ARTS & CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES

Academy Museum

Academy Museum (Mid-City) – 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is building the world’s leading movie museum in the heart of Los Angeles. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the six story Academy Museum will contain state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, movie theaters, educational areas, and special event spaces. The museum is planned to open in 2019. www.oscars.org/museum

Ahmanson Theatre (Downtown) – 

The world premiere of Soft Power will come to the Ahmanson Theatre from May 3 – June 10, 2018. A contemporary comedy explodes into a musical fantasia in the first collaboration between two of America’s great theatre artists: Tony Award® winners David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Flower Drum Song) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home). Soft Power rewinds our recent political history and plays it back through a Chinese lens: a future, beloved East-meets-West musical. A Chinese executive in 2016 America finds himself falling in love with a good-hearted U.S. leader, as the power balance between their two countries starts to shift and a new world order arrives. As original as it is topical, Soft Power overflows with the romance, laughter, and cultural confusions of the golden age of Broadway. Hwang and Tesori have created one of the most eagerly anticipated new works of the year. www.centertheatregroup.org

California Science Center (Downtown) – 

A new chapter of ancient Egyptian history will be unearthed to the world with the debut of KING TUT: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, an extraordinary and exclusive exhibition celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of his tomb. Presented by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, Exhibitions International, IMG and the California Science Center, the new immersive exhibition will display more than 150 real artifacts from Tutankhamun's (also known as King Tut) tomb. On display from March 24 – January 2019 will be many items the Boy King himself used in life and in death, including: golden jewelry, elaborate carvings, sculptures, and ritual antiquities. www.californiasciencecenter.org

The Getty Center (West Los Angeles) – 

The Getty Center 

On display from March 13 - June 24, 2018, Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India is one of the most intriguing series in Rembrandt’s oeuvre comprises his drawings made in the style of artists serving the Mughal court in India. Juxtaposing Rembrandt’s depictions of Mughal rulers and courtiers with Indian paintings and drawings of similar compositions, this exhibition reveals how contact with Mughal art inspired Rembrandt to draw in an entirely different, refined style prompted by his curiosity for a foreign culture.

Also at The Getty Center from March 27 – September 9, 2018 is Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World. Egypt, the most ancient of the Mediterranean civilizations, held a great fascination for the Greeks and Romans. This major international loan exhibition explores the artistic interplay between these cultures from the Bronze Age to Roman times (2000BX – AD 300). The installation includes royal Egyptian stone vessels sent to Minoan Create and Mycenaean Greece, archaic Greek pottery and sculpture inspired by Egyptian models, superb portraits in Egyptian and Greek style created during Greek rule in Egypt, and remarkable religious images and luxury goods in made for Roman patrons in Italy. www.getty.edu

The Getty Villa (Beach Cities) –

In April 2018, the Getty Museum will debut newly reinstalled galleries for its antiquities collection at the Getty Villa. Previously displayed thematically, the new presentation will be a chronological arrangement that follows the historical development of classical art from the Neolithic Period through the late Roman Empire (ca. 6000 BC – A.D. 600). With almost 3,000 square feet more gallery space and redesigned display cases, the new installation will also showcase the extraordinary artistic quality of the most important objects in the collection, such as the Statue of a Victorious Youth, which will now be viewed beside other works of art of similar date and style. Also new, is the “Classical World in Context,” a gallery dedicated to the featuring important long-term loans from major international museums of works of art representing the cultures that engaged with ancient Greece and Rome. www.getty.edu

Hammer Museum (Westwood) – 

The Hammer Museum’s multi-year project to renovate, expand, and transform the institution has taken a major step forward with the public launch of a $180 million capital campaign. The announcement coincides with a lead gift of $30 million from L.A. philanthropists Lynda and Stewart Resnick—the largest in the museum’s history. In addition, the museum has announced the dates of Made in L.A. 2018, taking place from June 3 – September 2, 2018 and is the fourth iteration of the Hammer’s biennial exhibition, continuing to highlight the practices of artists working throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. The exhibition is organized by Hammer curators Anne Ellegood and Erin Christovale. The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue, as well as a full roster of free public programming.

Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles

Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles (Downtown) – 

L.A.-based artist, Mark Bradford will present new works in his first solo exhibition with the gallery in Los Angeles from February 17 – May 20, 2018. The exhibition follows a recent major solo presentation at the US Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. www.hauserwirthlosangeles.com

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Mid-City) – 

On view from April 15 – July 29, 2018 is David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life. In this exhibit, David Hockney offers a vibrant and intimate view of people with whom he has developed relationships over the past 50 years. The majority of the portraits were painted in Hockney’s Los Angeles studio, all from life and over a period of two or three days, which the artist has described as “a 20-hour exposure.” None of Hockney’s portraits are commissioned; for this series he invited family, members of his staff, and close friends to sit for him—including several curators, art dealers, and collectors with local and international renown. This exhibition originated at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and has traveled to Melbourne, Venice, and Bilbao. LACMA will host the only United States presentation. www.lacma.org

Los Angeles Philharmonic (Downtown) – 

The world-renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic is celebrating its 100th season in 2018-19. On Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, all of Los Angeles is invited to join in a free, day-long festival called LA Phil 100: Celebrate LA! The extraordinary day will include CicLAvia, an open streets event with performances by professionals and amateurs from Grand Avenue in front of Walt Disney Concert Hall all the way to the Hollywood Bowl. The street festival will later flow into a free, massive kick-off concert at the Bowl, featuring Gustavo Dudamel conducting the LA Phil and guest artists in a celebration of all the artistic communities that make L.A. such a vibrant, creative city. Adding color and movement to the celebration, the LA Phil will also light up Walt Disney Concert Hall with a dynamic media installation, WDCH Dreams, created by the award-winning artist Refik Anadol. Launched at the end of September 2018 in conjunction with the 2018 Gala California Soul, featuring the works of California artists from John Adams to Frank Zappa, the installation will animate the night-time façade of Walt Disney Concert Hall, announcing to the entire city that the centennial year has begun. www.laphil.com

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (Downtown) – 

Los Angeles will welcome an exciting new museum from George Lucas’ personal collection of art, which consists of about 10,000 paintings and illustrations including works by Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb, along with Hollywood memorabilia from films such as “Star Wars” and “The Ten Commandments.” The planned 275,000-square-foot, $1-billion museum will be located in Downtown’s Exposition Park and targeted to open by 2021. www.lucasmuseum.org

Marciano Art Foundation (Mid-City) – 

The Marciano Art Foundation was established by Maurice and Paul Marciano to grant the public access to the Marciano Art Collection through presentations of rotating, thematic exhibitions housed in a permanent exhibition space in Los Angeles. On display from March 1 – June 2018 is Line Packers, a special exhibition, conceived by Cornelius Tittel, of two German painters Peppi Bottrop (b. 1986, Bottrop) and Albert Oehlen (b. 1954, Krefeld). The foundation’s Lounge Gallery will feature Bottrop’s line-drawing paintings responding to the architecture of the Lounge Gallery itself alongside works from Oehlen’s Computer Paintings, a series that the artist began in the early 1990s, which is now regarded as a turning point for contemporary painting. 

Also on display from March 1 – August 2018, the museum’s second artist project, a site-specific installation created for the foundation’s expansive first floor Theater Gallery. Maurice and Paul Marciano have invited renowned interdisciplinary artist Olafur Eliasson for his first major exhibition in Los Angeles, in over a decade. Eliasson’s art–comprising sculpture, painting, photography, film, and installation–is driven by his interests in perception, movement, embodied experience, and feelings of self. www.marcianoartfoundation.org

Pantages Theatre (Hollywood) – 

The 2016 Tony Award® winner for Best Musical Revival, The Color Purple at the Hollywood Pantages has been hailed as “a direct hit to the heart” by The Hollywood Reporter. Directed by Tony winner John Doyle with a soul-raising score of jazz, gospel, ragtime and blues, this joyous American classic is a stunning re-imagining of an epic story about a young woman’s journey to love and triumph in the American South. Performances will last from May 29 – June 17, 2018. www.hollywoodpantages.com

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum (Simi Valley) – 

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum

Guests can discover the man behind the legend as the most comprehensive exhibition of Genghis Khan and his treasures invades the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum from February 16 – August 19, 2018. This is the only Southern California stop on an international tour that has drawn more than a million visitors. Opening on February 16, 2018, the start of the Mongolian New Year, this special exhibition presents a more complete image of the legendary leader whom Time Magazine and CNN named “The Man of the Millennium.” As the exhibit strikingly portrays, Genghis’s reputation as the greatest conqueror is well-deserved – he dominated three times more land in his lifetime than either Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, a conquest attested to by the formidable array of swords, bows, arrows, saddles and armor included on display in Genghis Khan. In fact, the historic exhibition showcases hundreds of artifacts from Genghis’s 13th century Empire, the largest such collection ever to tour. www.reaganfoundation.org

The Velaslavasay Panorama (University Park) – 

Located at University Park in the West Adams Historic District, The Velaslavasay Panorama presents an art form that has been nearly lost due to modern technology and the numerous ways that the public consumes mass entertainment. The panoramic exhibition encircles the spectator within a vast painting of a continuous landscape, accompanied by sound and 3-D elements. The Velaslavasay Panorama is currently raising funds to exhibit Shengjing Panorama in the spring of 2018. Painted by masters Li Wu, Yan Yang and Zhou Fuxian, Shengjing Panorama depicts an urban Chinese landscape during an era of great technological change, global exchange, and diversity in architecture, religions, and culture. Shengjing Panorama will be the first ever China-USA collaborative panorama since the artform emerged in the late 18th century. www.panoramaonview.org

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Beverly Hills) – 

Considered a must-see play of 2018 is Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, Long Day's Journey Into Night at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Led by director Sir Richard Eyre, the Bristol Old Vic’s award-winning production stars Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons and Olivier-winner Lesley Manville in their Los Angeles stage debuts. Performances will last from June 8 – July 1, 2018. www.thewallis.org

The Wende Museum (Culver City) – 

The Wende Museum of the Cold War

The Wende Museum of the Cold War has opened its expanded campus at Culver City’s iconic Armory Building on November 19, 2017. Since 2002, the museum has housed its collection of 100,000+ art and artifacts from the Cold War era in an under-the-radar space in a Culver City industrial park. The museum’s new home is at the historic Culver City Armory building, featuring a significantly larger exhibition space, open collection storage, an outdoor sculpture garden, and a public-facing space. Opening exhibitions include: Cold War Spaces, an exhibition exploring the spatial characteristics of Cold War era Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in ten sections; Vessel of Change, a video installation by artist and filmmaker Bill Ferehawk, who also edited The Wende Museum documentary “Collecting Fragments,” and multimedia designer David Hartwell; Russians, a photography exhibition by Nathan Farb, based on a trip he took in 1977 to Novosibirsk as a host of the American exhibition Photography USA, part of a cultural exchange program under President Carter’s administration. All opening exhibitions are on display now until April 29, 2018. www.coldwarculvercity.org