LA Art Scene: All the Summer Exhibits You Can't Miss
Exploring art museums and galleries is one of my favorite ways to pass time. NYC is full of options, but since I moved to LA I needed to spend sometime getting to explore the art scene here. At first I wanted to spend as much time outside as possible, but since the weather has suddenly gotten crazy hot it’s time for more fun in the AC. Here are a few of the exhibits on my list to check out this summer, everywhere from Santa Monica to DTLA!
Soul of a Nation at the Broad
This exhibit will be on view until September and explores contributions of Black artists from the civil rights movement through the 80’s. LA based artists will also be specifically highlighted for their often overlooked role in the art and history of the civil rights movement. Get tickets here!
40 for LA at MOCA
MOCA, LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art is celebrating their 40 year anniversary with a multimedia exhibition features archives from the museum’s vault, including rare photographs and lithographs, limited-edition objects and a special homage to all of the artists to whom the museum is indebted. This is your chance to understand some of the key elements that defined the museum and made it what it is today. Tickets and visiting information here!
Take Me Out to the Ball Game at The Grammy Museum
The Grammy Museum is unique with it’s focus on the cultural impact of music throughout generations. Take Me Out to the Ball Game highlights how the rise of baseball and baseball music ushered in a new era of American music in the early 1900s and the eventual impact it had on modern, popular music genres from pop to R&B. And while you are there, don’t miss the Backstreet Boys experience if you want to relive some of your favorite 90’s jams. Visitor’s info here!
The Liberator at California African-American Museum
The Liberator was an early 20th-century newspaper that documented the emerging African American population in Los Angeles. Founded in 1900 by Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, a former slave who advocated for improved social and economic conditions for African-Americans the publication reported on local, national, and international news and portrayed Los Angeles as a city of hope for African Americans and an escape from the violence and hardship they experienced in the South. This exhibit sheds light on paper’s contributions to city’s rapidly increasing black population and its challenges in a post-Reconstruction era. Details here!
Anything at LACMA
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) isn’t just a hot spot for Instagram pics! It’s the largest art museum in the western United States and has a whole host of unique seasonal exhibitions and an impressive core collection. Considering it’s size, give yourself plenty of time to try to take it all in.
Fearless Fashion at the Skirbal Center
Obviously this fashionista wouldn’t miss an exhibit dedicated to style! Fearless Fashion explores the visionary and progressive ensembles by LA based designer Rudi Gernreich. Rudi introduced the monokini, thongs, unisex caftans, pantsuits for women that transcended rigid social expectations and championed authenticity above all. Check out the retrospective on his work through September 1st.
Contact High at the Annenberg Space for Photography
If you are a hip-hop head, don’t miss this one! This exhibit chronicles the work of hip-hop photographers that played a role in bringing the music genre’s visual culture to the global stage. Get an intimate look at contact sheets from portrait sessions with hip-hop legends like Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. Rare videos, memorabilia, and music are also on display.
Let me know which ones you check out and what you think!
