The summer solstice is here, and so are Juneteenth and Pride. You have literary commemorations alongside beer and signing, as well as reflective dance legacies. Also available are cinematic depictions of how life is in the universe, the art surrounding the moon and its trajectory, top secret comedy, queer mariachi, queer comics, and a ton of other marvels set to fill the longest days of the year.
June 16th
Synchrodogs Artist Talk. Human. Nature. NFTs, to be held at Vellum LA
A Ukrainian artistic duo that’s been together since 2008, Synchrodogs comprises Tania Shcheglova and Roman Noven, and their work delves into the everlasting tension between nature and humans. The images they put forth are of raw, animalistic beauty. Both Shcheglova and Noven work in both fashion and art, with plenty of innovations between them across blurred boundaries.
Bloomsday, to be held at the Hammer
Author James Joyce’s beloved Bloomsday celebration returns to the museum alongside his landmark novel “Ulysses”, and this time there are going to be new songs and productions and dramatic readings with direction done by Elizabeth Dennehy. The celebration is set to continue in the courtyard with live music and Guinness.
June 17th
Primera Generación Dance Collective, to be held at Dance at the Odyssey
We’re all looking forward to Nepantla, which is a series of movement-based play and explorations. It is a means of reflecting, generating, questioning, and re-imagining the whole Mexican-American experience. The Collective alternates between the remembrance of joy and sorrow, stories, stereotypes, songs, and rituals.
Don’t Tell Comedy (The 5th Anniversary Show)
Don’t Tell is well accomplished at turning just about any location – from candy stores to historic mansions, to rock climbing gyms to rooftops – into a setting for stand-up comedy. The best part is that the location is only revealed to the ticket-holder on the very day. Even the lineup is kept under wraps, although you can be sure they are curated to carry some of the funniest local and national-touring names.
Professor Brian Cox: Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey, to be held at the Montalban
World-famous physicist the Brian Cox, also known as the coolest scientist in the UK, comes to you with an immersive tech-forward cinema-themed experience that expresses a story of how we came about on this planet. Look to have deep questions explored by means of the latest advances in what we know about black holes, quantum theory, astronomy, planetary science, and cosmology. This celebration of our music, civilization, science, and philosophy will see Cox joined by comedian Robin Ince.
Maralie Armstrong-Rial: Glass, Water, Light, to be held at Coaxial Arts Foundation
Explore the oracular history of glass through the manipulation and refraction of light cast from video projection and candles. Learn how glass came to be such a huge deal in astronomy, telecom, and of course, the occult. Glass that’s been molded from tree-trunk hollows and then turned into “head-mounted displays” is designed specifically for immersion into “virtual realities” where it concerns light and shadow. The event will also feature live composition for an audio mapping project.
Kenny Scharf: BESTEST EVER!, to be held at Honor Fraser
Scharf’s latest solo exhibition remixes a familiar cast of characters, within a painting installation, sculpture exhibition, and a Cosmic Cavern. This exhibition delves into the many ways we deal with chaos, conflict, and each other. Expect to be blown away by Scharf’s mastery over proportion, play, and intuitive mark-making.
QCon, to be held at Plummer Park
This is set to be the earliest LGBTQ+ comic convention to be held in SoCal since 2014, and has on board Prism Comics, presenting a celebration covering the amazing diversity that you can expect from LGBTQ+ graphic novels and comics. You can meet creators here, as well as get sketches and autographs, not to mention get to talk to other comic fans. As expected, cosplay is encouraged.
The Cheech
The spanking new Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture is now all set to open its doors with the latest “Cheech Collects”, which chronicles the story of Marin’s multiple decades as a focused and passionate collector. It explores the making of the big collection as well as the advocacy which still shapes the understanding and perceptions of the art world when it comes to Chicano Art. Show up and you’ll get to see close to 120 works straight out of more than 500 pieces which Marin gifted to the Riverside Art Museum, plus a striking site-specific centerpiece courtesy of the de la Torre Brothers.
Andrea Bowers and Drawing Down the Moon to be held at the Hammer
This is set to be the first survey of Bower’s body of art that’s set in a museum, and reflects her experimentation with a plethora of mediums such as drawing, installation, performance, video, sculpture, and neon sculptures. The event is to be held at the nub of the lunar spectrum, based between the mystery and the lure of the idea of the celestial body, as well as the long-running quest to conquer its material form, using a range of objects and art which date back all the way to antiquity from here in the present.
Kirk Henriques: Like Watermelon for Chocolate, to be held at UNREPD
This is a showing of a group of figurative as well as abstract paintings done in acrylic and oil on fiberglass mesh. This body of work revolves around the watermelon, which serves as an icon that’s full of socio-economic significance. The exhibition considers the fruit’s laden history as one of the symbols of prosperity and freedom, but also shame and denigration, especially for black people in the country.
