Okay, so it’s Halloween tonight, but it’s also a great weekend for art in LA.

Saturday, November 1

Finishing School & Chris Hoff: Little Pharma Meditation Workshop @ Fringe Exhibitions. Chris Hoff, author of the OC Art Blog, will be introducing the public to meditation. Can’t beat that! Noon - 2 PM.

Darren Hostetter: In Our Nature @ Sam Lee Gallery (image at top). Darren is one of the very few artists working with military themes that really has both the background and knowledge to match the subject matter. And the work is beautifully painted. Reception is 6-9 PM.

Eric Johnson: The Maize Project @ Torrance Art Museum. Your last day to see the show, before we meticulously disassemble the resin monstrosity on Sunday morning. Closing reception 1-5 PM.

Lindsay Foster: Strangerly Connection @ Open Gallery. Closing exhibition for a show of photographic works by Lindsay Foster. Noon - 6 PM. Open is at 6375-B N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 90042.

Sunday, November 2

LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER: The Art of Democracy @ Old Town Gallery. Political group show, curated by beyond genius master printer, Patrick Merrill. Featuring Diane Abt, Kathi Flood, Nick Gerhard, Michelle Guieu, Steve Greenberg, Dirk Hagner, Lanyi Janos, Joel Josepf, Phillip Laber, Carolyn Liesy, Jennifer Magsino, Emet Martinez, Ryan McJunkin, Jared Millar, Sarah Pavsner, Christie Reynolds, Kimberly Rose, Brigette Schobert, Leslie Sokolow, Tom Stubbs, Zan Trout, Elizabeth Wallace, Chelsea Weiss, Joyce Weiss, Ashlee Weitlauf, Efram Wolff. Reception is 2-5 PM.

McLean Fahnestock: The Very Act @ CSULB Gatov Gallery. McLean has become one of my favourite artists, and I’m very, very interested to see what directions her work goes in following this, her MFA thesis exhibition. She’s also in Formings, a seven artist sculpture exhibition that I’ve curated for Angels Gate that opens on November 16. Reception is 5-7 PM.

Technorati Tags: art, LA Art, Finishing School, McLean Fahnestock, Eric Johnson, Lindsay Foster, Chris Hoff, Darren Hostetter

Burning Down the House: Building a Feminist Art Collection, an exhibition of nearly 50 works drawn from the holdings of the Brooklyn Museum and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art will be on view in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art October 31, 2008 through February 8, 2009. Inspired by The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, this exhibition features artists whose work has challenged the status quo and rise above the narrow roles imposed on women, particularly within the canons of art history.

Feminist Works from Brooklyn Museum’s Collection At Elizabeth A … (Art Daily)

I’ve stopped blogging for the past couple of months as I’ve been busy studying the Open University course “S104 Discovering Science” which has meant severely cutting back on other activities.

On Thursday I went attended a couple of science lectures at the Spanish National Museum of Science and Technology or Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (unfortunately their website is only in Spanish although the printed brochure is also in English).

These “marathon” events are held about once a month and last from after lunch until Spanish dinner time. Students at participating Madrid universities can do a short assignment afterwards and gain credits towards their degrees. As I have to work I was only able to attend the second half. The first lecture was about the “Discovery and Development of Penicillin” by Dr Pedro García Barreno, of the Complutense University. The second was called “Naming and labelling. Taxonomic Methods in Natural History” by Dr. Santos Casado de Otaola of the Autonoma. The rather cramped room was almost full, with chairs in the corridor for latecomers. There are eight of these days planned. The next one is on 27 November, “Origins. Universe and Earth. International year of Planet Earth.“ A good initiative to get the lectures out of the campus and to appeal to a wider audience (like myself).

I visited the museum for the first last year during the Noche en Blanco when the museums stay open all night. It has a fascinating collection of scientific instruments and technological inventions brought together from a number of independent institutions. Such a shame that such a noble effort should be housed in a side wing of an retired railway station with hardly even any effort to adapt the building. Compare it to the art museums just up the road with their bloated mega-budget extensions (read my post New Prado Museum Extension). How narrow minded governments can be. Nonetheless it seems a brave initiative on the part of the museum and the universities to mount such an ambitious programme of lectures in the face of manifest indifference by the ministry of Science and Innovation.