LA’s Best Exhibitions, Galleries & Installations
Calling all art lovers. LA is a visual feast this season, with must-see exhibitions, multi-media shows, immersive experiences, and outdoor installations. If you’re looking to spruce up your space with some new artwork or just want to fire up your creative energy, you’ll find plenty of inspiration near THEA. The Huntington Botanical Gardens are open for Summer Evening Strolls. Or take a day trip to Laguna Beach and see Pageant of the Masters, one of the most unique live art productions in the world. Some exciting new exhibitions are coming soon – Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition and Monet: The Immersive Experience – check their websites for updates. Please note that most venues require reservations so make sure you book in advance.
The renowned exhibition, Banksy:Genius or Vandal?, which was presented with unprecedented success in 15 cities around the world, is here in Los Angeles. Dedicated to the famous and enigmatic British artist Banksy, the exhibit lets visitors dive into the controversial artistic universe of the most influential creator of present time and features more than 100 genuine, authenticated artworks by Banksy from private European collections. An impressive multimedia installation, created especially for this exhibition, will welcome visitors, revealing clues of the mystery artist and highlighting his most important pieces – framing his unusual career wrapped in controversy. The location is secret and will be revealed upon booking your ticket.
A + D Museum The Pop-Up Shop 3118 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026
The first of the A+D Museum’s pop-up series, Smell. Print. is an immersive scent journey, which focuses on one of our most under appreciated senses: smell. It is an experience which demonstrates the power of scent in designing space. Conceived by Devon Baur, who works with emerging technologies and is currently an artist-in-residence in Stanford University’s Electrical Engineering, the show will take visitors through a narrative smell journey highlighted by a scent that’s chemically designed to smell like nothing on earth. Admission is free, but ticketing is limited.
Grammy Museum 800 W Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90015
The Grammy Museum is an interactive, educational museum devoted to the history and winners of the Grammy Awards. The Museum has interactive touch-screens, videos, recording booths, and a collection of historical music artifacts including costumes and instruments from the Grammy Awards, hand-written lyrics, records, and audio/video recordings. Their mission is to educate individuals about the history and cultural significance of American music, and to inspire the next generation to explore and create new forms of music using the roots that have existed in this country for centuries.
LA Plaza Outdoor Neon Installation 501 N Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes presents a large-scale neon mural installation exhibition by multimedia artist Patrick Martinez. Activating LA Plaza’s Vickrey-Brunswig and Plaza House building windows with social-political messages, his new installation Only Light Can Do That, 2021 is comprised of over twenty-five bilingual neon signs that address the plight and resilience of essential workers in Los Angeles. This new installation is part of Art Rise 2021, a city-wide arts initiative sponsored by Cause Communications in partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins The Getty Villa 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy. Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Explore three millennia of art from Mesopotamia – the land “between the rivers” in modern-day Iraq – home to the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Among their many achievements was the creation of the earliest known script (cuneiform), the formation of the first cities, the development of advanced astronomical and mathematical knowledge, and spectacular artistic and literary accomplishments. The exhibition covers three millennia, from the first cities in about 3200 BC to Alexander the Great’s conquest of Babylon in 331 BC.
In Focus: LA Artists Hauser & Wirth 917 E 3rd St. Los Angeles, CA 90013
Hauser & Wirth spotlights Los Angeles artists with a multimedia group presentation of nearly 30 artworks, aptly named In Focus: LA Artists. The exhibition showcases the groundbreaking techniques, diverse viewpoints, and intergenerational relationships of the gallery artists who call one of the world’s most creative cities home. On the occasion of Hauser & Wirth’s 5-year anniversary in the Arts District and in celebration of the community that has been integral to its vision for nearly 30 years, the presentation will highlight the lasting contributions of the artists and their influential practices, which have been instrumental in making Los Angeles an international capital of artistic innovation and arts education.
Roy Lichtenstein The Broad 221 S Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90012
This in-depth installation of Roy Lichtenstein features 22 artworks, with nearly half on view for the first time, including Purist Still Life (1975), Female Figure (1979), and Two Paintings: Radiator and Folded Sheets (1984). An outcome of sustained and ongoing engagement with artists and artwork, the Broad collection is distinctive in its exceptional dedication to the full arc of artists’ careers. The Broad has highlighted this depth through expansive presentations in the third floor galleries, featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, and Christopher Wool, along with works by many others.
Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters 650 Laguna Canyon Rd. Laguna Beach, CA 92651
One of the most unique productions in the world, the Pageant of the Masters is a 90 minute performance featuring incredibly faithful recreations of famous classical and contemporary works of art, with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. Presented in a bucolic outdoor amphitheater, with professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers, the Pageant of the Masters has won recognition as the best presentation of its kind. This year’s theme, Made in America, will highlight the artists, revolutionaries, innovators, and dreamers who let their creativity be inspired by the freedoms upon which this nation was founded.
The Hollywood Museum 1660 N Highland Ave. Hollywood, CA 90028
Located in the historic Max Factor Building, The Hollywood Museum, the official museum of Hollywood, has the most extensive collection of Hollywood memorabilia in the world. Featuring four floors of breathtaking exhibits, the museum is home to more than 10,000 authentic show biz treasures including one of a kind costumes, props, photographs, scripts, stars’ car collections, personal artifacts, posters, and vintage memorabilia from favorite films and TV shows. The museum also showcases the history of Hollywood and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Pink Floyd Exhibition Vogue Multicultural Museum 6675 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028
Spanning 50 years of one of the world’s most iconic rock bands, this unique interactive exhibition looks back at over five decades of iconic rock history. Using an intense combination of sound, text and image, the exhibition draws visitors in and allows them to experience what it feels like to be up on stage themselves. Previously unreleased gig recordings, original instruments, unknown scribbles and many personal mementos from members of the British cult band make The Pink Floyd Exhibition an absolute must-see show for music lovers. The flow of the exhibition, in chronological order, is enhanced by music and the voices of past and present members of Pink Floyd throughout, including David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright.
Monet: The Immersive Experience
Coming this Fall Monet: The Immersive Experience is a 360º digital art exhibition that invites you to step into the world of the French genius Claude Monet, one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the nineteenth century. Explore his life, his career, and his secrets like never before with the help of a unique virtual reality experience. A secret location in Los Angeles will be announced soon.
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition 333 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048
This unique exhibition invites you to step into the universe of the greatest masterpieces of Michelangelo, seen from a totally new perspective, brought to you by the organizers of the finest themed exhibitions such as: Star Trek, King Tut, Titanic, Frida Kahlo, Michael Jackson and more. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition is reproduced using state-of-the-art technology relying on a spacious area where Michelangelo’s masterpieces stretch floor-to-ceiling and closer than ever. The experience will awaken visitors’ curiosity by presenting a never-before-seen perspective of his timeless masterpieces.
Photo credits:
Photo #1: Exhibition Banksy: Genius or Vandal?
Photo #2: Exhibition Banksy: Genius or Vandal?
Photo #3: A + D Museum
Photo #4: Grammy Museum
Photo #5: LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Photo #6: The Getty Villa
Photo #7: Hauser & Wirth
Photo #8: The Broad
Photo #9: Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters
Photo #10: The Hollywood Museum
Photo #11: The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains
Photo #12: Monet: The Immersive Experience
Photo #13: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition