event is an honor,” said Ryan Wilson, CEO of Lawry’s Restaurants, Inc. Visit ChefsLoveLA.com for details.

Chefs Walter and Margarita are hosting Los Angeles Rise Up on Feb. 24 in partnership with Big Sur Food and Wine and Global Empowerment Mission at République on La Brea Avenue. This benefit event is dedicated to supporting those in the hospitality and service industry who are recovering from the LA fires. Participating chefs include Dominique Crenn, Nancy Silverton, Chris Bianco and more. Tickets available at losangelesriseup.ticketsauce.com. 

Cocktails For a Cause

Ola Sol Benefit Cocktails: Sip for a Cause is an ongoing initiative around LA where some of the top restaurants are creating specialty cocktails with Ola Sol premium agave wine. Sip and support at Cobi’s and Father’s Office in Santa Monica or Butchr Bar in Echo Park. When a drink is purchased, a meal will be donated to the LA Food Bank to feed first responders and displaced Angelenos.

For something alcohol-free, Grammy Award-winner Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Wellness Smoothie will be available at Erewhon tonic bars through March 5. Featuring plant-based Almond Malk, a portion of proceeds will benefit the Altadena Girls charity, which is working with teenage victims of the wildfires.

Pampering and Fitness

The Beverly Wilshire has teamed up with Isaac Boots, who will lead workout classes that combine body resistance, dance conditioning and targeted reps from Feb. 20 to March (Thursday through Sunday each week) with 100% of ticket sales benefiting World Central Kitchen. Bookings can be made at isaacboots.com.

Entertainment 

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will hold The Wallis Delivers: A Benefit Evening to Support Wildfire Recovery on April 30 at 6 p.m., hosted by Jane Fonda.  

“The recent Los Angeles wildfires ravaged far too many of our communities, neighborhoods and homes, but they could not dim our hearts,” said Wallis Annenberg. “The outpouring of help and support has been truly extraordinary and a lot more is needed. That’s why we are dedicating this special evening to helping Los Angeles rise from the ashes of the Eaton and Palisades fires.” 

The event also honors philanthropy and the extraordinary generosity of the Annenberg Foundation and Ms. Annenberg. Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, a recognized community leader, will be named the first recipient of The Wallis Icon Award, for his visionary leadership in the realm of corporate philanthropy.  For tickets, visit thewallis.org.

Staycations 

The Ranch at Malibu has donated $25,000 to the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation Community Brigade, which works closely with the L.A. County Fire Department. This volunteer organization helps communities recover from natural disasters.  As an additional way to show support, through Feb. 17, when you reserve a stay at The Ranch Malibu, it will donate $1,000 from your reservation to the Brigade.

Malibu Beach Inn will be offering discounted room rates for short or long-term stays to those displaced or evacuated. To support the LA dining community, Carbon Beach Club will offer a 20% discount on food to anyone affected by the wildfires in this community and looking to support the hotel’s recovery. All guests have membership-level access to CURE Wellness Center’s fitness and spa facilities, in addition to mental health and telehealth resources. 

The post How to Give Back This Valentine’s Weekend and Beyond appeared first on Beverly Hills Courier.

“Everything you see there on the ground, the tents, the canopies, everything is original,” Ilan Faktor, one of the exhibit organizers, told the Courier. “Everything is from the festival. The shoes, everything you see in the lost and found, everything is original.” From the portable restrooms pierced with bullet holes to the beverage bottles at the marketplace bar and the sound system; everything in the exhibit was recovered from the Nova festival after the carnage. 

Throughout the exhibition, video footage from attendees and testimony from survivors play next to corresponding festival sites, hauntingly capturing the essence of the victims’ and survivors’ experiences. 

“It was the best festival,” Michal Ohana, a Nova survivor, told the Courier. “The energy, the vibe, the people, the smiles—it was wow.” After the fighting broke out, Ohana hid under an Israeli military tank for roughly six hours with a gunshot wound in her leg and her body covered with ricochets. 

“I lost 10 of my friends at the festival, and two of my friends were kidnapped, and they are still in Gaza,” Ohana said. “I’m still alive, and I need to do something for my friends, for the hostages, for the families, for the survivors, and I started to share my story, to tell the truth to the world about what happened to us and what is still happening to us.”

“They shot me in my leg,” Ohana said. “I don’t understand how I can do all these things, but now I’m dancing, walking, surfing, and it’s a miracle that I’m here today and I can share my story.”

The installation ends with a healing room, a call to action to bring the Israeli hostages home, and a message of hope: “We will dance again.”

The exhibit runs from Aug. 17 through Oct. 8 in Culver City. To learn more, visit https://www.novaexhibition.com/.  

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Galleries in Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and Santa Monica will open their doors to art lovers and aficionados to provide them with the exclusive opportunity to experience some of the world’s most breathtaking and groundbreaking works and offer them the chance to hear from the artists themselves about the inspiration and intention behind their creations.

Navigating this treasure trove of awe-inspiring artwork sprawling across the Los Angeles landscape can seem overwhelming. I believe in art’s power to inspire and inform, transcend borders, nurture greater cultural understanding and appreciation, and build a more inclusive future for all.

First, you’ll need a quick recap of Frieze Los Angeles and Felix Art Fair. Then, you’ll need to check out these three must-see exhibits that fully embody that spirit of inspiration, innovation and connection.

Frieze Los Angeles

Frieze Los Angeles 2024, held at the Santa Monica Airport from Feb. 29 – Mar. 3, features over 95 of today’s most exciting galleries from around the world and promises to be a dynamic convergence of art, innovation and community. This highly anticipated event showcases the best of contemporary art from around the globe, bringing together a diverse array of established and emerging galleries, artists, and cultural institutions from the East and West and providing them a platform to connect and collaborate. From traditional paintings and sculptures to cutting-edge multimedia installations, Frieze Los Angeles delivers an eclectic mix of artworks that push the boundaries of creativity and challenge conventional norms.

Felix Art Fair

Felix LA runs Feb. 28 – Mar. 3 at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and will feature artwork from 66 galleries along with a more relaxed, poolside vibe.

Felix Art Fair is deeply rooted in the local arts scene and is focused on supporting and promoting Los Angeles’ vibrant, diverse and creative artistic community. By showcasing the work of local artists and collaborating with local galleries and cultural institutions, the Felix Art Fair celebrates the region’s continuing artistic evolution.

Felix Art Fair focuses on inclusivity and accessibility and is dedicated to providing a welcoming space where both seasoned collectors and first-time art enthusiasts can explore and engage with the vibrant world of contemporary art.

Three Don’t-Miss Exhibits

For me, the spotlight this week will shine brightest on three hidden gems—pop-up exhibits being held alongside the official Frieze Los Angeles and Felix LA exhibits.

Two are amazing pop-ups in our own Beverly Hills backyard from Marc Selwyn Fine Art and Gemini GEL. The third is a remarkable pop-up in neighboring West Hollywood, the Mexican gallery OMR, which is curated by the incomparable Esthella Provas.

Marc Selwyn Fine Art 

Marc Selwyn has an incredible booth at Frieze Los Angeles. I am particularly fond of Frank Bowling’s beautiful painting on display there, “Towards Crab Island,” which was recently featured in his Tate retrospective.

In addition to his booth at Frieze, Marc is hosting a pop-up featuring Rodolfo Abularach, one of Latin America’s most distinguished masters best known for his dramatic close-up renditions of human eyes—an image that gripped the artist for two decades—at 427 N. Camden Drive in Beverly Hills. By appointment only until March 7.

Also on display will be Lee Bontecou’s “Untitled, 2001,” which depicts an exotic dragon-like animal and was featured in her Museum of Modern Art retrospective, along with a new puzzle work by Allen Ruppersberg, “25 Ways to Start Over (#20 Do a self-portrait)”, which will be featured in the artist’s upcoming show “25 Ways to Start Over” at Marc Selwyn.

Gemini GEL Gallery

The iconic print gallery, Gemini GEL, will feature pop-ups of 27 works at the Beverly Hills Hotel from artists including John Baldessari, Sophie Calle, Tacita Dean, Darryl Pottorf, Robert Rauschenberg and Ed Ruscha.

The Gemini GEL gallery, at 8635 Melrose Ave., will also showcase a special screening of Richard Serra’s “Notebook Drawings,” a series of eight new etchings by the artist, on  March 2.

To create this project, Serra referenced a series of eight drawings which he created in an intimate pocket-sized, notebook. These prints suggest the form and radiating heat of massive solid steel sculptures as they emerge from the forging process. All drawings appear spontaneous and likely were executed quickly and simultaneously, and the challenge in making the etchings was to capture that spontaneity and evoke the smudges of the charcoal drawings.

OMR Gallery

OMR’s pop-up, which is being curated by Esthella Provas, is exhibiting provocative works by artists Doug Aitken, Atelier Van Lieshout, Matti Braun, Pia Camil, Claudia Comte, Jose Dávila, Simon Fujiwara, Alicja Kwade, Tony Matelli, Jorge Méndez Blake, Ana Montiel, Gabriel Rico, Eduardo Sarabia, SUPERFLEX and Troika.

This exhibition explores how we relate to and unite with nature, placing it at the core of our experience in this world while also standing apart from it. The works presented reflect on our inherent human nature, which encompasses both the potential for control or destruction, and the capacity to hope and dream amidst unfolding ecological crises.

Comte’s “Celya” evokes the deep-rooted interconnectedness of our natural world; van Lieshout’s sculpture, “The Caretakers,” underscores the emotions that sets humans apart from animals; and Blake’s “In the Silence You Don’t Know, You Must Go on, I Can’t Go on, I’ll Go on”, which pays homage to the ambiguous ending of Samuel Beckett’s novel “The Unnamable” are just three examples of the wonderous work on display.

Now go out and have fun looking at art! 

Agnes Lew is East West Bank’s Head of Private Banking, resident art aficionado, and self-described “concierge” for all things artsy and fun. The East West Bank Collection features 79 major contemporary works from 38 artists who bridge gender, culture and ethnic backgrounds.

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You don’t need to book a room to peruse the collections; the most impressive works are displayed in public spaces, dining rooms, waiting areas, corridors and lobbies.

We’ve included the highlights from each hotel’s art collection, including information about the works, the artists and where to find each piece. Consider this your self-guided tour of the art world gems that have been hiding in plain sight.

Peninsula Beverly Hills

The lion’s share of the Peninsula Beverly Hills’ art collection is housed in The Belvedere restaurant, where the works of internationally acclaimed contemporary artists across a wide swath of disciplines from Abstract to Impressionist line its walls.

Two evocative pieces by French painter Fabienne Verdier hang on both sides of the restaurant’s entryway. The artist studied at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, China, where she trained with the last great Chinese painters who survived the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong’s regime and honed her brushstroke and calligraphy techniques. In 2014, Verdier began to explore the connections between music and painting, carrying out extensive research in a studio laboratory at the preeminent music and drama conservatory Juilliard, where she was an artist-in-residence. Her research was the subject of the 2016
documentary “The Juilliard Experiment,” which showed the artist painting spontaneous works while faculty and students performed music live. The two pieces “Linescape I” and “Linescape II” commissioned by the hotel marry Verdier’s classic Chinese training and her pursuit of music visually interpreted as art. Created with a brush made of 35 horse tails, the works appear to be both representations of a jagged mountainous landscape and sound waves at the same time.

In “Anniversary,” by American figurative artist Alex Katz, a man and woman sit huddled affectionately together before an enveloping blue-gray expanse suggestive of a rippling water’s edge. It’s indicative of the cinematic-type moments Katz often conveys in his oil paintings, which have been featured in exhibitions at highly regarded art institutions such as the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

If the thick horizontal blue and green stripes of “Landline Burke” by Irish American artist Sean Scully call to mind the sea, you wouldn’t be wrong. The painting is part of the Dublin-born artist’s critically acclaimed “Landline” series in which he examines the concept of horizons, specifically, the just-out-of-reach space where the sea meets the sky and the “sublime interactions” that take place there. 

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has built a decades-long career interpreting polka dots. Inspired by the hallucinations and visions that plagued her as a child, Kusama imagined and reimagined a world dominated by dots. In the hotel’s piece, “Dots Obsession,” part of the artist’s 1998 series of the same name, they take on the look of magnified organic material as if on a slide under a microscope. In 2018, her “Infinity Mirrors” exhibit at The Broad sold out for its duration, due in part to its highly Instagrammable, trippy installations.

Pop artist Robert Indiana is best known for his iconic “LOVE” image, in which the uppercase letters of the word are confined to a square and stacked on one another. The image first appeared on Christmas cards for the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, before it was reinterpreted in other mediums, including sculptures, even an enormously popular U.S. postage stamp in the ‘70s. In The Belvedere dining room, Indiana’s “Decade: Autoportrait 1963” (1972) references the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the 10 stages of a man’s life. It is one of four pieces of the same name, part of Indiana’s “Numbers” portfolio, considered to be some of the artist’s most important work. They are largely autobiographical while offering a coded commentary on issues including the civil rights movement, nuclear disarmament and the dissolution of the American Dream. And in the outdoor dining area, one of Indiana’s “LOVE” sculptures sits proudly in the center.

Beverly Hilton

The Beverly Hilton opened to great fanfare in 1955 with a gala celebration replete with herald trumpeters and sequined bathing suit-clad women riding pink-painted elephants. And in the 68 years since, it has become a hub during awards season, its grandeur and opulence the backdrop for the Golden Globes and countless celeb-studded, post-award show parties. It’s undergone the occasional nip and tucks with various renovations and upgrades over the decades, but it has always stuck to its roots as a true Beverly Hills icon. And among the hotel’s standout art pieces are the ones that pay homage to its illustrious past. 

In the lobby, a 57-panel, burnished gold, mother-of-pearl mural, “The Study of Water” by Nancy Lorenz could very easily pass as an original part of the hotel’s design. It was, however, commissioned during a remodel in 2005. And despite a major $35 million renovation in 2020, which included a lobby overhaul, Lorenz’s work remained untouched. 

In the hotel’s Oasis Courtyard, added in 2020 to capture classic California indoor/outdoor living, a remnant of the hotel’s past is proudly on display. Originally mounted in 1955 over the lobby’s grand staircase, the “Starburst” sculpture by famed artist Bernard Rosenthal (best known for his giant spinning “Astor Cube” sculpture in New York City’s Astor Place) spanned 15 feet and weighed 500 pounds. A portion of it now adorns the courtyard walls.

Located behind the bar at the rooftop restaurant Sant’olina, is the recently unearthed “Mallory Mural” by muralists Dale Owen and Robert Mallory. For two decades, the seven-panel mural sat without anyone knowing of its existence behind layers of drywall and wallpaper. It was covered up after the former French eatery L’Escoffier shuttered in 1994 and was forgotten. The jaw-dropping piece was rediscovered during a 2020 renovation of Sant’olina. The hotel traced its origins and found it was installed back in 1955, and the stained-glass mosaic, depicting figures from Classical Greek mythology such as Mars and Jupiter, is now the centerpiece of the space.

Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel

Last year, the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation of its guest rooms, suites and corridors. The refresh included the addition of new artwork, which included pieces sourced from the international collective Art Squared, line drawings by David Cantu, and abstract paintings by Alison Cooley, among others. But you don’t have to book a Presidential Suite to peruse the crown jewels of the hotel’s collection.

As soon as you walk into the lobby, you’re greeted by two mesmerizing, oversized panels—one a glowing amber and the other smoldering crimson—by Jason Young. The Canadian artist attended the USC Roski School of Arts and Design before completing his classical training at the prestigious Sorbonne in France and various apprenticeships with internationally recognized Masters. For the pieces commissioned by the hotel, he used mirrors, hundreds of thin layers of resin and highly reflective auto-body lacquer to create their mercurial effect. The panels, each weighing 400 pounds, showcase Young’s high-tech, minimalist trompe l’oeil technique that has made his work so highly desirable to collectors around the world.

Inside Wolfgang Puck’s Michelin-starred CUT restaurant, five pieces from the “W/Studio 54” series by the seminal California artist John Baldessari are prominently displayed. For the series, Baldessari used vintage photos taken at the legendary New York nightclub Studio 54 and obscured faces and clothing with vibrant shades of paint. Baldessari’s work often features this redacting of photographs—from painted-over Old Hollywood stills to his dot-covered faces in found photos—they force the viewer to consider the context of the image rather than get bogged down in the details of the subjects themselves. Baldessari explained why he often revisited this concept, “It’s a cat and mouse game where I give them clues,” he said gleefully in 2012. “It’s like a great detective story where the writer leads you to think you’ve got it all figured out, then, ‘Ah hah! No, you haven’t.’” According to Hotel Manager Melissa Sims, “These are such iconic pieces, and our guests who know the series are always really impressed. Plus, it brings such a beautiful and welcomed pop of color to that space.” 

In the adjacent CUT Lounge, you’ll find the work of another groundbreaking California artist, Ed Ruscha. His use of images combined with words, and later phrases, taken from everyday language made him a trailblazer of conceptual art. His works communicated a particular urban experience, where the mundane is exalted. “He Wears an Anodized Uranium Business Suit,” made of acrylic and pencil on canvas, is a classic example of the artful use of text that put Ruscha on the map.

Also on display are two pieces by Robert Rauschenberg, a pioneer in the Pop Art movement. While the mixed media artist is best known for blurring the line between painting and sculpture, beginning in the mid-1980s he focused on silk-screening imagery onto a variety of differently treated metals, such as steel and mirrored aluminum. He created many series of these so-called “metal paintings,” and this period in the influential artist’s career is perfectly encapsulated in the pieces “Wall Safe Glut,” made from aluminum and stainless steel, and “Palm Sunning (Phantom Series),” acrylic on mirrored aluminum.

If you get the chance to peek into Petit CUT, the restaurant’s private dining room, check out the series of celebrity portraits by Martin Schoeller. The German photographer, with his signature extreme-close-up style of shooting subjects—from the lesser known, like Death Row exonerees, homeless citizens and female bodybuilders to the uber-famous—has been lauded for his raw and honest portraits, which exude a sense of dignity, no matter who is sitting before his lens. Among the portraits of A-listers decorating the walls at Petit CUT are Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Anne Hathaway, Lionel Messi and Cate Blanchett. (Schoeller’s 2009 portrait of Puck greeted you at the entrance of the restaurant.) “The portraits have a certain allure to them,” said Sims. “They provide a sense of place, especially in CUT where you never know whom you might see on any given night and because we are of course in the epicenter of where the rich and famous love to play, stay and dine.”

Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills

According to the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, its art collection explores the synergy between the hotel and city of Beverly Hills itself as symbols of luxury and sophistication. The goal was to curate works that would feel right at home in the personal collections of its guests while adhering to a sense of place in the overarching themes—the hotel’s Art Deco decor, classical Hollywood glamour and the natural beauty of California landscapes. The result is a culmination of emerging and established international artists that speak to these themes through an expanse of mediums: porcelain, glass, paper, stone, video, photography, installation and painting. 

Beginning at the reception desk, an elegant and dramatic mural by Chicago-based tile artist Jason Messinger immediately sets the tone. The glossy black ceramic tiles, each hand-carved with curvilinear lines filled with gold luster (which is made from real gold), reference L.A.’s Art Deco architecture, native plants and natural elements. Although the mural is composed of 24 individual tiles, when viewed together, they create a mosaic effect that ultimately reveals a striking abstract Los Angeles landscape. 

The reception waiting area showcases a hypnotic video installation by Michael Shainblum. Featuring an array of pulsating kaleidoscopic moving images of Los Angeles, it takes viewers on a surreal, energetic journey through the city. Born and raised in California, Shainblum is known for his time-lapse and nature photography, which has garnered commissions from major corporations such as Disney, Nike, Apple and Google.

Down the adjoining main corridor, you’ll see what at first appears to be three enlarged, black-and-white movie stills from a long-forgotten film but on closer inspection are revealed to be masterful charcoal drawings by San Francisco-based artist Oleander Wlasenko. The series, inspired by various scenes from 1960s French cinema, is thoughtfully presented in a row of black frames creating the effect of old filmstrips. Directly across the hall, in colorful contrast, is a piece by Canadian photographer Robert Canali. His signature use of photographs and pigment creates an otherworldly effect, as witnessed in the gradation of diffused hues he employed for “In Dust,” which calls to mind a burnished California sunset.

Over in the Lobby Lounge, a 16-foot wooden wall relief by Israeli artist Ofra Lapid becomes a focal point, further enhancing the overall Art Deco themes of the hotel. For the piece, commissioned in stark white and custom built for the space, Lapid explores the interplay of light and shadow using a dynamic composition with strong architectural references. Holding court in a side room is an oversized portrait of socialite Consuelo Crespi, an American-born Italian Countess, by New York-based painter Liz Markus. Part of the artist’s “Town & Country” series celebrating American female style icons, the piece illustrates Markus’ playful technique of combining paint and pencil on unprimed canvas with carefully controlled drips and washes.

As you approach the entrance to the Espelette Beverly Hills restaurant, you’re welcomed by a soft-focused pastel mural by Chicago-based artist Trek Matthews. The hotel commissioned the work asking for a piece that would speak specifically to Beverly Hills, and the result is an intimate moment of a shared lunch between two women, imagined Beverly Hills residents. Matthews is known for his strict adherence to a limited color palette using just four colors (along with white) and a style that is inspired by the precision and order of the Japanese public transit system.

The Maybourne Beverly Hills

Part of the yearslong renovations to update The Maybourne Beverly Hills after it was purchased in 2020 included the acquisition of new artwork befitting the stature of a world-class luxury hotel, as well as the city of Beverly Hills as a beacon of culture and the arts. “We are very proud of the collection we have and are closely connected in some way or other to all the artists,” said the hotel’s General Manager Eugene Leonard. “Art is central to the design of our updated aesthetic for the property and hopefully provides a point of inspiration.” To that end, guests and restaurant and bar patrons are encouraged to stroll the hotel’s public spaces and take in the collection for themselves.

If you’ve ever grabbed a coffee or a sandwich to go at the Maybourne Café, you might not have realized that you just breezed past an original work by Damien Hirst. The next time you enter the café, take a moment, and look above the banquette to your right, and you’ll see a painting from Hirst’s “Cherry Blossoms” series. The cheery robin’s-egg blue sky and salmon-pink blooms seem quite a departure from the British artist’s usually dark and moody works. After all, Hirst made a name for himself with sculptures featuring dead and dissected animals preserved in formaldehyde. In the 1990s, he became one of the most sought-after conceptual artists in the world. In the early 2000s, he began to unveil his paintings. And though he has vacillated between sculpture and painting in the intervening years, he returned again to canvas in 2021, debuting his series “Cherry Blossoms” at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. The 30 paintings exhibited (which included the titular piece hanging in the café) revealed a softer side of the artist. But if you scratch just below the surface, “Cherry Blossoms” reveals its connection to the central themes of Hirst’s work. He explained, “The ‘Cherry Blossoms’ are about beauty and life and death. They’re about desire and how we process the things around us and what we turn them into, but also about the insane visual transience of beauty—a tree in full crazy blossom against a clear sky.”

Hanging on the columns of the arches at the café entrance are two watercolors from the “Vespers” series by Brian Clarke. A world-renowned, large-scale, stained-glass artist, Clarke has been lauded for his achievements and innovations in that medium. In the 2000s, nature became a central theme in his work, and the British artist branched out with a series of botanical oil paintings and watercolors. In 2021, he debuted “Vespers,” a series of watercolors depicting poppies, at Phillips gallery in London. “Poppies are the most fragile, the most delicate and vulnerable of flowers,” said Clarke. “The petal is so thin that it transmits light. Light doesn’t fall on it and bangs off in a reflective nature like it does with most flowers; it passes through it. And, of course, that makes it in my mind, very like stained glass.”

Inside The Terrace, you can’t miss the giant mural along the back wall with its lively shapes and squiggles in bright primary colors by L.A.-based artist Jessalyn Brooks. Drawing inspiration from the geometric lines and blocks of the Cubism movement led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Brooks’ work focuses on abstract depictions of full-bodied female forms, which offer contemplation on beauty ideals and gender.

Take a detour through the lobby to discover more. Behind the reception desk, a painting from the “Twitchy Collection” by Harmony Korine is on display. Korine might be best known for his gritty screenplays including the ‘90s cult classic “Kids,” directed by Larry Clarke and “Spring Breakers” (starring James Franco and Selena Gomez), which he directed. But Korine, who has been painting since he was a teenager, is also a bona fide fine artist in his own right. His technique starts with photos taken on his iPhone, digitally altering them, and later reproducing the images using household objects such as pieces of duct tape and steak knives in lieu of brushes to apply oil paint to canvas. Dubbing his style “mistakism,” Korine’s work has been celebrated for its raw, rough-hewn qualities, much like his films.

Nearby, “The Wave” by Alex Israel occupies a quiet nook. The L.A. native creates multimedia pieces that often reference his hometown, taking in elements from the film industry and surf culture. “The Wave” is an homage to Japanese Edo period artist Hokusai and a nod to kitschy surf brand logos. Made from acrylic stretched over fiberglass, its construction references the act of pulling on a wetsuit.

An electric-blue, aluminum surfboard by Australian artist and influential designer Marc Newson is the latest addition to the hotel’s collection. For Leonard, the bold piece is among his favorites. “I admire the audacity of the piece, to create a surfboard out of metal,” he said. “And to then ask Garrett McNamara (the founder of big wave surfing) to test it on some of the world’s largest waves, conjures up the real sense of danger that exists with surfing huge waves and the natural sense of place surf culture has long had in California.”

The cobalt blue circle emblazoned with the word “California” spiraling toward its center is a piece the hotel commissioned from artist Aaron Young. It’s meant to mimic a traditional motorcycle club patch and represent the collective kindred spirit of the hotel, inviting guests to join its “club.” 

On a marble pedestal sits a sculpture of stacked colored balls by multidisciplinary artist Annie Morris. Titled “Stack 8,” it’s part of the British artist’s critically acclaimed “Stack” series, in which she examined her grief for her stillborn child.

In the lobby corridor, an enigmatic sculptural collage, “Helen and Sunnyside,” by Tony Berlant seems to float above the space. The Santa Monica-based artist was an integral part of the West Coast Pop Art movement in the 1960s. His paradoxically flat-yet-relief-like works, created by laboriously printing images (many of which he took himself) onto metal, which is then cut into pieces and reassembled and affixed with nails onto various found objects, earned him a place in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Head down the hallway back toward the café, and you’ll come upon a charcoal and oil painting by celebrated Johannesburg artist Nelson Makamo. His portrayals of rural South African youth have recast the way African children have long been depicted as disenfranchised and impoverished. And this piece, “Appreciate Beauty,” radiates the central tenet of his work, optimism. In 2019, Makamo’s work was chosen to illustrate the cover of Time magazine’s “The Art of Optimism” issue, guest edited by powerhouse filmmaker Ava DuVernay. 

Up on the rooftop, check out the inspirational piece by L.A.-based artist Joel Mesler in the recently opened restaurant Dante Beverly Hills. The former art dealer quickly drew a following when he began painting in 2015. His whimsical works, drawn from childhood memories, often center around words or phrases and feature flora and fauna motifs. For the piece, “Hopes & Dreams” for the hotel, Mesler imagined gold Mylar balloon letters spelling out the title’s words suspended over a sun-dappled pool filled with colorful floaties and beach balls. “We commissioned the piece to reflect our new restaurant atop our stunning rooftop overlooking the hills and iconic Hollywood sign,” said Leonard. “‘Hopes & Dreams’ felt like a natural fit for the space, in the middle of the world of entertainment.” 

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Studio Tours

Emma Webster

Emma Webster is one of the most exciting new artists in LA. She moved to LA in 2018 after getting her MFA from Yale and is rethinking the tradition of landscape painting, by bringing in the use of virtual reality. In our studio visit, she demonstrated how she models and sculpts still-life references on a computer to create landscape dioramas, and translates the scenes into panoramic oil paintings. Emma Webster’s upcoming solo show at Perrotin Tokyo opens next month, and locals can experience her work at Jeffery Deitch’s Los Angeles gallery this September.

Helen Pashgian

We had a wonderful and inspiring visit at Helen Pashgian’s Pasadena studio, which was led by the art world’s favorite architect Kulapat Yantrasat.

Helen is one of the founding members of the California Light and Space movement in the 1960s, which included other renowned artists such as James Turrell and Robert Irwin. One of Helen’s signatures is creating columns, spheres, and discs that create depth and form using light. The way she combines sculpture and light is truly mesmerizing, and anyone who gets the chance should definitely go see her iconic works in person.

Fair Booths

Anat Egbi at Felix Art Fair

Felix Art Fair Los Angeles-based gallerist Anat Ebgi always makes creative use of her poolside cabana room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. I love the way Anat utilizes all available spaces. Everywhere you looked, the gallery had installed a work of art. This year, they turned heads with a painting by Caleb Hahne Quintana displayed in a shower, a gorgeous Greg Ito cityscape suspended in front of a mirror, and a vibrant multi-panel embroidery by Jordan Nassar across the room. Nothing was off limits–Anat hung several works outdoors on the patio including paintings by Alec Egan, Nigel Howlett, and a surreal landscape by Jen Hitchings which adorned a palm tree.

Sow & Tailor at Frieze LA

Not only is Sow & Tailor one of the most exciting galleries to pop up in LA over the past couple of years, but their booth at Frieze LA was, in my opinion, one of the best this year. Founded in Los Angeles in 2021 by Karen Galloway, Sow & Tailor supports an inclusive, diverse, and impressive program that champions multi-generational talent. At Frieze, they presented the work of a young and ambitious artist named Veronica Fernandez, who explored her personal hardships in deeply imaginative paintings and sculptures, and had her solo debut, “When You Hold Onto My Spirit, Will You Let Your Spirit Grow,” last year.

In a little over a year, Sow & Tailor has managed to curate numerous exhibitions not only for local audiences, but also globally. I have no doubt that Karen and the gallery will continue to have a positive impact on the art world for decades to come.

Galleries

Night Gallery

Night Gallery is one of my favorite galleries. Davida Nemeroff, who founded the gallery, always puts together diverse and exciting exhibition programs that reflect the energy of LA’s art scene. They continuously show some of the most exciting and promising artists working today.

I especially love Han Bing’s work, who has an exhibition up now at Night Gallery alongside Hayley Barker, Carla Edwards, and Shannon Cartier Lucy. The gallery also opened a newly expanded space in 2022, which has allowed them to show more installations and sculpture. The locations are across the street from one another, so you can see all the exhibitions without getting in the car–a real novelty in LA.

Make Room

Make Room is another incredible gallery. Founded by Emilia Yin, the gallery focuses on women, emerging artists, and artists of color. They’re exhibiting some of the most exciting artists and serve as an incubator for young talent.

Currently, there are two incredible exhibits on display to inaugurate Make Room’s new location in Hollywood. One is “In Search of Gold Mountain (Gum San),” a captivating series of paintings by the talented artist Yesiyu Zhao. This exhibition blends classical Chinese art and modern surrealism to delve into themes of identity, migration, and the pursuit of freedom, drawing inspiration from both the 16th-century novel “Journey to the West” and the California Gold Rush.

Artist Yoab Vera’s new body of work is a series of “haptic-contemplative” paintings that explore the relationship between texture, color, time, and space. His work is influenced by his nomadic studio practice, training as an architect, and exposure to post-minimal, provisional painting. The paintings reference boleros, a type of romantic ballad, and aim to trigger a contemplative mood that allows tides of memory to wash over consciousness.

Château Shatto

Downtown LA has a thriving creative scene, and Château Shatto is at its heart. The gallery was founded in 2014 by Olivia Barrett and dedicates itself to ambitious exhibitions that consider both the physical and non-physical space. I love the hands-on way the gallery works with artists to realize projects outside of the gallery space. Château Shatto’s scope is truly global: along with their year-round programs in Los Angeles, they participate in art fairs and collaborative exhibition formats around the world.

In addition to Château Shatto’s program of represented artists, which includes Aria Dean, Zeinab Saleh, Emma McIntyre, the Estate of Jean Baudrillard, Jonny Negron, and Van Hanos – the gallery also stages historical exhibitions to showcase how past practices and ways of thinking have influenced present-day artists.

Last but not least, a very special dinner.

GYOPO

On the last Friday of LA Art Week, we celebrated a night of artistic and cultural connection at Kodo, a sleek and contemporary Japanese restaurant in LA’s Arts District, for GYOPO, a nonprofit arts organization. The dinner, which I had the honor of co-hosting with GYOPO board members Christine Kim and Ellie Lee, aimed to build community and empowerment for Asian Americans in the art world. GYOPO is an amazing collective of Korean artists and cultural producers that provides free year-round cultural programs for a range of audiences. I would highly recommend checking out one of their many excellent programs.

Agnes Lew is East West Bank’s Head of Private Banking, resident art aficionado, and self-described “concierge” for all things artsy and fun.

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Zeng Fanzhi at Hauser & Wirth

Renowned contemporary Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi opened his first LA presentation at Hauser & Wirth in Downtown Los Angeles on Feb. 2. It’s a fantastic collection of 10 of his canvas works, some of which tower over 10 feet tall, and six graphite drawings. 

What I love about Zeng Fanzhi’s works is how evocative they are. He explores the idea of human consciousness and wants to convey different elements of the human experience. If you look closely, you can see how he layers the paint with his expressive brushstrokes to create these rhythmic, wave-like textures that contrast brilliantly with the vivid yellows, blues, and reds prominent in these works. Through these, you can really feel Zeng Fanzhi’s introspection.

The exhibit will close April 30. 

Paul Kneale at Spring Place Beverly Hills

One of my current LA highlights is a pop-up solo exhibition of Paul Kneale’s “Beverly Hills Residency” at Spring Place Beverly Hills, curated by ARTUNER.

The exhibition, which opened Feb. 9, includes examples from three new bodies of work that are being exhibited for the first time. It consists of a series of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that reflect the lights and colors of LA. For these works, Paul used a scanner in place of traditional artists’ tools to explore how digital facets of our existence can be manifested and reimagined in the flesh of the physical object. 

This is also the first time ARTUNER, a Europe-based hybrid art platform founded by art collector and entrepreneur Eugenio Re Rebaudengo, has curated a show in LA. Eugenio started ARTUNER almost 10 years ago and has worked with Paul almost since the beginning.

“Think Pinker” at GAVLAK Los Angeles

Personally, pink brings me joy, and an exhibit curated around this color is something we all need, given the past few years. The group exhibition “Think Pinker” at GAVLAK Gallery is a continuation of a 2010 exhibit and collaboration, “Think Pink,” between Beth Rudin DeWoody and Sarah Gavlak. 

“Think Pinker” features works by dozens of artists from around the world, all, of course, utilizing pink. Pink is one of those colors that is both universal and divisive–which gives it a uniquely interesting duality. Like Sarah Gavlak says, pink “is feminine and feminist.”

“Think Pinker” is open now and will continue through March 25, 2023.

Brigitte D’Annibale’s “B=f(P, E)” in Point Dume

Malibu is the setting for California-based interdisciplinary artist Brigitte D’Annibale’s ambitious new installation “B=f(P, E).” The installation is located on an abandoned 1-acre construction site in Point Dume and is based on the concept that behavior is a function of both personal and environmental attributes.

I love the way “B=f(P, E)” fully immerses you. When you first arrive, you encounter a gate that blocks all view of the site; once you pass that gate and progress through the installation, you’re almost forced to shed any preconceived notions you’ve had as you maneuver through.

Register for an appointment on https://www.brigittedannibale.com. Starting in June, the site can be visited during public hours.

Sea View Gallery 

SEA VIEW is the newly opened gallery by Sara Lee Hantman. Located atop Mount Washington’s scenic hills, the gallery occupies Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo’s former studio, which he originally built as an off-site installation that was exhibited by MOCA in 1998. Twenty-five years later, SEA VIEW invites guests to similarly explore new and historic artworks outside of the typical white cube. 

“River Styx,” the inaugural show co-curated by Brandy Carstens, considers the psychological landscape featuring works by artists such as Salvo, Theodora Allen, Heidi Lau, Kelly Akashi, Erica Mao, and Frank Walter. The exhibit closes Feb. 25, so be sure not to miss it!

Felix LA

Felix LA is always a highlight of Los Angeles Art Week. The contemporary art fair, which was co-founded by Dean Valentine, Mills Morán, and Al Morán, brings together top galleries from around the world. Set within the hotel rooms and cabana suites of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Felix LA offers a more intimate and relaxed experience for attendees. Unlike the typical art fair setting, visitors can peruse art from a selection of over 60 international galleries, then catch up with friends by the iconic David Hockney pool, which is always an exciting centerpiece to the fair’s atmosphere. At Felix, there’s something for everyone.

Felix LA will be taking place through Feb. 19. 

Frieze Los Angeles

To me, the capstone of LA’s art week is Frieze Los Angeles. This year, it is taking place at Santa Monica Airport through Feb. 19. Returning to Los Angeles for the fourth year, this is Frieze Los Angeles’ largest edition to date and will see over 120 participating galleries from 22 countries.

The fair will feature a strong lineup of leading local and international galleries showing solo presentations and curated exhibitions from some of today’s most exciting emerging and established artists.

Agnes Lew is East West Bank’s Head of Private Banking, resident art aficionado, and self-described “concierge” for all things artsy and fun. 

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Magnus is like no other and the same goes for his cars.  And those cars!  As you can see, they are unlike others that you’ve seen on the road as they bear his character (and what a character) and his DNA. He truly is one of a kind and he has the wheels to prove it.

At more than 150 miles mostly north of London, about 30 miles north of Birmingham and about 40 miles east of Manchester, Sheffied is an area of northern England perhaps best known for steel. Stainless steel and cutlery, specifically, brought renown to the area. Coal also was big business there, at least for a while. Born in this area in the middle of the 1960s, Walker seemed destined to be some type of rocker. One of his earliest business forays was creating a rocker’s clothing brand, Serious, but he never lost his childhood fascination with Porsche cars. Out of this crucible of steel, coal, rock and fashion arose Walker, one of the most well-known Porsche collectors and builders of the iconic brand, focusing mostly on 911s. It almost seems like he was predestined to work with metal in some way but few would have foreseen the sleek, fast metal missiles which were to come, much less the transition from a gritty town in northern England to the rather posh life in Los Angeles – that chapter began in the mid-1980s.

Many people got to know the US version of Magnus (who became an American citizen in 2019) from the documentary, “Urban Outlaw” a decade ago. The film’s director, Tamir Moscovici, came up with the moniker. A man who would look good in a rock band (he was with both punk rock and heavy metal bands and he does play electric guitar) or, with his long hair and long beard and his ubiquitous Bowler hat, as a character actor, he decided to throw his lot in with those in the Porsche business. His work has become legendary. 

Walker has been featured in TedX talks and innumerable television and radio interviews. He has an impressive number of Hot Wheels cars in his signature line at Mattel (over 25 so far) and currently has an exhibition at the Petersen Automotive Museum. The exhibit in the Museum’s “Legends of the Vault Gallery” features ten of Magnuis’s outlaw Porsche cars as well as some special objects he has selected. It runs through Jan. 31, 2023. Highlights include Walker’s Porsche 924 Carrera GT, a Porsche art car and his famous red, white, and blue Porsche “277” as well as several others.

Here is some additional information about what you will see in the exhibit: 

• 1965 Porsche 911 

This is a very early example of Porsche’s iconic sportscar–it is the 310th 911 ever made. 

• 1976 Porsche 930 Turbo 

This is the first Turbo sold in the USA as documented by The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. 

• 1967 Porsche 911 SRT 

An R-inspired sport-purpose build commenced in 2010, this car appears in Urban Outlaw painted in primer with a black hood and orange bumper. This is the first Porsche 911 ever to bear hand-stamped louvers on the front fenders.

• 1971 Porsche 911 T #277 

The most famous Magnus Walker car, “277” started its life as a gold 911 T before Walker bought it at the Pomona Swap Meet in 1999 and transformed it into his signature street race car.

• 1973 Porsche 914 

This stock 1.7-liter 914, decorated thanks to a few cans of spray paint and a creative mind and made without photoshop or computer graphics. 

• 1978 Porsche 911 SC Hot Rod 

The budget-build, sport-purpose hot rod shows that a sport- purpose streetable 911 built on a budget can be an exciting, capable track car. 

• 1980 Porsche 924 CARRERA GT 

One of just 406 built. 

• 1990 Porsche 964 

Completed in 2015, this is Walker’s most performance-oriented build to date. 

• 1995 Porsche 993 RS Look 

A model Walker often described as “the Cadillac of 911s” 

• 2004 Porsche 996 GT3 

Often quoted as saying “we need both air and water to survive,” Walker took his own advice and purchased his first water-cooled 911 in 2016. The 2004 Porsche 996.2 GT3 is one of Walker’s all-time favorite Porsche cars that he has ever owned. 

The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. www.Petersen.org  

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ICA LA: “The Condition of Being Addressable” 

Wed., Fri. 12-6 p.m.

Thurs. 12-7 p.m.

Sat., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles presents “The Condition of Being Addressable,” an exhibition that explores bodies in exposure and the ever-evolving performance of language. This show features 25 international and intergenerational artists, all with their own perspective on how the interaction between subject and viewer impacts the social and physical movement of bodies and how they are seen in the world. Further, in their respective practices, each artist interrogates power relations as experienced through the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality, the limits of spoken and written language to articulate these experiences, and the agency of constructing a self-image. Admission to ICA LA is free. Guests must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccine or a negative test. 

theicala.org

Now – Sept. 25

The Broad: “This is Not
America’s Flag”

Tues., Wed., Fri. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Thurs. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Sat., Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Broad presents a special exhibition, “This Is Not America’s Flag.” This show questions and explores the symbolism of the American flag, underscoring its vast, divergent, and complex meanings. The show was developed conceptually in the summer of 2020 in response to the prolific rise in activism for racial justice in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Over 20 artists are featured in the show, including Laura Aguilar, Nicole Eisenman, Jeffrey Gibson, Alfredo Jaar, and Jasper Johns. The exhibition includes works that both embrace the flag as the signifier of the nation and its ideals and subvert it to express injustices and inequalities woven into the fabric of the U.S., past and present. Tickets for this special exhibition are $18 for adults, $12 for students, and free for children 12 and under. Tickets include access to other exhibitions as well. Admission is free every Thursday from 5-8 p.m.

thebroad.org

Now – April 9, 2023

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: “Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898-1971”

Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Fri., Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

The Academy Museum presents an exhibition that explores the achievements and challenges of Black filmmakers in the U.S., both independent and in the studio system, in front of the camera and behind it, in “Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898-1971.” The show includes rarely seen excerpts of films, documentaries, newsreels, and home movies, as well as historical photographs, costumes, props, and posters. Also featured are contemporary artworks referencing the impact of the legacy of Black filmmaking. Film screenings are programmed in coordination with the exhibition as well, including world premieres of films newly restored by the Academy Film Archive. 

academymuseum.org

Aug. 27

Off the 405: Standing on the Corner

6 p.m. DJ Set

7 p.m. Performance

The Getty presents the next performance in the “Off the 405” series, by musical collective Standing on the Corner. The name of the collective is indicative of its approach to music, performance, and its roots. Each performance has a radically different concept and repertoire, moving freely between jazz improvisations, dub excursions, garage-noise freakouts, and lo-fi hip-hop collage. Members of the group are predominantly Black and Caribbean, with their cultural heritage influencing their work within New York’s inter-borough musical avant-garde. This performance celebrates the exhibition “Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop,” which chronicles the exchange of photographers working in 1960s New York City, who fused the energy of jazz and improvisation into their approach to representing the African American experience. Admission is free to the performance in the Getty museum courtyard, but advanced reservations are required. 

getty.edu

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The Smidt Foundation gift is the largest-ever contribution to the museum from a family or foundation without familial ties to the Holocaust or the survivors who founded the museum more than 60 years ago. The gift will be used as a challenge grant to encourage more supporters – especially the next generations of donors – to build on the legacy and courage of the museum’s founding survivors and their families. Through the “Tree of Life Challenge,” The Smidt Foundation will match all gifts 2:1, effectively tripling the impact of each donation.

The Smidt Foundation was founded by Susan and Eric Smidt to support organizations working to achieve opportunity, justice, equality and safety for all. Eric Smidt, CEO and owner of Harbor Freight Tools, said, “We believe deeply that it is our responsibility to ensure that future generations learn the lessons of the Holocaust and, in particular, the danger of silence in the face of hate.” 

The Anti-Defamation League’s recent report showed a 34% rise in antisemitic incidents in 2021 and a major surge in 20 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles where ADL documented 14 antisemitic assaults in 2021 – in addition to incidents of harassment and vandalism. The expansion of the museum and its programs is part of the effort to reverse the rise in antisemitic and other forms of hatred that have led more than half of all Asian, Black and Latino Americans to say they feel discriminated against in a survey conducted by The Asian American Foundation.

When complete, the Jona Goldrich Campus, designed by award-winning architect Hagy Belzberg, will feature outdoor reflective spaces; large galleries and classrooms; an auditorium theater for survivor talks, film screenings, concerts, conferences and public programs; a new pavilion to house an authentic Nazi-era boxcar found outside Majdanek; and a dedicated theater for USC Shoah Foundation’s “Dimensions in Testimony” exhibition that allows visitors to have a virtual conversation with a Holocaust survivor using a holographic capture and voice recognition software.

The campus is expected to open in 2024, allowing the museum to immediately triple its current capacity to 150,000 visitors, including 60,000 students. By 2030 the museum expects to welcome half a million visitors annually.

For more information, visit holocaustmuseumLA.org/expansion. 

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Over the years, they kept watch on the tumor: it didn’t grow significantly, but the frequency and intensity of the seizures did. While his intelligence was unaffected, the seizures began to erode his ability to speak, to articulate and to converse. They also took their toll physically, causing painful falls resulting in injuries–from cuts and scrapes to a broken leg and broken teeth.

As Nicholas progressed into childhood, his parents noticed how tactile he was and how he gravitated toward bright colors and complex patterns.

In high school, Nicholas’ interest in art blossomed, along with his talent. He painted not landscapes or portraits like most of his fellow students but vibrant abstracts, which impressed his teachers. Part of the education curriculum involved students gaining real world experience in a job share program. Nicholas’ seizures, which had by then become constant intrusions, prohibited him from working in the kinds of places, like Starbucks, where the others found placement. Krisann suggested Nicholas’ art could fill the job requirement. Initially, the school rejected this idea on the grounds that Nicholas would have to be paid for his work to meet the program’s guidelines. But when Nicholas made his first sale–a painting for his oral surgeon, in exchange for having his wisdom teeth pulled, they agreed to modify the criteria for him. “That was the seed, the turning point in what would become Nicholas’ career,” said Krisann.

By 2016, at age 21, Nicholas became a bonafide artist with his first sold-out show at De Re Gallery on Melrose Avenue. Krisann managed Nicholas’ career, creating a website, organizing shows, and overseeing commissions and sales of his work. She set up installations at galleries across the country, in Idaho, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York and across the globe in London. Here in California, 1,200 people packed the renown Heather James Fine Art Gallery in Palm Desert to see Nicholas’ work. He is in private collections in Spain, Greece, Ireland, Australia, Zurich, and Holland and part of the permanent collection at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago. This month his largest solo exhibit, “Catch Me,” is on display in Beverly Hills, at UTA Artist Space. It features never-before-seen works, all created during the pandemic.

The show was curated by Arthur Lewis, Partner/Creative Director at UTA Artist Space. Last year, Lewis took on Nicholas as a client.  He had heard about Nicholas’ work from colleagues and arranged a studio visit. Krisann was concerned that Nicholas’ inability to articulate would affect Lewis’ decision. It didn’t. “I said he didn’t need to talk, he is such an amazing abstract painter,” said Lewis. “It’s true that it is how the way the world is today with social media and self-promotion. And journalists love doing deep dives, diving deep into the feelings of the artist, the stories behind the works during interviews. But Nicholas’ works truly speak for themselves.”

Despite being essentially non-verbal, while painting Nicholas has surprised his family with short phrases, small glimpses, beyond his artwork, of his inner thoughts. Krisann started compiling a list of them. To her they are pure gold. All of the titles of Nicholas’ artwork are pulled from her list. And so, they have such poignant titles as “Never Going to Get Invited” and “Take Me With You.”

The paintings themselves are completely enveloping, due in part to their sheer size. The large format canvases, some nearly the size of billboards, are filled with striking colors applied with thick paint. “There is such a tactile nature of the work,” explained Lewis. “There is one piece he had done where he had spilled spices like cinnamon and cardamom on the canvas. It happened in a very organic way. There’s so much texture. You can get lost in every brush stroke, every stroke of the palette knife. They really invite you, or beg you, to sit in front of them in quiet contemplation. The paintings speak their own vibrant language.”

Though they have drawn comparisons to Jasper Johns and Sam Francis, to Nicholas’ neurosurgeons, Nicholas’ paintings reflect his own inner neurology, specifically mimicking the neural pathways, firing of synapses, and explosion of vivid colors. Many who experience seizures report seeing intense bursts of color, or auras, during episodes.

“I thought the connection to his neural network was really fascinating, that Nicholas’ art could reflect him in that way,” said Euthym, who works as an emergency department physician and is the Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage where the Kontaxis family lives. “His art is very free form, but there’s a structure in it. And that’s very Nicholas.”

Euthym sees another comparison, Muhammed Ali. Nicholas is a huge fan of the legendary boxing champion, collecting his T-shirts and magazines. “We often make the analogy that Nick is a little bit like a boxer. He gets knocked down, and he gets up again–and again,” said Euthym. “But his seizures are just a part of him, they do not define him. Nick is just a really sweet kid who loves everybody. He doesn’t have any negativity towards anyone. He is very accepting and non-judgmental. He just paints and loves it. He listens to music and goes for it. We’re all so grateful.”

The love and support of this family is one of the things that struck Lewis the most. “His parents had built him this beautiful enclave to paint in,” said Lewis. “And I watched how his family supported him. They were all in on it, and you could feel there was so much love there between all of them. It was extraordinary. It’s so rare that you get to see, on that level, the physical manifestation of love. I was so moved, I started crying.”

The expansive studio his parents built for him is Nicholas’ domain. Unencumbered by time, Nicholas spends hours painting while listening to his music–everything from Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars to gospel and Byzantine chants. It was important to Krisann and Euthym that Nicholas have a space of his own, a place where he could explore and experience life where there aren’t as many limitations.

“He has so many parameters,” said Krisann. “And when so many doors are closed to you, you keep looking for doors to open. And sometimes that search brings you to places that some people won’t often find.”

Now, at 26-years-old, even after thousands of seizures, Nicholas continues to expand his world through his art. He has become one of the most sought-after young abstract painters today. He isn’t just surviving; he’s thriving.

“Art is transformative. It’s a light,” said Krisann. “You don’t have to stay in the dark. You can move through it. Nicholas doesn’t have to stay in the darkness of epilepsy, he moves through it, every day. Those paint strokes are moving him through it. And that is beautiful to me. The world offers us these tiny things to grab onto–whether it’s a stroke of a paintbrush or a typewriter key–and those tiny things offer something intangible, they offer salvation.”

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With more than 100 exhibitors from around the world, the Frieze organization began setting up its signature large-scale tent in January, converting a vacant lot near the Beverly Hilton into a fully equipped exhibition hall. 

With everything from large-scale sculptures to small watercolors and digital art, the exhibition hosted work from internationally renowned and emerging artists alike. 

“It’s very comfortable, it’s got beautiful, diffused light, great dealers are here, and you know, it feels quite lively,” Gagosian Beverly Hills Senior Director Deborah McLeod told the Courier at the Fair.  

The Gagosian gallery’s booth drew many onlookers at Frieze with the presentation of the 2010 sculpture, “Dreamer’s Folly,” by the late Chris Burden. Burden, who died in 2015, is famed for his monumental architectural sculptures, including “Urban Light,” the cluster of vintage streetlamps outside Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

“We thought, let’s don’t bring our wares – let’s make a big statement,” said McLeod. “This is one of the last great monumental sculptures in the Chris Burden estate.” 

Gagosian reported to the Courier that the Burden sculpture was sold on the first day of the exhibition to an “important European institution.” Gallery staff said they are keeping the details of the sale private for the time being. 

In addition to the paid fair happening inside the big Frieze tent, the city of Beverly Hills and the Arts and Culture Commission collaborated with Frieze to bring several free pop-up installations to the city, including a William Wegman installation that opened Feb. 16 as a storefront activation at the new Saks Fifth Avenue space. The installation will be on display through March 30. 

The city also offered community programs like guided Art Walk tours during Frieze Week in Beverly Hills. Tours explored a handful of sculptures from the nearly 100 pieces in the city’s Fine Art Collection, according to Director of the Beverly Hills Community Services Department Jenny Rogers.  

“We are absolutely thrilled to have the renowned Frieze art fair in the city of Beverly Hills,” Rogers told the Courier in an email. “Not only is it great for our businesses and restaurants, but it’s a magnificent opportunity for the city to showcase and celebrate art and artmaking locally.”

Frieze representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but in an October meeting of the Beverly Hills City Council, organizers said it is possible the traditionally LA-hosted fair may return to Beverly Hills. However, the vacant lot in which it was hosted will not stay vacant long as it is slated to be the site of the future One Beverly Hills project.

As COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose in December and ongoing supply chain challenges disrupted the shipping industry, there was some doubt this winter as to whether the fair would be able to open. A sculpture installation planned for Beverly Gardens Park, called Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills, was canceled due to supply chain issues and planned dance performances at Greystone Mansion and Gardens were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. But recent weeks have seen sharp declines in case rates and hospitalizations. Local hotels saw a spike in room bookings for the weekend as the fair drew near.  

Other programs at the fair included Focus LA, BIPOC Exchange, the Frieze Impact Prize and the Frieze Viewing Room. The Focus LA exhibit spotlighted emerging galleries from the LA area that have been open 15 years or less. The BIPOC Exchange was a communal art space hosted at the Beverly Hilton, bringing together BIPOC-led organizations from across LA. The Frieze Impact Prize recognizes artists whose work contributes to the “movement to end mass incarceration” in the U.S. The Frieze Viewing Room was a free digital exhibition featuring work from more than 100 artists. It was open Feb. 15-20. 

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Frieze Los Angeles unveiled a selection of art expected to appear at its upcoming Beverly Hills exhibition during an exclusive preview event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on Feb 3. The preview discussion highlighted Frieze Focus LA, a section at Frieze that will showcase LA’s emerging artists.

Curated by Amanda Hunt of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Focus LA will feature 11 galleries from the LA area that have been open 15 years or less. Focus LA galleries participating in the fair for the first-time include Baert Gallery, Garden, Gattopardo, In Lieu, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Marta, Stanley’s and Stars. Returning participants include Bel Ami, Charlie James Gallery and Parker Gallery.

“Los Angeles is a city teeming with creativity, from our renowned institutions to our artists, our curators and our educators,” Frieze LA and Frieze New York Director Christine Messineo said during the event.

Outside of the Focus LA section, Frieze brings more than 100 art galleries from 17 countries to Beverly Hills. Notable among exhibitors is local gallery Gagosian, which will showcase “Dreamer’s Folly,” a large-scale architectural sculpture by the late Chris Burden. Burden is known locally for the famed “Urban Light,” a collection of streetlamps outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

“Given the disruption of the past couple years it feels particularly special to welcome collectors and galleries back to the fair and continue to champion the City of Los Angeles,” said Messineo. “The new space [in Beverly Hills] has given Frieze the ability to expand the footprint of the fair and welcome over 100 exhibitors.”

The much-anticipated Frieze Sculpture Beverly Hills was canceled in January due to supply chain and staffing issues, according to a statement by a Frieze spokesperson. The public sculpture garden was previously planned to be installed in Beverly Gardens Park until May. It would have marked the West Coast premiere of Frieze Sculpture, a popular feature at previous Frieze art fairs in London and New York.

The news of its cancellation came as a disappointment to Beverly Hills as the City has been working with Frieze since September to host the garden event, granting organizers fee waivers and temporarily amending the city code to allow structures in the park. The City Council also negotiated with organizers to promote the weeklong festivities around the exhibition as “Frieze Week in Beverly Hills,” a promotional name change that is only active in Beverly Hills.

The cancellation is the latest blow for Frieze organizers as the mega-event has faced significant challenges during the pandemic. Frieze Los Angeles 2021 was first postponed and later canceled entirely due to COVID-19 social distance guidelines. Frieze was unable to hold the fair at its previous location at Paramount Studios in 2022 due to impacts of the pandemic at Paramount. The exhibition was then moved to Beverly Hills.

Despite the garden exhibit’s cancellation, the formal art fair is expected to attract an estimated 35,000 visitors to the city who will spend a projected $15 million on hospitality and $7 million on food. Most of this spending will happen at businesses within walking distance or a short drive of the main fair, according to organizers.

Local hotels, the Peninsula and the Beverly Hilton, reported increased room bookings for the weekend of Frieze, during a City Council Liaison Marketing Committee meeting Feb. 1. Beverly Hilton General Manager Sandy Murphy told the committee that the new location of the fair has created a noticeable spike in bookings compared to previous years when the fair was held in LA.

“Traditionally we did not see significant bookings over Frieze,” said Murphy. “Being so close to the event now we are seeing, obviously, significantly better results than we typically would have.”

She said many of the bookings for the weekend came late as omicron case rates began to drop. “So, it just seems as if the excitement is just happening. I just think everybody was waiting because of omicron,” Murphy added.

The Frieze art fair will be hosted Feb. 17-20 under a large-scale tent at 9900 Wilshire Blvd. near the Beverly Hilton hotel.

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For 10 days this month, a seemingly typical electronic traffic sign perplexed and confused westbound passersby on South Santa Monica Boulevard and Charleville Boulevard. Instead of messages advising motorists and pedestrians of construction or traffic, the Variable Message Sign was populated with provocative words by renowned American conceptual artist and painter, Mel Bochner. Hoping to provide an unexpected disruption, Bochner’s public sculpture titled “Street Sign” cycled through five short satirical phrases: “talk is cheap,” “blah blah blah,” “it could be worse,” “hahaha,” and “nothing ever changes.”

The sculpture was on display in tandem with the Bochner exhibit, “DO I HAVE TO DRAW YOU A PICTURE?” at the adjacent Marc Selwyn Fine Art gallery. The show includes Bochner’s recent oil on velvet paint- ings that incorporate the phrases illuminated on the sign outside.

“Every reaction that you can imagine, we had,” gallery owner Marc Selwyn told the Courier about the public sculpture. “We’ve had people try to take it down because they thought it was sabotage. There was somebody who was trying to unplug it, we had people taking selfies, people laughing, and people perplexed. A lot of people don’t understand it, and that’s the way the artist wanted it.”

Bochner is famous for his paintings that incorporate phrases, particularly “blah blah blah,” which he began experimenting with in 2008.

The ongoing exhibit features 10 works of oil on velvet with viscous, multicolored letters that spell out phrases on a porous velvet background. According to Selwyn, many of the pieces have already been sold. “Once people see ‘blah blah blah’ those familiar know right away it’s Mel Bochner and come in,” Selwyn said. Depending on the size and medium, Bochner’s pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bochner’s pieces vary in color scheme, phrases, and word placement, continuing his exploration of language in painting, and painting as a language. The paintings include an array of language, from “all or nothing” to “bozo” and “a rat’s ass.” “I don’t consider them concrete poetry,” Bochner said in a Jan. 16 Zoom call hosted by the gallery. “I consider them drawings. I consider them portraits.”

Selwyn noted that “most people know our gallery as kind of a zen temple where we have a lot of minimal conceptual art and very quiet, kind of zen shows.” He added, “This is a real cacophony of language and color, and it’s kind of atypical of what you normally see at the gallery…you walk in and it’s just a burst of color.”

Born in 1940, Bochner received his Bachelor’s in Fine Art from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1962 and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005. His work appears in the collections of prom- inent galleries around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and more.

Bochner’s recent solo museum exhibi- tions include The Jewish Museum in New York in 2014, Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In 2018, Bochner was included in the 57th edition of Carnegie International, the oldest North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe, at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.

“DO I HAVE TO DRAW YOU A PICTURE?” is at the Marc Selwyn Fine Art gallery through Feb. 26.

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Lenga was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1927, where he and his family were restricted to a ghetto in a suburb of Strykow for the first two years of World War II. Later moved to the Lodz ghetto and separated from his family, Lenga was sent to Auschwitz and then to a labor camp in Bavaria after the ghetto was liquidated in 1944. Along with a few other captives, Lenga managed to escape and remained in hiding throughout southern Germany until they were liberated by American troops in May of 1945.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, recognized by the United Nations, commemorates the tragedy of the Holocaust and signifies the day that Auschwitz was liberated. 

Included in the commemoration is a presentation with 3D modeler and mapping expert, Pavel Belsky, to discuss the layout and function of Auschwitz from the eyes of a cartographer. Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Southwest Region Dr. Hillel Newman and Lenga will also speak.

To learn more and register, visit https://holocaustmuseumla.org/event-details/international-holocaust-remembrance-day-1.

To learn more and register for David Lenga’s talk, visit https://holocaustmuseumla.org/event-details/holocaust-survivor-talk-david-lenga-1. 

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“In looking back over Avedon’s career, which is storied and broad, from fashion photography, to civil rights photography, to documenting New York City life to the great American West, this turns out to be his greatest achievement,” Deborah McLeod, senior director at the Gagosian told the Courier.  

Out of the 125 images chosen for the series, Avedon selected 10 that he felt best represented its spirit, according to McLeod. He then printed those 10 at an enormous scale that required piecing together two sheets of photographic paper. The prints stand nearly 7 feet tall, a scale meant to emphasize the humanity of the subjects.

The 10 portraits occupy the two rooms of the Gagosian’s vaulted showroom. At their scale, they are quite literally larger than life. The shallow depth of field of the camera places their eyes in sharp focus as they stare directly at the camera, and by extension, the viewer. The stunning clarity of the photos renders legible details like the peach fuzz on the lip of a 14-year-old and the reflection of Avedon’s camera in his subject’s eyes. 

McLeod said that the collection is currently for sale, though she would not disclose the price. Visitors must show proof of vaccination and are required to wear a mask.

When Avedon took the commission for the project from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, he was one of the top fashion photographers in the country. He had worked as the chief photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and lead photographer for Vogue. He shot campaigns for brands including Calvin Klein, Dior, and Versace. The same year he accepted the commission, his fashion photography had appeared in a solo exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Avedon’s work documented some of the most prominent figures of his time with his idiosyncratically minimalist portraiture. In his life, he shot celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, public figures like President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Malcolm X, and artists like Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol.  

For his work capturing the American West, even as he continued to photograph celebrities, politicians, and cultural luminaries, he took stints traveling through 21 western states to photograph subjects otherwise considered minor–at least from the perspective of New York high society. Among his subjects, he photographed butchers, carnies, drifters, oil rig workers, and coal miners.

Avedon poured himself into the task, hauling an 8 x 10 Deardorff field camera across the country (with assistance, of course), shooting 17,000 sheets of film of over 1,000 people. The original exhibition narrowed down the work product to 125 images, which identified the subjects by their name, profession, and the location and date of the shoot.

“They would set up to shoot these pictures in these rural Western towns,” McLeod said. “They would shoot in barber shops, in gymnasiums; they would shoot on street corners and fields; they would set up the white sheet that you see behind each subject and just do it raw right there.”

“There’s just nothing like them,” McLeod said. “He didn’t edit his subjects on site. In other words, he didn’t put oil on the guy in his overalls to make it look like he was on an oil rig, or add charcoal to someone’s face who was a coal miner.”

Though popularly received, the collection has fielded criticism in certain artistic circles. Art critic Max Kozloff accused Avedon of portraying an exoticized vision of the West–”a myth based on geographical desolation, rather than engagement with any real society.”

But Avedon himself, in the forward to “In the American West,” admitted to the limitations of portraiture in revealing something about a subject, famously writing, “All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.” 

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In previous years, the live event has drawn as many as 50,000 people. This year it was scaled down in order to allow more social distancing between attendees and included about 125 artists compared to 250 artists in previous years. Despite the smaller crowd, several artists who exhibited their work over the weekend said it was their most successful Beverly Hills Art Show in terms of sales, said Dana Beesen, the city’s Communications and Marketing Coordinator.

“People were definitely eager to get back to this event,” Beesen told the Courier. “It’s a community favorite. It’s very popular. It draws people from all over Southern California and we have artists from all over the nation. So it does attract quite a big crowd.”

The 15-year-old Beverly Hills local artist known as “TheCubist” was a crowd favorite at the show with pop-art pieces crafted out of Rubik’s Cubes that include celebrity portraits and consumer product images, similar to the work of Andy Warhol.

“Her tent was probably the busiest or one of the busiest,” Beesen said. “I think it was just something that was different, very pop-culture art.”

The Mayor’s Choice award was given to artist Karo Martirosyan by Mayor Bob Wunderlich for his glass and steel sculpture called “Arctic.” The sculpture is now being considered for installment at the Roxbury Park Community Center.

“With all of the challenges facing artists today, the show could not have gone any better and I commend all of the organizers,” said Martirosyan in a statement. “I am extremely honored to have one of my sculptures to be a permanent part of this iconic city.”

The Mayor’s Choice award is a staple at the event. Because former Mayor Lester Friedman was not able to give the award last year, two Mayor’s Choice awards were given this year. Friedman, who now sits on the Beverly Hills City Council, chose a mixed media painting called “Neon Fall” by artist Benjamin Gordon.

Artworks that receive the Mayor’s Choice Award are traditionally added to the city’s public art collection which includes more than 100 pieces of art in parks and facilities all over the city.

“It is so important for our community to provide programs and events where community members, visitors and artists can come together, gather, and enjoy arts and cultural experiences,” said Wunderlich in a statement.  “It’s good to be back.  These kinds of events build community, help foster community engagement and socialization, and showcase the city’s commitment to arts and culture.”

The show is now in its 48th year and has become one of the hallmark events for Beverly Hills, city staff told the Courier. The fair showcases artwork in almost every medium from digital art and printmaking to jewelry and traditional fine art mediums. In addition to art exhibitions, the show included gourmet food trucks.

“It was wonderful to see the beloved Beverly Hills Art Show successfully return to Beverly Gardens Park this past weekend, once again, that filled the park with extraordinary fine art, artists and community members,” said Brooke Putich, Beverly Hills Community Services Recreation Supervisor and coordinator of the Art Show in a statement. “We were grateful for the opportunity to safely gather and we look forward to seeing the show flourish in 2022.” 

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On Sept. 25, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures hosted an opening gala co-chaired by Jason Blum, Ava Duvernay, and Ryan Murphy. The event honored Haile Gerima and Sophia Loren, along with Bob Iger, Annette Bening and Tom Hanks. 

Guests walked the green carpet decorated with large floral installations to a cocktail hour on the Wilshire Terrace, before entering a whimsical Hayao Miyazaki-inspired “tree tunnel” for a sit-down dinner by Wolfgang Puck catering and Piper-Heidsieck. Lady Gaga surprised the crowd with a performance that began from her seat. 

The event raised more than $11 million for the museum dedicated to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking. As Spike Lee noted, “This is not just a museum for Los Angeles but for the world.”

Some of the notable guests included J.J. Abrams, Judd Apatow, Angela Bassett, Warren Beatty, Colleen Bell, Selma Blair, Cher, Eva Chow, Darren Criss, Benedict Cumberbatch, Barry Diller, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tiffany Haddish, Lydia Hearst, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michael Keaton, Anna Kendrick, Regina King, Billie Lourd, Bob Mackie, Frank Marshall, Marlee Matlin, Christopher Nolan, Sarah Paulson, Zac Posen, Questlove, Issa Rae, Olivia Rodrigo, MJ Rodriguez, David O. Russell, Meg Ryan, Jurnee Smollett, Aaron Sorkin, Holland Taylor, Guillermo del Toro, John Waters, and Rita Wilson.

The following Tuesday, Sept. 28, was a low-key donor reception sans red carpet or media that started on the ground floor, then migrated up to the rooftop view for Wolfgang Puck’s famous smoked salmon pizza. Beverly Hills locals Tom Blumenthal from Geary’s, Agnes Lew from East West Bank and Courier Publisher John Bendheim mingled with the museum’s interior architect Kulapat Yantrasast. 

The final blow-out event on Sept. 29 was co-hosted by Vanity Fair with co-chairs H.E.R. and Robert Pattinson in attendance. Guests included Gia Coppola, Amanda Demme, Zooey Deschanel, Josh Lucas, Rebel Wilson, Sydney Sweeney, Evan Ross, Elizabeth Jagger, Alex Israel, Jason Wu, Jeremy Scott, Alex Prager, Simon and Niki Haas, and Kate and Laura Mulleavy. 

The evening began with guests crossing over the Barbara Streisand Bridge for a cocktail reception on the top floor under the stars of the glass dome on the Dolby Family Terrace. Later in the evening, the museum opened all of its five floors for the guests who took selfies in front of Dorothy’s iconic ruby red slippers from the “Wizard of Oz,” as if to remind themselves, “there is no place like home.” 

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“The film industry and L.A. are synonymous,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a speech liberally sprinkled with film puns. “We’re the epicenter, the chief cultural exporter in the world, and this Academy Museum will, from here to eternity, serve as that powerful symbol that L.A. is passionately invested in film.”

“This is more than an American beauty, it’s an international landmark,” he said. “The museum will be a beacon of inspiration to visitors from across our city, as far away as Casablanca and beyond, shining a light on a much beloved art form.” 

The seven-story, 300,000-square-foot museum in the Miracle Mile district opens with five exhibitions exploring the history of cinema. Guests can explore a collection of pre-cinematic optical toys and step into the world of acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Stories of Cinema, the core exhibition, will offer perspectives on filmmaking past and present.

It also includes an immersive experience offering guests a chance to step onto the stage of the Dolby Theater and accept a genuine Oscar. Unfortunately, the 15-second event does not leave much time for delivering an acceptance speech.

The Miyazaki exhibit, the museum’s first temporary installation, immerses guests in the world of the director’s visionary storytelling and idiosyncratic animation. Visitors make their way through multiple rooms full of original imageboards, production cels, and concept art while projectors beam scenes from his movies onto surrounding walls. The exhibit provides a microscopic view of Miyazaki’s process and a broad-level perspective of his stunning career. 

Mike and Kris Kolker described the exhibit, housed on the third floor of the Saban Building, as “astonishing”–with one caveat. “I’m old enough that, as a little kid, I came into this building,” Mike Kolker told the Courier. “I’m a little disappointed that none of the original architecture is here.

Guests can also glimpse archival collections from cinematic classics, such as storyboards and screenplays from iconic films like “Psycho” and “When Harry Met Sally.” The Moviemaking gallery will have a collection that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of “The Wizard of Oz.” The museum displays a vast array of artifacts and information that explores every facet of the moviemaking process, with exhibits on sound design, makeup artistry, special effects, and costume design.

The museum will also serve as a space for movie-oriented activities and events. The museum will host family education events, including family studio activities, school tours, and teen programs.

The museum will also host film screenings in the 1,000-seat David Geffen theater and 288-seat Ted Mann Theater. Some screenings will include discussions with filmmakers and actors. The David Geffen theater will open with a special screening of “The Wizard of Oz” accompanied live by the American Youth Symphony and conducted by David Newman. 

“We’re finally returning to a community life after such a long and painful and traumatic year,” Garcetti said. “It feels like the perfect moment for Angelenos to come together safely to celebrate, to find our soul, to know who we are. And nothing reveals more about who we are than the arts, especially movies.”

The museum’s first visitors take in scenes from classic cinema at the Stories of Cinema exhibit. Photo by Samuel Braslow

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“We are excited to bring the Art Show back to Beverly Gardens Park this fall, but as we continue to monitor COVID-19 and the Delta variant, a smaller, more intimate event will allow us to manage the safety of our guests and staff,” said Brooke Putich, Community Services recreation supervisor and art show coordinator.  

Now in its 48th year, the Beverly Hills Art Show was reinvented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show took on a hybrid format in an effort to stay connected to the community and continue to offer the much-anticipated annual event that community members have come to expect and enjoy.  

“We offered an online art gallery exhibiting the artwork of 240 artists who provided pieces for sale; we had virtual Zoom interviews and chats with artists; and we provided small-pod master-class workshops held at Greystone Mansion & Gardens,” said Putich. “While live events were temporarily canceled to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we knew somehow the show must go on and we didn’t want to lose our Art Show followers so that when we did come back, they would still be with us, and we can’t wait to see everyone in person next month.” 

In addition to the 125 artist displays, guests will be able to enjoy food and beverages from several gastro-worthy food trucks.

The free show is produced by the City of Beverly Hills Community Services Department. Parking is available in city lots just south of Santa Monica Boulevard, adjacent to the show site.  For more information, visit www.beverlyhills.org/artshow or call 310.285.6836.  

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Even though Firestone turned 97 in April, she will be available for questions for decades to come.

On July 31, the Holocaust Museum LA debuted a life-size hologram of Firestone trained to reply to a seemingly infinite number of questions using a week’s worth of pre-recorded answers. The hologram is a permanent installation called “Dimensions in Testimony” created by the USC Shoah Foundation, an LA-based nonprofit founded by Steven Spielberg dedicated to creating and preserving audio-visual Holocaust survivor testimonies. Similar holograms are on display across the country.

“We’re so lucky because now we have Renee forever,” Holocaust Museum CEO Beth Kean told the Courier, noting that Firestone has been a longtime board member and speaker at the museum. “This virtual version of Renee now makes me feel better, knowing that we can continue to learn from her and learn the lessons of the Holocaust.”

Firestone saw her high-tech doppelganger for the first time at the museum’s reopening, where her likeness answered a variety of questions from youth groups, students, and community leaders. According to Kean, studies have shown that holograms help visitors ask the sensitive questions they might be afraid to ask actual survivors. 

“When [the Shoah Foundation] were testing out their new holograms, they incubated them here, so we would have students meet a real survivor, hear their story, ask them questions, and then they would walk into a room and see the hologram of the survivor and ask them completely different questions, and we realized that they weren’t afraid to hurt the survivor’s feelings,” she said.

Firestone, who has spoken about her experiences surviving the Holocaust everywhere from Congress to NASA, said it was surreal to see an almost lifelike version of herself recount intimate details from a troubled history. 

“I was not prepared for it, and then it’s interesting to watch yourself and hear yourself, and wonder, did you answer the right things,” Firestone – the real, three-dimensional Firestone – told the Courier. “I don’t know if people would understand what happened, even if I explain. It is not understandable.” 

But Firestone spent a week in 2015 answering thousands of questions filmed in front of 116 different cameras trying her best to help future generations understand. Algorithm software picks up keywords in questions and matches them to the nearest correct answer. Occasionally the hologram is stumped, and politely replies, “Can you ask me about something else?” Even though the hologram moves on, it logs the question to provide better answers in the future.

Six years after that long week of remembering, the result is a smiling woman, glowing bright white in an otherwise black room. While the woman waits for visitors to formulate a question, she swings her legs and fiddles with her clothing.

On a private tour of the Holocaust Museum, the Courier tapped a red button on a microphone and asked the two-dimensional Firestone where she was born, and her remarkable story began. 

“I was born in a town called Uzhorod, in Czechoslovakia. I had a wonderful childhood, as I said before. I had lovely parents and I never needed anything that I couldn’t get, and we were sort of a little bit maybe freer than the Jewish religious children, and we could afford and we could do the things that were fun.”  

The middle child of an owner of a prosperous men’s tailoring and textile business, Firestone, née Weinfeld, lived an idyllic childhood until the outbreak of World War II. In 1941, her older brother was sent to a work camp. In 1944, at age 20, Firestone and her mother, father, and younger sister were rounded up in a cattle car crammed with 120 other Jews and deported to Auschwitz. While her father and brother survived, her mother and sister did not. Firestone’s younger sister Klara, after whom her daughter is named, was murdered at the hands of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, known for performing sadistic, deadly medical experiments on prisoners. 

“I had many times when I thought that that’s the end,” the holographic Firestone answered when asked if she was ever afraid. “In Auschwitz, for example, almost every selection when there were selections, I knew that I could be one any minute. Fear of that was there all the time. We never felt safe enough thinking that yes, I would survive. Never.” 

But survive she did, though she isn’t completely sure how. “My survival I think was pure luck,” the hologram says after a long pause. “I don’t remember doing anything to save myself. I often think about it, but I think my survival was only luck.” 

After her liberation in 1945, Firestone settled in Prague. She then got married to another survivor named Bernard Firestone and moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1948, before eventually settling in Los Angeles, where she had an aunt. She always knew she wanted to work in the clothing industry like both of her parents. A sister of a friend promised to get her a job at a blouse factory, but soon after, that friend died, taking with her Firestone’s shot at the factory job. As a young girl who had just arrived in the country, she decided to go it alone, getting some fabric and a sewing machine. Bold as brass, she took her blouses to Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, and they loved the blouses so much that they put in a big order. When Firestone told them she couldn’t afford to make the blouses, Saks agreed to advance the funds. The rest is history. Firestone set up shop on Robertson Boulevard, and later collaborated with Rudi Gernreich, another survivor who became a big-name designer. 

“My mother was California fashion royalty,” Klara Firestone told the Courier. “She was part of a generation of designers who took Fifth Avenue away from Fifth Avenue.” 

Today, some of Firestone’s clothing is exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s permanent collection. 

Firestone has lived in Beverly Hills since the late 70s and has spoken at local schools. She’s become something of a hometown hero. When she turned 97 in April, the Beverly Hills Fire and Police Departments honored her by driving a caravan of police and fire trucks in front of her home. 

Like many survivors, Firestone was at first reluctant to share her experiences and relive the trauma. But starting in the 1970s, she started working with the Martyrs Memorial, the precursor to today’s Holocaust Museum, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the human rights organization that runs the Museum of Tolerance. In the following decades, she testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the U.S. military, NASA, the United Nations, and countless university and school groups. She was also featured in five documentaries, including Spielberg’s 1998 “The Last Days.” 

For many years, Firestone served on the board at the Holocaust Museum, the nation’s first museum dedicated to the Holocaust. The 60-year-old museum – whose largest benefactors are the Goldrich family of Beverly Hills, according to Kean – just reopened to the public by appointment only, but it has provided an array of virtual programming throughout the pandemic, including virtual tours given by Holocaust survivors in their 80s and 90s. 

“I like to say that the museum may have been physically closed, but we’ve never been more open,” Kean told the Courier. “The survivors know that with everything happening in the world, and while they’re still alive, they need to continue to tell their stories and educate young people.”

“I think that everybody who experiences, who watches some injustice being done to somebody should speak up,” Firestone’s hologram will remind young people for generations to come. “Don’t stand watching it, listening to it, and do nothing. First of all, speak up, and try to protect if you can.” 

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The Courier obtained an early preview, sitting down with artist Chaz Guest as he began painting a piano with his comic book character Buffalo Warrior, the first superhero “born in the cotton fields.” Guest explained that he got involved with Sing for Hope when he learned that the pianos would be given to under-resourced schools like those he attended in inner-city Philadelphia. He hopes that students see themselves and their potential reflected back at them in the fierce image of the Buffalo Warrior. “That’s going to start to teach them about their true narrative,” he said. 

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This special birthday celebration tradition began in 2008, when Ringo responded to a journalist’s question about what he wanted for his birthday. “The idea just came to me – that at noon your local time on July 7, my birthday – wherever you are, if you want to, say, think or post ‘Peace & Love.'” I decided to invite fans to join me on the streets of Chicago in front of the Hard Rock, and we have been doing it ever since.”

In 2019 there were over 30 Peace & Love events all around the world. Last year the pandemic prevented an in-person event. Instead, Ringo moved the celebration to the virtual “Ringo’s Big Birthday Show,” which featured unseen and unique performances by Ringo, Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Sheryl Crow and many more. The show was broadcast globally and raised funds for the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the David Lynch Foundation, Musicares and WaterAid. This year there were Peace & Love regional gatherings, both in person and on Zoom, in Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Italy, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, elsewhere in the U.S., and here in Beverly Hills. 

Afterward, Ringo shared with the Courier, “During this time of the pandemic… Barbara and I had a beautiful time with some of our friends as we celebrated my birthday with our traditional Peace & Love moment in front of my hand sculpture in Beverly Hills. I had a wonderful birthday… thanks to everyone who celebrated with me.” 

Happy Birthday Ringo and all the best and brightest wishes! Thanks to you, our world is a better place!

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Thanks to numerous sponsors, this fun and free event supports the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association and the Beverly Hills Firefighters’ Association – non-profit charities that provide assistance to first responders injured in the line of duty, maintain scholarship funds for their children and provide other support.

As of press time, the following is a sampling of the Tour d’Elegance entrants:

• 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (this likely will be the most-expensive car in the Tour);

• 1912 Ford Model T Roadster Pickup (the oldest car in the Tour);

• 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero (this is the amazing “flying wedge” you may have heard about but not yet seen);

• Maserati MC12 (only 50 were built in 2004 and 2005; Maserati’s answer to the Enzo Ferrari, which basically has the same chassis);

• Lamborghini Sian (the newest exotic offering from this special brand, their first production hybrid and their most-powerful road car ever – V12 engine plus electric motor bring the total to over 800 HP at a starting price of around $2,600,000);

• 1969 Ford Bronco “Big Oly” (one of the most storied off-road racers in history, owned for over 50 years by Parnelli Jones until a recent auction at a reported $1,870,000 a few weeks ago);

• 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage” (this car will travel the farthest in order to participate, coming from Sonoma, CA – the complex space-frame tube-chassis is what gave the car its moniker, but it likely will have the body on during the Tour so you’ll have to use your imagination);

• 2021 McLaren Elva (one the company’s newest offerings and its lightest now available, it has a unique offering – an optional windshield.  At a base price of about $1,700,000, it’s likely to be a crowd-pleaser);

• 1935 Packard Dual Cowl Phaeton by Dietrich (I love a car with two windshields! Maybe it could loan one to the McLaren Elva);

• 2021 McLaren Speedtail (this is tied with the Sian for the fastest accelerating car on the Tour but with a higher top speed, of 250 MPH – I hope that they put it up front. The base price is about $2,100,000);

• Several Chevy Low Riders (1958 and 1964 Impalas and 1983 Monte Carlo – always a delightful part of the show);

• 1957 Dual Ghia Convertible (the “it” car in Hollywood in that era);

• 1968 Mustang “Wasteland” car (think “Mad Max”);

• 1929 Ahrens-Fox Fire Truck (driven by our own Beverly Hills Fire Department, we have this truck to thank for the annual Rodeo Drive Concours. In the early ’90s, Beverly Hills had a fire truck that they had no money to restore, but it was an original Beverly Hills fire truck.  Bruce Meyer helped create a group of supporters put together a car show and to raise money to restore the antique fire truck);

• 1939 Bugatti Type 57C by Vanvooren (the “Shah Bugatti” – one of my personal favorites – I have a model of this car on my desk); 

• 1939 Auburn Boattail Speedster Custom (some car designers really loved their boats) and

• 1953 Chrysler Parade Phaeton (the kind used by President Eisenhower).

It will surprise no one that the driving force (so to speak) behind the event is Bruce Meyer, organizer extraordinaire, car collector par excellence and all-around good guy. Meyer brought the cars together; he made the connections with the city and he conceptualized the event (as he has with the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance for over 25 years). He truly is the ringmaster of the event.

Other key movers (so to speak) include Kathy Gohari of the Rodeo Drive Committee, who worked behind the scenes to get the event off the ground early on, Mayor of Beverly Hills Robert Wunderlich and Vice Mayor Lili Bosse, who have given nothing but enthusiastic support to the event. Tom O’Gara of O’Gara Coach committed to be title sponsor of the event and will join the Tour in a McLaren Speedtail. Of the many sponsors, notable are Hagerty, Auto Vault Storage, GEARYS Beverly Hills, Two Rodeo Drive, Rodeo Drive Associates and the Beverly Hills Historical Society.

This historic drive begins at 10 a.m on June 20. The parade route travels up San Vicente Boulevard and turns left (west) on Burton Way. It then will turn right and go north on Rexford Drive for a block, to Carmelita Avenue, and then turn left and go two blocks over to North Canon Drive. They then turn right and will follow Canon up to the Will Rogers Memorial Park (just below Sunset Boulevard) and then turn left and go right back down (south) on North Beverly Drive all the way to Wilshire Boulevard. They will turn right and go west one block to Rodeo Drive, turn right again and go north to “Little” Santa Monica, turn right and go two blocks to Canon Drive, turn right (south) again on Canon Drive and go to Dayton Way. The parade then will turn left, go to Crescent Drive and turn left. (The route is subject to change so please check the event website the morning of the event for possible updates:  https://rodeodrive-bh.com/fathers-day-automobile-celebration.

Note: There is no plan for viewing at the start or at the finish of the Tour as people are asked not to congregate at either end.  However, your opportunity to see, hear and, yes, even smell these icons of iron is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (bring your photo and video equipment!).  Most people will never have seen photos; some will have seen the photos but not the cars and a few will have seen them but not in action.  You will get to experience them all in their native habitat – the roads of Beverly Hills. And mark your calendars for Father’s Day 2022, when the Concours d’Elegance on Rodeo Drive is scheduled to return.

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Beverly Hills certainly understands the power of art, its ability to stimulate, entertain, and enhance. Long known for its public and private support for the arts, Beverly Hills is committed to providing access to diverse public artworks. “Throughout the years the city has established different committees and commissions to provide recommendations on the best way to advocate and support the Arts,” Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers told the Courier. 

“In the early 80’s, the Beverly Hills Fine Art Committee was established to support art exhibitions, performances and to formalize the installation of art and ornamentation throughout the city. In 1992, the City Council renamed the Fine Art Committee the Fine Art Commission. The Fine Art Commission developed, expanded, and promoted a notable public Fine Arts Collection to enhance the city’s cultural image and to provide a dynamic and enriching experience for residents, visitors and businesses in the city. The Commission helped acquire all the artworks that comprise the existing Fine Art Collection,” added Rogers. 

In 2019, the Fine Art Commission was expanded to include cultural arts and was renamed the Arts and Culture Commission. This Commission presently has the responsibility for acquiring and/or accepting donations or loans of fine art. Despite the setbacks of a tumultuous year, the city’s commitment to the arts has never wavered. The Arts and Culture Commission is currently “moving into projects that are artistically and culturally diverse to expose them in more temporary ways than before” to allow for a “truly fantastic summer of art,” Commissioner Stephanie Blackmore Vahn told the Courier.

The Arts and Culture Commission has created “Fine Art Walking Tours” that provide different walking routes throughout the city. Residents and visitors can partake in a self-guided tour of the Fine Art Collection, utilizing a downloadable map available at https://lovebeverlyhills.com/walking-tours.

This summer is the perfect time to experience the more than 50 notable works in the city. For those interested in more in-depth exploration, the Courier has compiled a guide to 13 of the most notable pieces. 

“Iron Root,” 2015, Ai Weiwei (1957-)

The orange-rust patina of “Iron Root” provides a natural appearance on first impression. But, the beauty and craftsmanship of the piece, modeled from the roots of the Pequi Vinagreiro tree from Brazil, soon gives way to a sense of uprootedness.

After spending time with local artisans and communities in Brazil’s Bahian rainforest, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, internationally renowned and appreciated for his advocacy and artistic genius, became unsettled by the largely bygone way of life usurped by industrialization and modernization. He responded with “Iron Root” in various iterations. Ai’s artworks fuse an appreciation for the natural world with a purposeful political conviction, one so sharp that he was arrested by the Chinese government in 2011 amid a campaign against dissent. (Government officials raided his studio, detained him for 81 days, and held his passport captive for nearly four years.) “Iron Root” exemplifies Ai’s ability to create a poignant visual cue, luring one in through surface level appreciation and fascination then disclosing an intentional deeper message. The spontaneous nature of the roots placed within the polished city exudes a sense of displacement and ignites questions on the extent that progress creates environmental degradation.

“Iron Root” arrived in Los Angeles in August 2020 with a donation by Andy Cohen in honor of Richard M. Cohen. It is located at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive. The Arts and Culture Commission hopes to host an in-person dedication later this summer when public gatherings are allowed.

“Endless V,” 2012, Juame Plensa (1955-)

Gleaming in the sunlight at seven feet tall, “Endless V” exemplifies internationally acclaimed Spanish artist Juame Plensa’s ability to weave together an intriguing idea of collective memory while alluding to the duality between the concrete and the intangible. In recent years, Plensa’s works have become increasingly abstract, as he unites characters from diverse lexicons to suggest a rich multiculturalism of society. “Endless V” empathetically appears lost in thought, yet his muscles are coiled and tensed as if ready to spring into motion, embodying both a dream and desire for future action. The figure in the work sits draped in a blanket of symbols and characters from various languages, providing visual dimension and texture through the conflicting shapes, which, despite their contrasting histories, are all made from the same material–a source of relation for all. “Endless V”, a work that could be endlessly pondered for its contemporary portrayal of humanity, creates a scene of solidarity and reflection amid the traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard. 

“Endless V” was acquired by the Fine Art Commission in 2012 for $350,000 and dedicated to the city in January of 2013. The work is in Beverly Gardens Park on Santa Monica Boulevard between Beverly Drive and Rodeo Drive. 

“Erratic,” 2007, Roxy Paine (1966-)

East of the Beverly Hills sign and Lily Pond, one can find New York born painter and sculptor Roxy Paine’s 7′ x 15′ stainless steel sculpture of a swollen, bulbous rock “Erratic.” To Paine, humans are an extension of nature, yet their impact on the natural world is one of transformation. In geology, “erratic” refers to stones and rocks that were carried by a glacier then left behind once the glacier melted, often used by scientists to determine ancient glacier movement. The Beverly Hills “Erratic,” created with the most contradicting material to the rock’s organic form, juxtaposes nature through the lens of the industrial process. “Erratic’s” glistening exterior creates an ominous visual interruption, reinforced as one realizes the rock is devoid of natural history like its geological inspiration. “Erratic” is a bit awkward, much like its message: society struggles to find balance between the natural and the artificial. 

“Erratic” has been situated in in Madison Square Park and Brooklyn Prospect Park before being purchased by the city in 2010. The sculpture is located in Beverly Gardens Park, North Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.

“Folded Square–Alphabet G,” 1980, Fletcher Benton (1931-)

Resting between motion and collapse in the middle of Beverly Hills, one can stumble upon “Folded Square–Alphabet G” by Fletcher Benton, one of the country’s most inventive and consistently challenging artists. Is it stable? Is it moving? The steel, royal blue sculpture boldly demands inspection as it creates its own language through sculpture with a sense of dynamism and ambiguity. Through a creative artistic evolution of the letter G, Benton addresses language and abstraction in an eye-catching way. The piece can be viewed from all angles, defining new constructivism through a fluid adaption of geometric form, while its unstable position abstractly reveals forms of nature, geometry, and human activity with a hint of humorous confusion.

“Folded Square–Alphabet G” was donated to the city of Beverly Hills by the Louchheim Family. The piece is located at the intersection of North Alpine Drive and Burton Way.  

“Indeterminate Line,” 1979, Bernar Venet (1941-)

 “Indeterminate Line,” resting south of Wilshire Boulevard on S. Beverly Drive, continues Bernar Venet’s, one of the most internationally recognized French artists, lifelong investigation into the mathematical and philosophical implications of the line. Visual tensions echo off the steel sculpture as it begins to coil in real space then abruptly stops, giving off a subtle notion that it could spiral at any point. Its neutral color makes the work possible to overlook, but, once acknowledged, the lively form starkly contrasts the angular, linear forms of the surrounding buildings, as if to bring a sense of unpredictability to the presumed stability of Beverly Hills. “Indeterminate Line,” a symbol of future potential, “opens a doorway to fundamental principles such as indeterminacy, chance, accident, unpredictability, chaos and, even, incompleteness,” shares the artist. 

“Indeterminate Line” was acquired by the city in 2015. The sculpture is located at 122 South Beverly Drive. 

“New Piece,”1966, Tony Smith (1912-1980)

Often cited as a pioneering figure in American minimalist sculpture, Tony Smith’s work is created with a mathematical precision. Though, his artworks are not as simple as they appear. Smith incorporates slight geometric discrepancies that forces the viewer to look beyond the object’s literal nature. “New Piece,” placed outside the entrance to Gucci on Rodeo Drive, appears as a simple, uninteresting, hexahedron–unproblematic by name and form. Most viewers would not think to take a second look. When viewed head on, “New Piece,” a bronze work painted in black patina, appears a non-threatening form, slightly tipped, shorter than most viewers, and tilted backward as if to avoid confrontation. Once viewed intentionally, the work possesses a potential energy, potentially preparing to pounce. The assumed simplicity of “New Piece” is its great illusion, not demanding anything and not calling unwanted attention. But, to those willing to investigate, “New Piece” creates a surprising sense of urgency as the brave viewer questions the work’s increasingly disquieting sensation.

“New Piece” is number four of six editions and was acquired by the city in 2018. It is located at 347 North Rodeo Drive. 

“Playground,” 1962, Tony Smith (1912-1980)

 “Playground,” the first Smith sculpture acquired by the city, is united to “New Piece” through the concept of a deceptively simple form representing complex decisions that demand examination. “Playground” steers away from the daunting visual complexity of “New Piece,” though. Instead, it toys with the concept of negative space to ignite a playful nature. At first, the five-foot tall, painted black, welded steel “Playground” is cold, as it appears hard, firm, and reminiscent of the integrity and strength of ancient architectural buildings. Yet, the irony of the piece rests in its use of simple, geometric negative space and its ironic name, requiring more than a passerby glance. “Playground” calls upon the child-like detective and participant in all viewers. Can I climb on this? Am I going to get in trouble? The scale, form, and name of this sculpture invites its unrestricted audience to explore by crawling through its tunnel and peeking over the top. “Playground” evokes the inner child, the curiosity and excitement, in all onlookers. 

“Playground” was acquired by the city in 2004. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive. 

“Sisyphus,” 1985, Alexander Liberman (1912-1999)

Russian American legendary creative Alexander Liberman’s extensive eye for detail repeatedly defined and redefined contemporary magazine culture through his commercial experience at Conde Nast, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Not wanting to limit himself to a single form of expression, Liberman created minimalist paintings and sculptures, predating the minimalist movement by more than a decade. 

Liberman’s monumental “Sisyphus,” facing the municipal court building, disrupts the median on Burton Way with its fiery, red-painted steel, profound size, and swirling points of tension against its urban backdrop. The title refers to a king of Ephyra, in Ancient Greek Mythology, who, punished by the gods for his deceitfulness, was fated to endlessly roll a boulder up a mountainside. Ironically juxtaposed by a nearby “no parking any time” sign, “Sisyphus” serves as a culmination of Russian Constructivism and American Industrialization through an avant-garde lens, which slyly offers an unspoken exploration of Greek mythology. Impossible to ignore, Liberman visually explores Sisyphus’ never-ending story through an arresting presence that makes viewers pause at its detail, hesitate at its shape, feel a bit confused, and think through its possible intention.

Liberman’s public sculptures can be seen in over 40 cities around the world, including three in Los Angeles. “Sisyphus” was donated by Murray Pepper, the husband of the city’s former mayor, Vicki Reynolds. The work is located on the median Intersection of Burton Way and Civic Center Drive.

“Takeaway,” 2018, Tom Friedman (1965-)

In a playful and empathetic manner, “Takeaway,” matches the hustle and bustle of Santa Monica Boulevard as a lively symbol of the strenuous demands many are defined by today. Since the early 1990’s, Contemporary American sculptor Tom Friedman has created a whimsical, heterogeneous body of work that playfully explores the relationship between reality and illusion. Using strenuous, labor-intensive methods, Friedman pushes the envelope of what is art, what is reality, what is satire and what is truth.

The nearly 14-foot stainless steel “Takeaway” portrays an individual running while precariously balancing an overload of take-out containers in equilibrium on his head. An ode to the click-culture of food delivery, the work uses a sense of excess to acknowledge aspects of the gig-economy prevalent in modern society. The figure’s urgency recalls a rushed yet determined mindset that’s seemingly become norm. “Takeaway” is easily enjoyed by anyone, both intellectually and aesthetically, and easily entertains viewers through its simple beauty and craftmanship, yet it leaves a possibility to dive into a deeper discourse about life and art. Perhaps an appreciation, perhaps a critique, the ambiguity of the work allows viewers to decide their own takeaway.

“Takeaway” was dedicated to the city on January 3, 2019. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive. 

“Torso of a Walking Man,” 1879, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

“Torso of a Walking Man” could easily be defined as a work in progress–a missing head, missing limbs, missing personality. But that is conceivably its strength. And a hallmark of its creator, widely considered the father of Modern sculpture, Auguste Rodin. The torso’s artistic details are incontestable, the rippling muscles that create dynamism, the strength of the form exuding a sense of potential, the opportunity it leaves for the viewer to define its purpose. Through reflection, “Torso of a Walking Man” becomes a man in progress, one of vulnerability with capability, though incomplete. Through this, debatably unfinished, masterpiece, one is reminded that criticism is, simply, an opinion and that no one defines an unfinished work of art apart from the artist himself. 

“Torso of a Walking Man” is displayed in Beverly Hills through a donation from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. The sculpture is located in City Hall at 455 N. Rexford Drive. 

“Unconscious,” 2010, Franz West (1947-2012)

Demanding you pause and take a seat, the towering, lacquered-aluminum sculpture “Unconscious” waves attention as it spirals out of Wilshire Boulevard. Inspired by Actionist and Performance Art of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Austrian artist Franz West’s artwork eradicates the divide between viewer and artwork by allowing viewers an opportunity to involve themselves within his work. Friendly and endearing, “Unconscious” is like a neighbor, as its three built in seats invite the passersby to rest, contemplate, enjoy. The sculpture’s impulsive, ribbon-like shape was created with unrestricted intention, as it seems to mirror the freedom of the unconscious mind, while its muted, blush-color and quiet motion creates a perfect space for singular or shared thought. The welcoming sculpture redefines artistic engagement and allows viewers a space to explore what minds do when thoughts navigate without bounds. 

“Unconscious” was commissioned by George Comfort & Sons and installed in 2010. It is located at the Northwest Corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive, at 9465 Wilshire Blvd.  

“Peace and Love,” 2019, Ringo Starr (1940-)

The impact of “Peace and Love” lies heavily in its artist. A giant peace sign sculpture could be considered cliché or redundant, but Ringo Starr is the epitome of a peaceful and loving artist. His artistic titles include singer, songwriter, drummer, collaborator, producer, actor, author, photographer, painter, and sculptor, and through each endeavor lies a single message: peace and love. 

Forever associated with unity and endlessly donned by Starr, the peace sign is to the idea of peace and love as Ringo Starr is to music: symbolic. Starr arguably personifies peace and love, as all his public actions exude positivity, enthusiasm, and playfulness, and are often closed with a verbal “peace and love” along with a flash of the hand sign. Standing eight feet tall and weighing over 800 pounds, Starr’s polished stainless-steel sculpture replicates the hand gesture he first adopted in the 60’s. Through its simple yet historic form, “Peace and Love,” endearing and approachable, makes one feel nostalgic about  the past and optimistic for the future. Its form shines amidst Beverly Gardens Park in a subtle yet unignorable message of positivity to passersby. “Peace and Love” plants a light-hearted reminder of hope and harmony within Starr’s home of Beverly Hills as a reminder that there can never be too much peace and love. 

“Peace and Love” was donated to Beverly Hills by Ringo Starr and installed in 2019. It is located in Beverly Gardens Park across from City Hall. 

“Love Anatomy,” Alexandra Nechita

 “Love Anatomy” calls upon admiration for the protecting, the disciplining, and the stable women in everyone’s lives. World famous Romanian American artist Alexandra Nechita, whose works have been collected by Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Calvin Klein, and more, creates a unique artistic style as a source of storytelling. “Love Anatomy” reflects the love and appreciation she holds for the women in her own life as it inspires all to appreciate their own. The 8-foot-tall, thousand-pound, bronze sculpture is stylized through Nechita’s signature neo-modernist manner and abstractly creates a female form that simultaneously ignites appreciation and, lighthearted, familial fear. The figure’s strong stance and independent placing exudes an imposing sense of female authority, while the viewer feels a need to check if their shirt is tucked in. “Love Anatomy” seems to transform, to broaden and deepen, the whole idea of power; a woman no longer must disregard her femininity to portray strength but is instead empowered by her female nature that unites all. Having been so many years defined by bodies, Nechita’s work stands as an inspiring symbol of unity as it symbolizes female power and the love, expectation, and progress that it brings. 

“Love Anatomy” was installed on April 29, 2021. The work stands on the west side of the Burton Way median, facing three other existing sculptures (“Sisyphus” by Alexander Liberman, “World On Its Hind Legs” by William Kentridge and “Folded Square – Alphabet G” by Fletcher Benton). The Arts and Culture Commission hopes to host an in-person dedication later this summer when public gatherings are allowed.

Notable Art Exhibits This Summer:

“Ai Weiwei: Trace,” Now through Aug. 1

“Ai Weiwei: Trace” at the Skirball Center seeks to illuminate the power of resistance. Created in 2014, when Ai Weiwei was on house arrest in China, the exhibition highlights activists, prisoners of conscience, and global free speech advocates.  The exhibition is made up of portraits that were hand assembled from thousands of LEGO bricks. 

https://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/ai-weiwei-trace

“Banksy: Genius or Vandal” Sept. 22

Celebrate Banksy, the master of the streets, in Los Angeles. A world-renowned mystery man, the graffiti artist, painter, activist, filmmaker, and all-purpose provocateur was listed as one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2010.   

https://feverup.com/m/98070

Additional reporting by Kathy Silverman

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The galleries have been redesigned in collaboration with Frank O. Gehry and Associates, and the presentation includes new interpretive texts, six thematic audio tours, a 30-minute film drawn from LACMA’s exhibition archives, and a collection soundtrack. The new presentation is curated by Stephanie Barron, Senior Curator and Department Head of Modern Art, and Katia Zavistovski, Assistant Curator of Modern Art.

The installation is an opportunity to rethink how we display our collection and bring together longtime favorites with works that have never been on view, and we have a rare chance to incorporate works from other departments while we are in the construction phase for the David Geffen galleries,” said Barron. 

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Bernstein takes the helm of the museum as the Skirball prepares to dust off its exhibits and open up its doors to visitors. Kornberg emphasized Bernstein’s role in its popular Noah’s Ark exhibit as a reason for her appointment. “The success of Noah’s Ark and her contributions to exhibition development are a reflection of Sheri’s unwavering commitment to storytelling and accessibility, her eye for inspired gallery design, and her passion for engaging visitors as active participants to create impact,” she said.

“The Skirball has such a special mission, using the arts to help bring people together and inspire wonder, foster exchange, and promote justice,” Bernstein said in a statement. “Together with our talented museum team, I welcome the opportunity to work with artists and community collaborators to create exhibitions that extend beyond the galleries into our outdoor spaces and into the broader Los Angeles community.”

Sanchez comes to the Skirball from Live Nation, where he served as regional Vice President at the North America Concerts Division, overseeing nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue. He will manage the investment strategy for the Center, which has a $25 million operating budget. 

Kohanchi joins the Center from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), where she served as Deputy General Counsel. In her position at LACMA, she advised on projects and initiatives such as a planned $650 million building, major art acquisitions, and the awe-inspiring art piece “Levitated Mass.”

Bernstein will hit the ground running, taking the position only weeks after the Skirball presents “Ai Weiwei: Trace,” an exhibit by the groundbreaking and iconoclastic Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The installation highlights individuals who have been persecuted by governments across the globe for their beliefs, actions, or associations–much like the artist himself. The exhibit opens on May 15.  

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Born in Romania, Nechita began drawing at age two and held her first exhibit at age eight at the Los Angeles Public Library. Dubbed the “Petite Picasso” for her mastery of color and form, she has exhibited worldwide and amassed an international following. In 2008, Nechita graduated from UCLA with a degree in Fine Arts. She now lives in Los Angeles. 

One of five towering figure sculptures produced by Nechita, “Love Anatomy” depicts a stylized female figure in the artist’s signature neo-modernist manner. 

“Love Anatomy,” said Art Critic Peter Frank, is a “splendid example of Nechita’s human optimism.”

Work on the installation site commenced this week and coincides with the redesign of the Burton Way median. When completed, the location will incorporate drought-tolerant vegetation, bioswales and a storm water retention site. From now through April 30, “Love Anatomy” will cause minimal noise and traffic impact from equipment and crew working Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. On April 22, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., the city will implement traffic control on the east bound side of Burton Way between North Crescent Drive and Foothill Road for the installation of the sculpture. 

Once installed, “Love Anatomy” will be viewable until landscape redesign takes place. Thereafter, all the sculptures will be covered for the approximately one-year construction period. For more information about Public Art in Beverly Hills, visit www.beverlyhills.org/publicart. 

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The event included remarks by Academy Museum Director and President Bill Kramer, Academy Museum Chief Artistic and Programming Officer Jacqueline Stewart and the celebrated, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, who designed the structure. Academy Award-winning actress and Academy Museum Trustee Laura Dern led much of the virtual tour, with guests such as Guillermo del Toro and Spike Lee appearing as well. 

New Landmark, New Mission

The country’s largest institution devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking makes its formal debut on Sept. 30, 2021. Piano’s design has restored and revitalized the iconic Saban Building – formerly known as the May Company building (1939) – at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Together with a soaring spherical addition, the new museum will contain 50,000 square feet of exhibition spaces, two state-of-the-art theaters, an education studio, restaurant, retail store, and public spaces. 

Movies will come home to the new museum. And they will do so in an immersive, dynamic format befitting a medium that has captured the world’s imagination since the latter part of the 19th century. The collections and expertise of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences serve as the building blocks of exhibitions and programs. As moviemakers tell stories, so will the museum. The history, technology, artistry, social impact and even controversy surrounding films and filmmaking is on display. Cinematic icons, such as the sole surviving full-scale model of a shark (“Bruce”) from Jaws (1975) will undoubtedly appeal to the masses.

Pre-Opening Virtual Programming

During the presentation, the museum announced a series of virtual conversations, screenings and educational programs to coincide with the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25. They are meant to be prologues to the museum’s core exhibition, “Stories of Cinema.” Shared voices of renowned film artists will explore the art, technology, history, and social impact of the movies. When the museum opens formally, it will offer a vibrant roster of programs, screenings, discussions and events designed to incorporate its facilities and the shared experience of the cinema. For additional information about plans for the Academy Museum and its inaugural exhibits, visit the website at academymuseum.org. 

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The annual “What You Do Matters” Western Region Dinner is normally held in Los Angeles and historically attracts up to 1,000 guests. This year, the virtual event will feature the theme of “Survival, Hope and Resilience.” The program will include testimonies from Holocaust survivors and liberators as narrated by celebrities including Morgan Freeman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Camryn Manheim and Tim Matheson. The event will also include special musical performances and important messages about the Museum’s role in these challenging times.  

Emcee Emmy Rossum was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance as “Christine” in “The Phantom of the Opera” and starred in nine seasons of Showtime’s critically acclaimed dark comedy series, “Shameless.” She has been an outspoken critic of antisemitism and bigotry in Hollywood.

Taking part in a special segment will be Gerda Weissmann Klein, Holocaust survivor, author, humanitarian, subject of the Academy Award winning documentary “One Survivor Remembers,” and 2011 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

“One Survivor Remembers” relates  Klein’s harrowing story of survival, both before and after the war. Home Box Office and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum co-produced the documentary film, which was awarded both an Emmy and an Academy Award. 

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “2021 Western Region Virtual Event” comes at a time marked by an alarming rise in antisemitism, racism, and neo-Nazism. The event will feature Derek Black, who was raised in a prominent white supremacist family. Black will speak about experiences that led him to renounce the white nationalist movement and inspired his current work of understanding and teaching the origins of race, racist ideologies and antisemitic beliefs.

In addition, conservatory students from The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School in Los Angeles will perform music from the Museum’s Collection, which is the world’s largest archive of Holocaust artifacts and materials.

 “These challenging times compel us to present a program that initiates critical thinking, inspires self-reflection and motivates the community to create positive change,” said Marla Abraham, the Museum’s Director of the Western Regional Office. “We are grateful to have Emmy Rossum emcee our virtual event and recognize the significant work that the Western Region Leadership Committee put forth to make this non-traditional program deeply impactful. The event will be a memorable and powerful experience with appearances by Gerda Weissmann Klein, Derek Black and the musical performance by students from the Colburn School.”

The event is open to the public, but advance registration is required. Registrants will receive a link via email to access the program a day before the virtual event. Groups and individuals interested must register by March 10. For more information, contact the Museum’s Western Regional Office at 310-556-3222 or western@ushmm.org.

https://www.ushmm.org/ 

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“Philanthropic investments of this magnitude speak to the dedication of our Wallis Family members and the priority they give The Wallis as a cornerstone institution of our community and a bright hope for our future,” said Wallis Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine in a statement. “These two tremendous and significant funds, the first endowment gifts we have received since before The Wallis’s 2013 opening, fortify our mission and vision, as well as underscore our core values at a critical moment in time.”

According to The Wallis, the Grauman Fellowship in Music is not only the Center’s first fellowship program, but also the first of its kind in Los Angeles County. The fellowship, which will last a season, will go to a classical pianist or string player transitioning from formal training to the professional world. 

Director of Education Mark Slavkin, who oversees GRoW, said the fellowship is not just another competition. “We didn’t feel the world needed one more competition,” he told the Courier. In addition to the annual $15,000 stipend, the fellow will receive mentorship from The Wallis, including live performance opportunities, audition help, and opportunities designed to prepare them for a career as a classical musician.  

“Walter and I have made a special effort over the last 50 years to help advance the training and talent opportunities of so many outstanding young musicians here in Los Angeles County,” Grauman said in a statement. “I am excited that now The Wallis will have the ability to provide opportunities to talented, young string musicians and pianists through a mix of performance and professional learning opportunities during their fellowship year at The Wallis.”

The fellowship also includes an element of public service. “Obviously artistic excellence is an important value to us,” Slavkin said. “But so is relevance and the idea of making a difference in the world–that the issues that you’re raising, the stories that you’re telling, the themes that you’re addressing are relevant to the world as it exists.” 

In applying for the fellowship, musicians must submit plans for a community-based project to expose and educate new audiences in Los Angeles to classical music. The program will focus on communities without regular access to the arts, from underprivileged school children, to adults living in long term care facilities. 

The Wallis has not opened up the application process yet, but hopes to select its first Grauman Fellow in time for next fall’s season. If live performances have not reopened by then, though, Slavkin says that they will defer the fellowship to the following season. He encourages prospective applicants to check www.thewallis.org for updates.  

In addition to the Grauman Endowment Fund, the Wallis also announced the creation of the Steven D. Cochran Memorial Fund, a more general purpose endowment similarly dedicated to educating and inspiring young music listeners. The Cochran Memorial Fund honors former Wallis Board member Steve Cochran, who passed due to illness in 2019. Cochran was passionate about sharing his love of classical music and served as Chair of the Education Committee at the Wallis. 

Even through his battle with illness, Cochran continued to attend matinee performances held for school groups–something that long made him smile. “That same smile would come to his face,” Slavkin recalled. Following his memorial, Cochran’s husband and Wallis Ambassador Dan Clivner solicited donations from friends and family and made a sizable donation of his own. The $500,000 endowment will generate about $25,000 in interest each year, which will go to support different programs and projects each year. 

“The Wallis is the cultural heart of Beverly Hills and the greater Los Angeles region,” Clivner said in a statement, “and these funds will help bring youthful vitality to The Wallis and ensure the beat goes on for a long, long time.” 

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Founding director Adrenrele Sonariwo saw opening the gallery as an opportunity to harness and facilitate social change while allowing African artists a space of validation and potential growth within the ivory towered art world. Sonariwo has a long history in the art world, with experience running numerous galleries and curating exhibitions internationally for the past decade. After returning to her hometown of Lagos in 2015 following stints in the U.K. and U.S., Sonariwo opened the first Rele Gallery in Lagos: the word ‘rele’ is Yoruba for ‘coming home.’ 

Since its inception, Rele has served as a critical interface between the art world in Africa and the international sphere. The original gallery in Lagos has become the leading space for contemporary art and artist development in Nigeria. Its expansion overseas is another step in the long-term goal of continuously developing, advocating for and representing today’s most talented African artists. Though Rele Los Angeles is more than 7,500 miles from Lagos, the two locations are united in their mission to bring Nigerian art to the forefront of the art scene. 

Los Angeles was Sonariwo’s first choice for international expansion because of its diversity and welcoming response to her previous L.A.-based work. “I’m an art lover who has run galleries in Africa and curated exhibitions internationally. I have worked in the art space for years and have always wanted to open a space in Los Angeles, which is such an important center of global multicultural art and culture. The love and support that the gallery has found within the L.A. community is at the core of why we chose to open our first international space here. L.A. is such a beautiful city with a truly multicultural population that cares deeply about the arts and culture. I’ve lived in different parts of the U.S., but always felt the most welcome and happy in LA. We exhibited at the 2020 L.A. Art Show and we found really strong levels of interest,” said Sonariwo. 

In its white walled, one room space on Melrose, Rele Gallery presents a blank canvas for Contemporary African artists to share their stories and engage with a new kind of audience, and vice versa. “Traditional African art is mainstream and well understood the world over. It has been for decades, maybe even centuries. Contemporary African art however is coming into its own at this moment and we are seeing so much work being created by artists whose influences are at once local and global. Their voices are being shaped by events and experiences both deeply personal but also public and international. It’s a unique perspective of storytelling that might otherwise not be available to an international audience were it not for our efforts,” explains Sonariwo.

Rele Gallery’s debut exhibition presents Orita Meta-Crossroads. Loosely translated as “a junction where three roads meet,” Orita Meta references a book and painting by Nigerian artist and writer Peju Alatise. Like Alatise’s work, the exhibition explores the dialogue on gender and femininity between three exciting women artists presently working in Nigeria: Marcellina Akpojotor, Tonia Nneji and Chidinma Nnoli. The featured artists utilize their own unique experiences through varying artistic methods to explore pre-existing Nigerian notions that contrast and inform perspectives held by an American audience. 

The exhibition’s strength lies in its powerful female Nigerian context, one that has been seldom explored in recognized art. Nenji’s works explore a culture of suppression and silence on issues surrounding women’s mental and physical health, bodily autonomy and sexual harassment through intimate scenes embellished with bold colors and intricate patterns. Nnoli’s series “A Poetry of Discarded Feelings” contrasts the idea of purity culture by conveying the hidden against the visible to draw attention to the overwhelming silencing of female sexuality within Nigerian societies. Akpojotor’s work from her “Conversation” series incorporates pieces of Ankara fabric to build up her intricately layered scenes that emphasize the importance of communal discourse as a tool for driving change and interrogating existing narratives. The exhibition ignites an emotional response by demanding consideration of the hegemonic forces at play in both Nigerian and international societies, while simultaneously offering a sense of solace through images of female communion, solidarity and empowerment. Vibrant color schemes and large canvas’ artistically lure the viewer in, then forces them to confront the heavy topics existing behind the beautifully adorned scenes. 

As for the future of Rele Gallery, Sonariwo intends the space to be a continual opportunity for intimate encounters with the works of Africa’s finest. “We are delighted to join the thriving community of multi-cultural artistic encounters that already exist in an established international hub such as Los Angeles,” she said. Rele Gallery’s upcoming full year of programming will include waves of African artists working in diverse mediums. Sonariwo hopes they will trigger a newfound followership and engagement with arts from Africa. She looks forward to welcoming and enlightening lovers of art and Africa alike. 

Orita Meta – Crossroads is now open at Rele Gallery, 8215 Melrose Avenue, through March 28th. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the gallery is open by appointment. www.rele.co/

Cameron Crews is a freelance writer for numerous L.A.-based galleries, fashion houses, and publications. Originally from Texas, Crews moved to Southern California after earning a distinguished degree in joint honors Art History and Modern History at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2019. Her book, “To the Monsters of My Past,” was published in November and reads as an unconventional autobiography, written in verse, of the heartbreaks, struggles, triumphs, and epiphanies she experienced over an eight-year period.

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The event also featured a live auction in which a 1961 MGA Outlaw restored by the museum broke records and became the highest-selling MGA in history. The proceeds generated from the sale of this vehicle and the other auction lots benefit its exhibits and the Hammertime education programs, which includes The Bruce Meyer Automotive Scholarship, which supports vocational training and internships.

“Our 26th Annual Gala Celebration was our most successful gala to date,” said Petersen Automotive Museum Executive Director Terry L. Karges.

“Each year, the gala is our largest fundraising event. The pivot to a virtual event posed some challenges, but the ongoing support from our donors, community, and our partners made it all possible. The proceeds generated will help us continue our work educating students and inspiring the next generation of car enthusiasts through The Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation and the Hammertime Global Education Initiative,” Karges added.

The 1961 MGA roadster was donated to the Petersen in 2011; it has since been restored by the museum’s in-house team of technicians over the last five years. The car is finished in black over red leather and is powered by a rebuilt and over-bored 1,622cc inline-four-cylinder engine.

Modifications included an MGB cylinder head, Weber side-draft carburetor, performance camshaft, stainless steel exhaust system, and oversized pistons. The car is also equipped with a four-speed manual gearbox, Sebring-style windscreen, chromed wire wheels, front disc brakes, and Jaeger instrumentation. The car sold for $115,000 – $35,000 more than the second highest-selling MGA on Bring a Trailer.

“Digital programs for remote learning have become more important than ever,” said Petersen Automotive Museum Board Member Michael Armand Hammer. “The Hammertime Global Education Initiative allows us to teach kids about the history and future of the automobile in a compelling and easily accessible way. We’re grateful for the funds generated through this year’s gala, and we can’t wait to continue sharing our passion with students around the world.”

Petersen.org.

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“We are thrilled to welcome these six remarkable leaders to our board of trustees,” said Ron Meyer, board chair and vice chairman of NBCUniversal. “Their achievements in their respective fields demonstrate the passion and leadership that they will contribute to the Academy Museum. We look forward to working together on the world’s premier institution dedicated to the art and science of movies.”

The new trustees join existing board members Ron Meyer, Chair; Ted Sarandos, Vice Chair; Kimberly Steward, Secretary; Jim Gianopulos, Treasurer; Jason Blum, Laura Dern, David Dolby, Sidonie Seydoux Dumas, Mark Johnson, Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee), Tom Hanks, Dawn Hudson, Katherine Oliver, Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, Dominic Ng, David Rubin, Emma Thomas, Diane von Furstenberg, and Kevin Yeaman.

Opening in April of 2021, The Academy Museum will be the world’s premier institution dedicated to the art and science of movies. The film center will offer unique experiences and insights into movies and moviemaking. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the Museum is restoring and revitalizing the historic Saban Building, formerly known as the May Company building (1939), at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. The Saban Building will feature six floors, including exhibition spaces, the 288-seat Ted Mann Theater, the Shirley Temple Education Studio, special event spaces, conservation areas, a café, and store. The new spherical addition will connect to the Saban Building via glass bridges and will feature the state-of-the-art 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and the rooftop Dolby Family Terrace, which will offer sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills.

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Works by Georg Baselitz, Jennifer Guidi, Tetsuya Ishida, Jia Aili, Takashi Murakami, Mary Weatherford, Tom Wesselmann, and Zeng Fanzhi can be viewed via gagosian.com or the Art Basel app. 

Other local galleries are following suit, such as Annenberg Space for Photography, which is offering an audio tour of “Vanity Fair: Hollywood Calling.” Led by the calming voice of Vanity Fair’s creative development editor and exhibit co-curator David Friend, the audio tour features engaging behind-the-scenes stories about how the selection of celebrity portraits from the pages of the magazine was compiled. 

Friend’s narration includes the stories behind Annie Leibovitz’s iconic image of a pregnant Demi Moore; Jackie Nickerson’s chartreuse cover of Lupita Nyong’o; Steven Meisel’s memorable portrait of Madonna, and more. Browse the full audio tour at https://annenbergphotospace.org/vanity-fair-hollywood-calling-audio-tour/. 

While Art Angels on Beverly Boulevard has decided to inject a little cheer into the neighborhood with a vibrant exterior butterfly mural by PUNKMETENDER, they are also offering an online viewing room for all their existing artworks at https://www.artangels.net/. 

Bergamot Station, with over 20 galleries in its Santa Monica creative arts complex, is taking the normal Saturday night wine viewing parties online. “Love in the Time of Corona” is an ongoing social distancing virtual exhibit that debuted on March 28 via live streaming on Zoom, Facebook and Instagram. The artwork price list is available at bGGalleryshop.com. 

The Getty compound continues its online education in the form of art books, exhibitions, podcasts, and videos. Delve into “Michelangelo: Mind of the Master” or “Bauhaus: Building the New Artist.” Also, check the Behind the Scenes at the Getty vertical for more fascinating reads. http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/. 

For car buffs, the Petersen Automotive Museum has its famous vault tour of 250 rare and historic vehicles now available online. A donation is suggested for viewing. https://www.petersen.org/vault/. 

Art for the Whole Family
Families looking for ways to expand their minds and discover new cultural experiences digitally can look no further than The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC). The organization that also includes La Brea Tar Pits and William S. Hart Museum just launched the NHMLAC Connects portal for exploring natural and cultural wonders safely and digitally from home. 

With the mission to inspire discovery, culture and responsibility for our natural worlds, the museums are opening new doors to natural history virtually while physical doors are closed. Think social distancing but with dinosaurs and mammoths and connecting with nature and community science in your own home. 

Visitors to the NHMLAC Connects portal can learn about recent paleontological discoveries by NHM scientists, such as the world’s tiniest dinosaur. Specific family-focused activities include how to make a fossil skull puppet with a clothespin and opportunities to go behind the scenes with time-lapse videos of exhibition installation including the only Tyrannosaurus Rex growth series featuring a baby, juvenile and sub-adult. 

With more than 35 million objects and specimens in their collections, the museums are also rich with local history and culture. 

From creating and building alters to naming streets and the story behind Aunt March’s cape from the 1949 version of “Little Women,” the fact-finding information is endless from your living room sofa. https://nhmlac.org/connects. 

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Since its creation in 2012, the Objets Nomades collection has furthered Louis Vuitton’s historic tradition of beautifully crafted travel-inspired objects that are creative, functional and innovative. The experimental prototypes that make up the Objets Nomades collection all pay homage to the 165-year-old House’s special orders of the past – such as the iconic Bed Trunk produced in 1874 for French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza – while fusing contemporary visions of creative designers from around the world from India Mahdavi to Marcel Wanders, and most recently, Andrew Kudless. 

Photos by Marc Patrick/BFA.com 

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The iconic 1939 building with a circular 24-karat gold cylinder was created during the Golden Age of Hollywood and fittingly evokes a film cannister. Now the Wilshire entrance opens up to a main lobby in the Saban building, leading to six floors of exhibition space. 

One of the world’s greatest architects, Renzo Piano, is responsible for the 300,000 square feet of design space behind the streamline modern facade. “This is a museum for everyone,” said Academy Museum Director Bill Kramer. “Renzo has brilliantly married the past and the future.” The second structure, the Sphere building, represents the future and houses a 1,000 seat David Geffen theatre. “Renzo designed this to appear as if it was floating which is a nod to the fantasy and imagination of the movies,” said Kramer. 

The prime mid-town location is right across the street from the Petersen Automotive Museum, Drago restaurant and the new subway stop. The main building ground floor will house a Spielberg family gallery, an indoor-outdoor restaurant, and a gift shop with Academy merchandise unique to this location. 

“We are building a museum that will fully reflect the wide variety of stories connected to cinema and motion pictures,” said Kramer. “Celebrated stories as well as more complicated ones. We want to tell stories from many points of view. To do so, we’re drawing on the strengths that are available to no other museum in the world. The extraordinary materials and collection items found in the Academy’s library and archive, as well as our own growing collection, and the knowledge, insight and expertise of our staff members that are helping us build this museum.”

“Our members from around the world, the artists whose work we are showcasing, are serving as advisors and donating artifacts. The resources will make our museum unparalleled in what it offers.” Part of those offerings include an exceptional combination of long-term and temporary exhibitions, two state of the art theatres, and a year-round slate of public and educational programs. 

Some of the rare items on display will include Bela Lugosi’s cape from “Dracula” and Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.” The staggering collection includes more than 12.5 million photographs, 237,000 film assets and 85,000 screenplays. 

The museum will explore in-depth stories in many voices and utilize guest curators over the different floors for subjects such as the history of the Academy Awards to behind the scenes of how films are made. There will be floors devoted to science fiction and Japanese animation, and a Shirley Temple studio for kids, an educational center that will study films from visual effects, production, sound and costume design and using the objects that help to create and meld these worlds. 

Head to the top floor and cross the Barbara Streisand bridge to the Dolby terrace made possible by the Ray Dolby sound expert family out of San Francisco. The 1,500 panes of glass from Austria cut in 146 different custom-made shapes with a shading system, will cast a glow on the world class views from the Hollywood sign to Beverly Hills City Hall and the West Hollywood Pacific Design Center. 

Downstairs, the dramatic, all red 1,000 seat David Gefen Theater holds a stage for a 60-piece orchestra, and will be able to screen every type of film, from nitrate to 70mm, with Dolby sound. The green hued Ted Mann theatre is 288 seats for more intimate events and screenings. Bernardo Rondeau head of film programs and associate curator of the Geffen theatre said, “We are surrounded by the great movie palaces in Hollywood and now we have the great privilege to unveil the movie palace of the future.” 

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For their latest show, they have collaborated with the highly regarded European and stateside Carpenters Workshop Gallery for their first L.A. exhibit, Dark Fantasy, which is on view until November 16, 2019. 

Curated by North American gallery director Ashlee Harrison, who is based in New York, the overall mission has been very well received. “There is a major thirst for it,” she told the Courier, “And the right fit for us with UTA. They are open to programming and taking risks with new ideas and the venue is gorgeous, it allows the work to breathe as sculpture.” 

The main room is carefully dotted with art installations posing as sculptural furnishings and the two other rooms are more immersive collections by independent artists. 

Based on the concept of Archeofuturism, which unearths forms from the past to shape future narratives, “The theme and narrative reflect on this tumultuous time and how we look to art to escape to the point that it becomes a moment of dream and fantasy.” According to Harrison, “To create this immersive environment, we wanted to escape the darkness and harsh realities through the works theme and goal.” 

One such example is the Nacho Carbonell room filled with cocoon figurines in welded steel almost like a futuristic maze of trees in a Tim Burton film. The adjoining room features an L.A. debut of the celestial “Fragile Future” – a whimsical large-scale installation with hundreds of dandelions illuminated with LED lights by Studio Drift that’s an integration of nature and technology handcrafted to a tranquil result. 

The works range from never before seen “Reclining Nude”, 2019 by Atelier Van Lieshout, before you even enter the space, to masterworks such as Sebastian Brajkovic Rococo style chair. The piece is cast in bronze mirroring classical architypes of European 18th century furnishings morphed into a surrealist sculpture. The whimsical nature and beautiful meticulously hand embroidered metallic silk on linen gives the pieces an “Alice in Wonderland” sensibility. 

“We wanted to create a show that really spoke to the cinematic and film references so much of the work is very theatrical and a suspension of your disbelieve. You start to engage with the sculpture and how you relate to it as a functional piece,” explained Harrison. 

The starting point for putting the exhibit together came from renowned Dutch artist Maarten Baas and his “Grandfather Clock Brass” piece with its surrealist, Daliesque form of time. 

“We are controlled by our phones and this digital age our phones tell us the time. But back in the 19th century they were considered symbols of status and if you had a Grandfather clock in your home it meant that you came from a certain place of society,” informed Harrison. In this case, the artist is revisiting the past with a performance piece in the form of a video and digital installation. A grandfather figure behind the face of the clock is telling the time by drawing the hands on the clock for every minute and then erasing them and starting again for a continuous 12-hour period. It’s a painstaking reminder of time passing every minute. And, wait for it, he rings a bell at the top of the hour. It’s fascinating and mesmerizing. “We are stopping and watching time in this moment,” said Harrison. 

Another stunning stand-alone piece by the Verhoeven Twins, is the shiny silver desk that was fabricated from one seamless metal piece that pays homage to their iconic “Cinderella” table which was the prototype. The artists worked with Porsche manufacturers and robotics to create this seamless piece with 200,500 bolts. Car, boat or airplane fans will appreciate the technical skill to fabricate and assemble this installation. 

New pieces that have never before been seen include “Bubbles” also by the Verhoeven Twins and the 3 large vessels in mixed ceramics from L.A. local Roger Herman that are more like canvases with figures painted inside and out. 

A crowd participation pleaser is by Random International who brought us the “Rain Room” at LACMA. The wall hanging resembles a lighted board that looks like it originated from a game show. It’s a high technology piece where the viewer becomes engaged with the work. You become part of a performance piece. Playing with tech and light where your image fades with the light as you move. This work was commissioned by Phillips in 2008 who had created new LED lights at the time. “This is an older work but very important to include in the exhibit,” Harrison told the Courier, “It predates the selfie era.” 

This is a must-see exhibit that highlights advanced techniques, traditional master craft, and new technology while exploring over a decade of functional art by 24 artists from the excellent Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s program, creating a dialogue between space, time and contemporary archeology. 

403 Foothill Rd., Beverly Hills 310-579-9850

utaartistspace@unitedtalent.com 

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Mr. Brainwash is the moniker used by Thierry Guetta, the French-born, Los Angeles-based artist who rose to prominence as a protégé of Banksy after appearing in his film “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” At the time, Guetta was a security-guard turned proprietor of a used clothing store and an amateur videographer. He was introduced to Banksy by his cousin, Invader, another filmmaker and street artist who also hit the scene a few decades ago. 

Mind-bending, vibrant pop meets graffiti-style paintings by Mr. Brainwash span from reworked copyrighted images of icons such as Jimmy Hendrix with psychedelic hair to Michael Jackson superimposed into an iconic Warhol of Marilyn Monroe. There’s also a tongue-in-cheeky work portraying President Obama in a Superman costume. 

It’s a body of work that has taken Mr. Brainwash from street art to album covers for the likes of Madonna and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

For his Beverly Hills BOLD venture, the artist created bright red works bearing positive messages, such as “Life is Beautiful” and “Beverly Hills is Life.” 

The installations are currently located in three different locations around the city from Camden Drive at Santa Monica Boulevard South to Rodeo Drive at Dayton Way. 

Those fixtures will remain up through the holidays, with the slight exception of the Beverly Canon Gardens piece, “Beverly Hills is Beautiful,” which, according to the City of Beverly Hills, might be moved to another location when the holiday lighting is installed before the BOLD Holidays kick-off on Nov. 14. 

The Courier met up with Mr. Brainwash during opening festivities for BOLD. 

BHC: Why did you want to be involved with the BOLD event in Beverly Hills this year? 

MBW: I wanted to bring happiness and expand my time to bring people together to have fun and enjoy. I represent positivity and colorfulness and my direction is the same [as BOLD]. This is how I see myself so, we completely understand each other. 

BHC: What is the story behind your artistic name? 

MBW: In the 90’s I used to take all the brands [slogans] and change it. Like Nike Just Do It – I already did it! 

Toys R Us – Boyz R Nuts. I was doing something for fun. Years later when I started doing the street art, I used the name, but I only used only the letters MBW. In the beginning everybody knew me as this. When I started going more to fine art, I started signing the full name. There are many names that come around you in life and I feel this is something that was meant to be. 

BHC: How would you explain this to people who don’t necessarily “subscribe” to this type of art? 

MBW: This is something that I think about life. We are all brainwashed. Every one of us. Your car, the way you walk, the food you eat, everything is about brainwash and branding. Over time this made sense with everything that I’m trying to do, to bring positivity and a good message. Trying to tell people never give up. Life is beautiful. Love is beautiful. When you have positivity, everything becomes beautiful. When people come to Beverly Hills, it’s a moment in this town and it’s special and the whole world knows about it. I feel proud and I’m honored to be working with the city and be able to do what I’m doing now. I don’t know if the sculptures will stay forever. But I want to give the best for them and the people. When you are standing next to the sculpture and taking a photo you feel beautiful. 

BHC: What distinguishes your work from other street artists? 

MBW: I’m more like a pop artist. I started in the street because in the beginning, I needed to communicate with people. In the end it’s art – pop, street, contemporary – and I feel that the art is not only what you do it’s what you are. 

When you think about Pollock, Marcel Duchamp, Picasso or Basquiat it’s about their character in the end. When we think about the art we think about the personality. Someone like Van Gogh never sold anything but he is still one of the most important artists in the world. In the end, time really tells the truth. You have to really believe in who you are. When you’re an artist you live your life as an art. 

BHC: Are you still in touch with Banksy? 

MBW: I don’t know who you are talking about (laughs.) Who’s that? There is Wells Fargo, or if you want, Bank of America, just look outside. 

BHC: What do you feel has been your greatest contribution so far or favorite work? 

MBW: It’s people. That is my favorite work. To see people, to connect with them. The happiness of it. This is the art that makes me continue. It’s not something that stays but lives. 

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The third annual BOLD Summer event kicked-off on August 1. The street wide celebration on Rodeo Drive featured DJ’s, artists, concerts and food trucks signaling the late-night hours across Beverly Hills on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Here is a snapshot of some favorite and groundbreaking moments. 

World-renown Boston based artist Janet Echelman’s breathtaking installation was draped above Santa Monica Boulevard between The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Beverly Gardens Park. Spanning nearly 85 feet in length, the piece was lit up at night with a hue of LED lights. 

On August 24, the BOLD festivities came full circle during a closing celebration with “Next Night, The BOLD Finale,” presented by the Next Night Beverly Hills Committee along with the City Council, more live music, dancing, interactive art plus a beer and wine garden. 

In a separate activation, the Louis Vuitton X exhibit popped-up in a vibrant pink and orange version of the old Brooks Brothers building. Inside was a mix of candy colored clothing and bag displays, graffiti art and Snapchat-ready moments. The best news: it’s running through September 15, 2019. 

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