This Week in LA: Oct. 30→Nov. 5
In this Edition: From Egypt's Dynasty to Hollywood's Blockbusters
This week’s art journey takes us from ancient Egypt to Hollywood’s golden age, from contemporary painting masters to emerging voices reshaping the landscape. At the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, journey back to the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty through striking sculptural portraits, while the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures dives deep into the making of cinema’s first summer blockbuster with its monumental Jaws exhibition.
Hauser & Wirth presents British artist Anj Smith’s first Los Angeles solo show in two decades—luminous paintings that challenge conventions of motherhood and the female nude—while Regen Projects showcases Marilyn Minter’s hyperrealist portraits and politically charged works that subvert art historical traditions. In Hollywood, Make Room offers Leo Frontini’s dream-like kingdoms that slow time and invite reflection, and downtown at Baert Gallery, Cheung Tsz Hin uses light as a vehicle to navigate memory’s fragile transformations. From Pacific Palisades to the Arts District, from 664 BCE to 2025, this week’s selections span millennia while remaining deeply rooted in the present moment. Check out this week’s top picks below and start planning your gallery route!
This week's edition of LA Insider is presented by Curatorial — your partners dedicated to preserving, preparing, and connecting fine art with people around the world. Learn more at curatorial.com
On View Now
Getty Villa | Pacific Palisades
Sculpted Portraits from Ancient Egypt
Currently on view
Striking portrait statues, sculpted reliefs, figurines, and sarcophagi from Egypt’s Twenty-Sixth Dynasty (664-526 BCE) reveal a time of intense artistic revival and renewal.
Skirball Cultural Center | Brentwood
Trenton Doyle Hancock: Draw Them In, Paint Them Out: Trenton Doyle Hancock Confronts Philip Guston
On view through March 1, 2026
This groundbreaking exhibition presents Philip Guston’s iconic Ku Klux Klan paintings in dialogue with major works by Trenton Doyle Hancock, exploring their parallel examinations of evil, self-representation, and art activism through dark humor and the visual language of comics.
Hauser & Wirth | West Hollywood
Anj Smith: The Sequin-Strewn Night
On view through January 24, 2026
British artist Smith’s first Los Angeles solo exhibition in two decades presents luminous paintings where precarious psychological states and erotic desire disrupt conventional depictions of motherhood and the female nude, set within toxic, inhospitable ecologies.
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures | Miracle Mile
Jaws: The Exhibition
On view through July 26, 2026
The largest exhibition ever mounted for Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film revisits Jaws scene by scene through original objects, behind-the-scenes revelations, and interactive moments celebrating the 50th anniversary of cinema’s first summer blockbuster.
Marciano Art Foundation | Koreatown
John Giorno: No Nostalgia
On view through April 25, 2026
Text paintings, early prints, and rainbow canvases reveal the lesser-known painting practice of poet, activist, and Warhol superstar John Giorno, whose work fused New York street life, Buddhist thought, and the raw immediacy of language.
Regen Projects | Hollywood
Marilyn Minter
November 6 – December 20, 2025
Minter’s hyperrealist portraits of Nick Cave, Jane Fonda, Cindy Sherman, and Jeff Koons, alongside her reclaimed Odalisque series and After Guston works, subvert and pay homage to art historical conventions while offering sharp political commentary.
Make Room | Hollywood
Leo Frontini: Everlapsing Interlude
On view through December 6, 2025
Dream-like paintings dissolve and cohere in kaleidoscopic logic, mining the space between folkloric “ever after” and “everlasting,” creating liquid narratives that slow time and foreground reflection in worlds within worlds.
Charlie James Gallery | Chinatown
Elmer Guevara: Yesterday like today / Ayer cómo hoy
On view through December 6, 2025
Mural-sized paintings layer the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising with El Salvador’s civil war, exploring intergenerational memory and trauma through the artist’s family experiences while emphasizing the resilience of daily life amid unrest.
Baert Gallery | Arts District
Cheung Tsz Hin: A Sunbeam Lent to Us Too Briefly
On view through December 13, 2025
Intuitive compositions explore mixed emotions arising from memory and associations, using light as a central device to navigate the continuous transformation and fragmentation of personal experiences with life, death, and separation.
The Pit | Atwater Village
Ryan Schneider: Earth Canal
November 1 – December 20, 2025
Sculptures carved from redwood and stone, cast in bronze, and adorned with gold leaf evoke ancient idols while resonating with contemporary cultural anxieties, bridging earth, body, and spirit in a meditation on what it means to be human.
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LA Insider is the weekly newsletter that connects you to LA's vibrant art and culture scene. From the Hollywood Hills to downtown, Malibu and beyond, we uncover a curated selection of standout exhibitions, cultural events, and creative experiences that define the City of Angels.
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This piece really made me think about how art continuously reinvents itself. Your curation is truly brilliant. Seeing how ancient forms meet modern critiques, especially of motherhood and gender, feels vital. It shows that human expression is a recursive process, always builing.