Elizabeth Peyton, What Wondrous Thing Do I See (Lohengrin; Jonas Kaufman), 2012

Regen Projects announces a solo exhibition of new works by Elizabeth Peyton. For her sixth show with the gallery, Peyton will show paintings, works on paper, and prints (etching and monotypes). Her work has included portraits of artists, musicians, historical figures, occasional athletes, and more recently still lifes, all derived from life or from photos. The show will be on view April 6 to May 12 at Regen Projects - 9016 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA.

LOVE FOREVER – A tribute to the amazing YAYOI KUSAMA with music by YOKO ONO – who will both be featured in the next issue of AUTRE – out next week. Sign up for the NEWSLETTER to find out where to get a copy.  Video shot at AUTRE Headquarters by Oliver Maxwell Kupper. 

Two of the most important people in fashion and design today, Ruben and Isabel Toledo have just released a book which “is a rare look into the mind, life, and journey of one of our generation’s most coveted fashion designers, Isabel Toledo. From the nostalgic and permanent in­fluence of her upbringing in Cuba and the serendipitous love that materialized her vision and fueled her conviction, to the timeless mark she continues to make on the fashion industry…..” Ruben who translates Isabel’s visions into illustration which then bring her designs to life, first laid eyes on each other since they were thirteen, have been collaborating for over two decades and their romance and love has offered an explosion of creativity. The book, entitled Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love, and Fashion is available now.

This is the last weekend to see Clifford Owens first exhibition, entitled Anthology, at a New York museum – MoMA PS1 – which is comprised of photography, video, and live performance. Anthology features performances scores—written or graphical instructions for actions—that Owens solicited from a multigenerational group of African-American artists. Twenty-six major artists have contributed scores, nearly all of whom composed new works specifically for Owens and his project. This weekend will prove especially challenging when he will “demand sex” from the audience/viewer. This Sunday, for his last performance, Kara Walker has written the score: “French kiss an audience member. Force them against a wall and demand Sex. The audience/viewer should be an adult. If they are willing to participate in the forced sex act abruptly turn the tables and you assume the role of victim. Accuse your attacker. Seek help from others, describe your ordeal. Repeat.”  Clifford Owen’s performance commences at 3 p.m. on the second floor of MoMA PS1 this Sunday, March 12. 

Illustration by G.B. Jones.

An amazing graphite illustration by Canadian artist, musician, and publisher G.B. Jones. In the 80s, G.B. Jones published the classic queercore zine J.D.s wilth cult filmmaker Bruce LaBruce who we will be featuring with an amazing interview in our next print edition.

Raymond Unger, born in Hamburg, Germany, who comes from a family of well known painters and is well know for his fantastical, palette knife style, stands in front of his painting Paradise Lost which won the 2011 International Lucas Cranach prize. The painting will be on view as part of a group exhibition of the winners of the prize which is awarded every three years. The theme for 2011 was “human images” and dealt with societal satire and surreal alienation. The exhibition will be on view from March 9 to May 13 at the Cranach Foundation in Wittenberg, Germany.  

American-Venezuelan artist Leslie Gabaldón writes poems & mathematical equations on rose. The Dot Fiftyone Gallery in Miami will display the exhibition “Ink on Roses” from 10 March to 20 April 2012.

In the upcoming week, more than 100 volunteers will join artist Cai Guo-Qiang to create three gunpowder drawings in preparation for his exhibition, Cai Guo Qiang: Sky Ladder, which opens on April 8 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. On Saturday, Cai and his studio set up camp at the museum to meet their volunteers and run tests of the gunpowder. Since this is the first time that Cai’s has made gunpowder drawings in Los Angeles, the artist needed to find out how the gunpowder would react to the local climate, particularly inside the galleries at the Geffen. The chemical composition, color, and shade (once it has been burned) of gunpowder vary slightly depending on the manufacturer and the region in which it is produced, and Cai wanted to know how the powders supplied by the fireworks company Pyro Spectaculars by Souza would fare.