LA Agenda: Design and Arts Events in Southern California
Author:Valerie ChenExplore the desert terrain’s fluctuating extremes, layered charm and shining American West ideals through Secrets of the Sun: Stephen H. Willard Photographs of the West at the Palm Springs Art Museum. A constant traveler, the late Willard used tonal photography in black and white to share his favorite subject: desert landscapes, particularly the cherished spots of Coachella Valley, Mojave Desert and Death Valley. The exhibit reflects the evolution of Willard’s photography style; soft-focus Pictorialist images in the early 1900s eventually progress into a sharper style decades later. Runs through Sunday, April 6. Open Tuesday through Wednesday and Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Thursday, 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.; closed Monday. Closed after 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 and all day Dec. 25. General admission: $12.50; Seniors: $10.50; Students: $5; Members and Children (under 12): free. Admission is free every Thursday, 4 – 8 p.m.; on the second Sunday of every month; for active military duty personnel; and or AAM, NARM and WMA members (must show I.D.). 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs.
For another interpretation of California landscapes, go no farther than California Landscape into Abstraction: Works from the Orange County Museum of Art. In the 1930s, art appreciators saw the pronounced rupture of landscape art into two types: a naturalist landscape painting category and a separate, more modern approach. The collection plans to initiate conversation of this discord. Runs through Sunday, March 9. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. General admission: $12; Students and Seniors: $10; Children (12 and under) and Members: free. Admission is free to all every second Sunday. 850 San Clemente Dr, Newport Beach.
Run, don’t walk, over to pop-up shop HURRA! before it disappears at the end of January. Normally an online shop (though there are plans to open a multi-purpose gallery/workshop/boutique space in Downtown Los Angeles), HURRA!’s collection of carefully curated Danish art and design objects have taken temporary residence at a transformed gallery space on Venice’s Abbot Kinney street. Expect minimalist prints, quirky ceramics and handmade lighting fixtures, all of which seamlessly play into much-loved contemporary Danish design. Runs through Friday, Jan. 31. Open everyday 11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. 1301 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Los Angeles.
In his foray into examining human perception, artist Waltercio Caldas has created a series of sculptures that play with architectural and perspectival space. Preferred materials range from stainless steel and granite to ice and wax fruit, fortifying Caldas’ focus on fleeting transience. Caldas, who currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is also considered a key player in the group of Brazilian artists who rose to fame following the early 1960s Neo-Concrete movement. Runs through Saturday, Jan. 4. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Gallery will be closed Dec. 24, 25 and 31 and Jan. 1. General admission is free. Christopher Grimes Gallery, 916 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica.
