A Cross-Section of Printing History
{Los Angeles} A + D Museum
Through February 29
Presented by the Typecraft Design Library, Pushing the Press at the Architecture and Design Museum brings together 15 years of work from Typecraft’s collaborations. This celebration of the power of print presents each piece as a community effort of clients, designers, pressmen, binders, and more.
/ aplusd.org
Watching Big Brother
{Santa Monica} The Broad Stage
January 8–February 6
George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 makes its way to the stage at Santa Monica College’s Performing Arts Center. Coming off a successful run in London’s West End, Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan’s adaptation makes its American debut January 8 and runs until February 6. New staging and an insightful interpretation of Orwell’s cautionary tale bring 1984 into the present.
/ thebroadstage.org
Playing With Their Food
{Los Angeles} The Getty Center
Through March 13
In early modern Europe, festivals were a time for extravagant displays and parties. The Getty takes visitors behind the scenes of this tradition with The Edible Monument: The Art of Food for Festivals. Parades and public celebrations featured monuments akin to those that make their way through Pasadena during the Rose Parade, but unlike the uncooked rice on some floats these were meant to be eaten as well as appreciated. Constructed of bread, meat, and cheese or sugar and fruit, these monuments were the center of celebrations. The Getty’s exhibition features rare books and prints—including cookbooks and serving manuals—from the Getty Research Institute’s Festival Collection.
/ getty.edu
Discover a Lost Artistic Utopia
{Los Angeles} Hammer Museum
February 21–May 15
Black Mountain College (BMC), founded in 1933 and closed in 1957, was a short-lived experimental liberal arts college in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. While the college itself did not last, the work it fostered lives on. Hammer Museum’s exhibition, Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957, features work by the four main instructors — Josef Albers, Buckminster Fuller, John Cage, and Charles Olson — along with work from their students, photographs, and other archival media. Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (where it was previously shown), this exhibition brings BMC to life.
/ hammer.ucla.edu
Manmade Beauty Nestled Among Nature
{San Marino} The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Through April 5
January 23–May 9
While many are attracted to the living beauty of the lush and multifarious gardens, the timeless art collections at the Huntington are not to be overlooked. The collections are extensive— American art from the 1690s to the 1950s and the largest collection in this country of 18th- and 19th-century British and French art. You probably cannot fit all the Huntington has to offer in one visit; the galleries are worth forgoing yet another stroll through the Japanese Garden.
A World of Strangers: Crowds in American Art (on exhibit through April 5) explores how American artists have depicted crowds in modern urban life. It consists of 20 prints, photographs, and other works by a variety of artists from the early 20th century to the present day. The pieces are culled from the Huntington’s collection, along with loans from the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena-based collector and longtime Huntington benefactor Hannah S. Kully, and others.
And if you yearn to appreciate floral beauties on the canvas, The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920 connects American Impressionism and the rise of gardening as a leisure pursuit for the middle class. This collection is perfectly suited to the Huntington’s setting of art galleries among lush gardens — many of them originally planted during the time these paintings were being created. The exhibition, on display Jan. 23 through May 9, features 17 paintings originally shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The Huntington is the only West Coast stop on its five-venue tour.
/ huntington.org
A Full System Reboot
{Los Angeles} The Petersen Automotive Museum
The Petersen is back, tricked out, and ready to go. The museum reopened in December 2015 after being closed for a little over one year for renovations. Its distinctive new facade isn’t the only upgrade. The 10 flatscreens from the previous model have been traded in for 35 interactive touchscreens, 25 LED monitors, full-size wall projections, and more. The Driving Gallery has PC gaming stations and Microsoft Xbox Forza racing simulators, allowing visitors to do more than just ogle the impressive cars on display. The museum’s two restaurants are now operated by the Drago restaurant family. New sponsorship deals with Ford, BMW, and Xbox (to name but a few) mean more funding for new exhibitions. There’s a partnership with Pixar, whose animated hit Cars has been incorporated into the museum in the form of branded displays and interactive exhibits. Modern architecture junkies, foodies, and parents of small children rejoice! The Petersen is waiting.
/ petersen.org
