Fall Preview 2018

Laura Owens, untitled, 2004

In upcoming months L.A. museums will present thoughtful, of-the-moment surveys of Laura Owens, Allen Ruppersberg, Adrian Piper, Zoe Leonard, Victor Hugo, Richard Diebenkorn, and Charles White. Meanwhile group shows will zoom out to explore self-taught artists, "termite" artists, Renaissance nudes, Swahili luxury goods, and psychological warfare. How's that for a fall/winter season?

A "Miss Atomic," courtesy the Las Vegas News Bureau, in the Wende Museum's "The War of Nerves"

September

The Wende Museum's "The War of Nerves: Psychological Landscapes of the Cold War" explores how the prospect of nuclear annihilation affected art, war, propaganda, tourism, and the psychiatric profession. It's a collaboration with the Wellcome Collection, London. "War of Nerves" runs simultaneously with the equally provocative "Red Shoes: Love, Politics, and Dance During the Cold War." (Sep. 16–Jan. 13, 2019)

Victor Hugo, My Destiny, 1867

"Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo" wants to position the author of Les Misérables and Hunchback of Notre Dame as the ultimate artist's artist. Huh? In his down time, Hugo dashed off 4000 super-experimental drawings that anticipated everything from Dada to AbEx to Ruscha's stains. They were also deeply political, a resistance from exile. It's at the Hammer from Sep. 27 to Dec. 30, 2018, and it ought to be a revelation.

The Marciano Art Foundation's "Ai Weiwei: Life Cycle" consists of four installations by another political resistor. It's the artist's first exhibition of its scope in a Los Angeles institution. (Sep. 28–Mar. 3, 2019)

Still in the planning stages is a new museum for California art at UC Irvine. This fall the university hosts a preview exhibition, "First Glimpse: Introducing the Buck Collection," in its Claire Trevor School of the Arts (Sep. 29–Jan. 5, 2019).

Adrian Piper, Everything #2.8, 2003

October
The MoMA-orginated "Adrian Piper: Concepts and Intuitions, 1965–2016" lands at the Hammer Oct. 7–Jan. 6, 2019. It's the so-far definitive survey of the influential conceptualist, with something like 270 works spanning 50 years.

Manny Farber, Domestic Movies, 1985

MOCA has had its troubles, but it's got a winning fall season. It starts with "One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art" (Oct. 14–Mar. 11, 2019). Curated by Helen Molesworth, it's not exactly about Farber, nor termites, nor a sitcom reboot. Molesworth has taken Farber's 1962 essay, "White Elephant Art v. Termite Art," as license to assemble a deliriously diverse mix (Sylvia Plimack Mangold meets Kahlil Joseph—etc., etc.) It sounds like it's in the best tradition of MOCA smart history. Too bad it's Molesworth's last exhibition at MOCA.

Chair of Power, Swahili, 1989

The UCLA Fowler Museum's marquee fall show is "World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean" (Oct. 21–Feb. 10, 2019). Many of its 150 objects have been lent by the National Museums of Kenya and the Bait Al Zubair Museum, Oman, and will be on view in the U.S. for the first time. It's a big-picture show spanning Korans, studio photographs, furniture, and pop culture.

Robert Rauschenberg, The 1/4 Mile, installation view in Beijing

LACMA will be showing Robert Rauschenberg's The 1/4 Mile, the late-career (1981-1998) extravaganza of 190 mixed-media panels intended be displayed, Cage-style, in any order. Thus far critics have not been all that enthusiastic. But fanboy/girl or skeptic, you'll need to see this. The L.A. presentation is billed as the first time it's been shown in full. (Oct. 28–June 9, 2019).

Already open at LACMA is a companion exhibition of the artist's Los Angeles oeuvre, "Rauschenberg: In and About L.A." (through Feb. 10, 2019). In October "Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens" will remember the choreographer and Rauschenberg collaborator via works by Andy Warhol and Charles Atlas. It's a reduction of a larger Walker Art Center show, appearing at LACMA Oct. 28–Mar. 31, 2019.

Dosso Dossi, Mythological Scene (c. 1524)

The Getty's "The Renaissance Nude" will explore the conflicted sensuality of the 16th-century body. More than a hundred objects will encompass Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Dürer. (Oct. 30, 2018–Jan. 27. 2019)

Altamura Krater (upside-down) during conservation

On Halloween, the Getty Villa opens "Underworld: Imagining the Afterlife." The Altamura Krater of Naples' archeological museum, recently conserved at the Getty, anchors a focus show about Greek conceptions of death and beyond. (Oct. 31, 2018–Mar. 18, 2019)

Zoe Leonard, Niagara Falls No. 4, 1986/1991

November
The Whitney-organized "Laura Owens" is a must-see survey of the pivotal L.A. artist. (Top of post, Owens' untitled 2004). It's at MOCA Geffen, running simultaneously with the MOCA-curated "Zoe Leonard: Survey." (Nov. 11–Mar. 25, 2019)

Jesse Howard, untitled (What is truth?), 1960

LACMA's "Outliers and American Vanguard" tries out another name for the Artists Formerly Known as Outsiders. It pairs them with MFA insiders, so expect to see Henry Darger and Kara Walker; Charles Sheeler and Martin Ramirez. Sounds like a party where you invite people who can't possibly get along, just to see what happens. (Nov. 18–March 17, 2019)

Richard Diebenkorn, untitled (Albuquerque), 1952

January
"Richard Diebenkorn: Beginnings, 1942–1955" is a history of influence, showing how the artist reacted to and against Matisse, Edward Hopper, de Kooning, Still, Park, and many others. It's a traveling show that comes to Pepperdine's Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art Jan. 12–Mar. 31, 2019.

Allen Ruppersberg, detail of The Singing Posters: Allen Ginsberg's “Howl” by Allen Ruppersberg (Parts I-III), 2003/2005

February
"Allen Ruppersberg: Intellectual Property" 1968–2018" will present a half century of work, including the artist's Colby Poster rendition of Howl. It's at the Hammer Feb. 10–May 12, 2019.

Charles White, Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man), 1977

Charles White was a figurative, politically engaged black artist in the age of the white cube. He received scant museum attention in his time, but "Charles White: A Retrospective" originated at the Art Institute of Chicago and will travel to MoMA before its presentation at LACMA (Feb. 17–June 9, 2019).

March
Speaking of that, the Tate-organized "Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power" comes to the Broad, the whitest of all postmodern cuboids. It's the first time the Broad has presented a show not directly related to its collection. That precedent may give its exhibition program more maneuvering room going forward. (Mar. 23–Sep. 1, 2019)

Barkley Hendricks, Blood (Donald Formey), 1975.