Arts & Entertainment

Throughout its history, the natural beauty of California has inspired artists from around the world from 19th-century plein air painting of pastoral valleys and coasts to early 20th-century photography of the wilderness (embodied famously in the work of Ansel Adams) and the birth of the light and space movement in the 1960s. Today, as artists continue to engage with California’s environment, they echo and critique earlier art practices that represent nature in “The Golden State” in a particular way. Featuring artists Richard Misrach, Laura Aguilar and Hillary Mushkin.

Tapestries features music videos from Texas band Khruangbin, South African producer Jumping Back Slash, Israeli group Tigris, Mexican artists Shiro Schwarz, Catalan veterans Hidrogenesse, and UK band The Comet is Coming.

"Affirmations" features music videos from British producer Bonobo, Latinx artist Helado Negro, Irish singer Róisín Murphy, Costa Rican rapper Macha Kiddo, Iranian-British producer Ash Koosha, and Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara.

This episode profiles four California artists who make motherhood a part of their art: Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Andrea Chung, Rebecca Campbell and Tanya Aguiñiga. There's a persisting assumption in contemporary art circles that you can't be a good artist and good mother both. But these artists are working to shatter this cliché, juggling demands of career and family and finding inspiring ways to explore the maternal in their art.

Gospel music would not be what it is today if not for the impact left by Los Angeles in the late '60s and early '70s, a time defined by political movements across the country. Artists like James Cleveland and Aretha Franklin captured live recordings of the church experience of South Central and the voices and sentiment of the people coming together to give birth to a new gospel sound and the election of L.A.’ s first black mayor, Tom Bradley.

Día de los Muertos has been adapted for centuries from its pre-colonial roots to the popular depictions in mass media today. Inspired by rich Oaxacan traditions, it was brought to East Los Angeles in the 1970s as a way to enrich and reclaim Chicano identity through a small celebration at Self Help Graphics and Art. Since then, the celebration has grown in proportions with renditions enacted in communities all around the world.

Sounds of Earth features music videos Kinshasa’s KOKOKO, Colombian-Canadian artist Lido Pimiento, L.A. band La Chamba, Portuguese producer Populous, Australian musician A.r.t. Wilson, and New Zealand singer Julien Dyne.

"Kaleidoscope" features music videos from Taiwanese singer 9m88, Israeli bands Balkan Beat Box featuring A-WA, American singer Bells Atlas, Mexican artist Caloncho, and British-Argentine producer El Buho, Japanese-American collaboration Tashi Wada with Yoshi Wada and Friends. 

Native American basketry has long been viewed as a community craft, yet the artistic quality and value of these baskets are on par with other fine art. Now Native peoples across the country are revitalizing basketry traditions and the country looks to California as a leader in basket weaving revitalization.

The charming, unusual and at times polarizing Jeffrey Deitch left Los Angeles in 2013 after a tumultuous run as the director of MOCA ending in his resignation. He makes his return with a new gallery opening with the first LA exhibit of renowned Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. A behind-the-scenes look at the contemporary art world through the eyes of a legendary art dealer and curator.

Reverence and Decadence features music videos from Dutch producer Bokoesam, US band Almas Fronterizas, Swiss group Vendredi sur Mer, Brazilian group francisco, el hombre, Japanese rocker Gotch, and NY musician Frankie Rose.

"Parade" features music videos from Togolese group Vaudou Game, Egyptian producer Rozzma, Argentinian singer Corina Lawrence, British-Tanzanian artist 3rdCultureKid, and Indonesian band Jirapah, U.S. artist Sudan Archives. 

The vast, strange, sometimes contradictory world of the urban desert and its people are explored in 11 public art exhibits and their respective locations scattered throughout Coachella Valley. Art includes Will Boone’s “Monument,” an underground bunker off Ramon Road in Rancho Mirage and Phillip K. Smith III’s “Circle of Land and Sky” in Palm Desert. Desert X is a site-specific biennial exhibition that first took place in the spring of 2017 where artists from different parts of the world were invited to create work in response to the unique conditions of the Coachella Valley

From the iconic typeface of “The Godfather” book cover to Herman Miller’s Noguchi table, the influence of Japanese American artists and designers in postwar American art and design is unparalleled. While this second generation of Japanese American artists have been celebrated in various publications and exhibitions with their iconic work, less-discussed is how the World War II incarceration — a period of intense discrimination and hardship — has also had a powerful effect on the lives of artists such as Ruth Asawa, George Nakashima, Isamu Noguchi, S. Neil Fujita and Gyo Obata.

City Streets features music videos from French producer/director duo The Blaze, NY singer Yaeji, South African artist Petite Noir, Japanese polymath Cornelius, US musician Frank Maston, and Spanish singer Rosalía.

"Misfits" features music videos from Indian indie rocker Alluri, Brazilian band Boogarins, Japanese group The fin, Canadian rock band Destroyer, Swedish singer Fatima, Tunisian producer Ammar 808, and Egyptian artist Nadah El- Shazly. 

This episode profiles prominent artist Doug Aitken who for more than 20 years has shifted the perception and location of images and narratives. His multichannel video installations, sculptures, photographs, publications, happenings and architectural works demonstrate the nature and structure of our ever-mobile, ever-changing, image-based contemporary condition. In his newest piece, “Underwater Pavilions,” he creates a conversation with the viewer to become fully present and immersed in the sea.

Music includes NYC's Combo Chimbita, Portugal's PONGO, Guatemala's Rebeca Lane, OKZharp & Manthe Ribane from South Africa, British producer Leon Vynehall and Lebanon's Yasmine Hamdan.

"Catharsis" features music videos from U.S. rapper of Nigerian heritage Tobe Nwigwe, French-Chilean singer Ana Tijoux, U.S. group Khruangbin, South African guitarist Sibusile Xaba, Icelandic singer Kristín Anna, Japanese duo Young Juvenile Youth, and Puerto Rican artist Bairoa.