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This story first appeared in the July 19 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
FRIDAY
Head to LACMA (5905 Wilshire Blvd.), where Paramount’s Brad Grey just joined the board, for one of its Friday Jazz at LACMA concerts. If you book a table at the museum’s Ray’s and Stark Bar (named for producer Ray Stark), you can enjoy the music just as well as you could sitting on the grass. LACMA, now spotlighting the work of iconic light-exploring artist James Turrell, stays open until 8 p.m. Fridays. For a modern architecture staycation, book pioneering architect Rudolph Schindler‘s trilevel Fitzpatrick-Leland House atop Laurel Canyon. The two-bedroom goes for $350 a night, minimum two nights (airbnb.com/rooms/418226), and benefits the Mak Center for Art + Architecture’s cultural and conservation programs.
PHOTOS: Best of Hollywood: 28 Ways to Create a Perfect Summer Weekend
SATURDAY
It’s gallery day, so as long as you have signed up for ForYourArt‘s (foryourart.com) weekly e-mail blast, you’ll be up on what’s happening in L.A.’s constantly evolving art world. Grab a breakfast sandwich at hole-in-the-wall Coffee + Food (5630 Melrose Ave.) off Larchmont Boulevard before hitting the nearby developing arts area around Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Don’t-miss exhibits include group show The Humors, June 29 to Aug. 31 at Perry Rubenstein Gallery (1215 N. Highland Ave.), where the soaring design comes courtesy of hot architect Kulapat Yantrasast, who’s doing the interiors of downtown’s upcoming Broad Museum. A block away is Regen Projects (6750 Santa Monica Blvd.), which regularly draws the likes of John Waters and Rodarte designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy; its next show, June 29 to Aug. 3, showcases the serene, mostly abstract textile-based works of Danish artist Sergej Jensen. Just a block further south is JF Chen (941 N. Highland Ave.), a high-end vintage furniture purveyor where Hollywood’s A-list decorators shop. Owner Joel Chen puts on gallery shows as well, including a new exhibit of cocoonlike sculptures made from recycled aluminum-can tops by Clare Graham on view through July 18. Next, head southwest to Culver City’s thriving arts district radiating from the axis of La Cienega and Washington boulevards. On Washington, enjoy curry chicken salad and a potato leek tart at six-month-old restaurant Muddy Leek (8631 W. Washington Blvd.). Then pop in and out of the area’s 35-plus galleries as producer David Hoberman and investor Dean Valentine regularly do. Among the standouts are Honor Fraser (2622 S. La Cienega Blvd.), showing works by Alexis Smith through July 27 that incorporate movie stills and text from pulp novels; and nonprofit LA><Art (2640 S. La Cienega Blvd.), where 21 Jump Street director Phil Lord is vice chair of the board. He collects the work of Justin Beal, whose multimedia Memphis-architecture-inspired show runs at LA><ART from July 20 to Aug. 24. Says Lord of Beal’s work, “It’s a simple, straightforward expression of a complex, layered thought.” If you have the stamina, head west to check out the Santa Monica Museum of Art (2525 Michigan Ave.), celebrating its 25th anniversary; its current show through Aug. 17, I Killed Kenny, spotlights Joyce Pensato, whose monumental charcoal drawings take pop culture characters such as Bart Simpson and Mickey Mouse and give them a sinister cast. For dinner, head to Venice to eat at Larry’s (24 Windward Ave.), named after pioneering local artist Larry Bell, who loves the brussels sprout pizza.
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SUNDAY
It’s museum day: On view around L.A. are multiple exhibits on SoCal modern architecture sponsored by the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time initiative, including MOCA’s look at sculptural Gehry-esque buildings, the Getty’s sprawling survey of L.A.’s postwar growth and the Hammer Museum’s retrospective on A. Quincy Jones. But the undiscovered gem of the bunch might be the Never Built show, running July 28 to Sept. 29 at the A+D Museum (6032 Wilshire Blvd.), a peek at what could have been if L.A. had constructed things like a monorail between downtown and LAX during the ’60s. For lunch, head a mile east to just-opened retro fast-food joint Top Round Roast Beef (1000 S. La Brea Ave.) for the 10-spice-rub slow-roasted sandwiches and frozen custards. End the day at Century City’s Annenberg Space for Photography (2000 Avenue of the Stars, open until 6 on Sundays); its new show of photos by Helmut Newton, running June 29 to Sept. 8, includes towering 8-foot-tall nudes.
See more perfect summer weekends below:
Shopping With Jewelry Designer Jennifer Meyer
Music With Breakout Star Skylar Grey
Food: From Seafood Craze to Farmer’s Market Bounty
Outdoors: Fun in the SoCal Sun
Romance: Date Nights (and Days)
Classic L.A.: Historic Hot Spots
Kids: Modern Family Adventures
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