Los Angeles: An Online Archive Tells an Alternate History of US Monuments

🤯 pretty much sums up last night. While we can say with almost certainty that California will go blu

Sep 30, 2020 • View in browser

🤯 pretty much sums up last night. While we can say with almost certainty that California will go blue this year, it wasn’t always the case. Up until the early 1990s, California mostly voted Republican. A new documentary argues that the Latino vote changed the course of California politics. Thankfully, tonight you can watch whatever you want. Our recommendation of the week: a fascinating talk about the lack of diversity in graphic design, led by two CalArts alumni.– Elisa Wouk Almino, Senior Editor

An Alternate History of US Monuments

Allison Stewart, “Removed Albert Sidney Johnston monument, University of Texas, Austin Texas (image courtesy the artist)

ARCHIVE MACHINES, an online exhibition hosted by the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, offers one way forward during this time of social distancing. The exhibition takes the form of a “living archive” of stories, objects, and photographs that expand our understanding of what perspectives have been left out of official records.

SPONSORED Celebrate Black Futures at 18th Street Arts Center’s Virtual Gala Join the Los Angeles non-profit for an evening of experimental film programming curated by Jheanelle Brown and performance art by Ulysses S. Jenkins.

Latest Reviews

Rosie Lee Tompkins’s Textiles Offer Windows Into Other Worlds Tompkins’s quilts are at turns abstract beauties, political statements, faith-based texts, and textile craft. Serena W. Lin

Addressing the Lack of Diversity in Graphic Design An exhibition of student and faculty posters from the California Institute of the Arts sparks a larger conversation around inclusion and representation in design. Elisa Wouk Almino

Cosima von Bonin Takes Cute Art Seriously Implicit throughout the artist’s latest show is the tension between the feeling of failure and the struggle to be recognized and taken seriously, rather than erased. Natalie Haddad

A Tribute to Latasha Harlins From Those Who Knew Her Best A Love Song for Latasha is a “spiritual archive” of who Harlins was in life, rather than focusing on the circumstances of her death. Dan Schindel

The Power of a Good Poster

Vermont S. Galloway, Westside Press, Why Executed Upon Returning from Vietnam? (image from the Collection of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics)

The poster exhibition To Protect & Serve? is divided into sections that highlight various forms of police violence, from the militarization of police to gender profiling and sexual violence.According to Carol Wells, founder of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, a good poster disrupts your concentration:“Everybody has this bubble around themselves and a poster has the ability to break through that bubble and grab your attention and make you look at the world differently than you did before.”

A New Film Revisits Proposition 187

The Anti-Immigrant Ballot Measure That Galvanized California's Latinx Community 187: The Rise of the Latino Vote tells the story of Proposition 187, the 1994 attempt to block undocumented people from public services, and how it was ultimately defeated. Dan Schindel

Support a Cause

Byron Kim, "Cosmetic Portraits: Angela Dimayuga, Aruna D'Souza, Danny Park, Lulu Grier-Kim, Mihail Lari, Young Joon Kwak, Shizu Saldamando, Toba Khedoori, Peter Som" (2020)

If you want to buy cool artwork and support a cause, check out GYOPO’s art benefit. The LA-based coalition offers great cultural programming and resources for people of the Korean diaspora and beyond. Currently, they’re selling a limited-edition artwork by the awesome Byron Kim to keep events free. GYOPO gives the backstory on the artwork: For 2020 Byron Kim has created “Cosmetic Portraits: Angela Dimayuga, Aruna D'Souza, Danny Park, Lulu Grier-Kim, Mihail Lari, Young Joon Kwak, Shizu Saldamando, Toba Khedoori, Peter Som” (2020). In collaboration with the artist, GYOPO selected nine AAPI participants in the US whose unique skin tones are represented in a grid. Kim used makeup foundation as his medium, and the work was printed by El Nopal Press in Los Angeles. You can buy the work online or email [email protected] for more info.

From Our Partners at KCET

Visions of Power and Hope: Three SoCal Art Institutions Showcase the Art of Alison Saar Powerful images of Black women have featured prominently in Saar’s work for decades. This fall, three institutions will show her work.

Susan Silton’s ‘“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!’ Shines the Light on COVID Victims While Supporting Postal System “If we’re not able to deliver body bags to this president, let’s deliver bags of handwritten names of those we’ve lost.”

Largest Film Festival of Mexican Cinema Outside of Mexico Moves Online Based in Los Angeles, Hola Mexico is the largest film festival of Mexican cinema outside of Mexico.

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