LOS ANGELES, CA (May 12, 2022) – The Broad is pleased to announce additional details and programming for two upcoming special exhibitions, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag, both running from May 21 to September 25, 2022.
New Augmented Reality and Immersive Features to Launch with Murakami Exhibition
For Takashi Murakami, the explosive interest in the metaverse and in virtual and augmented realities (AR) constitutes a societal and cultural sea change. As part of The Broad’s special exhibition with the artist, and in partnership with Meta’s Spark AR, Instagram, and BUCK, Murakami uses AR experiences to extend the expression of his paintings’ and sculptures’ complex concern with trauma and disaster. Inside and outside of The Broad, these emergent realities and technologies populate the East West Bank Plaza at The Broad, the museum lobby, and one of the exhibition galleries, existing on top of and in relation to the physical world. Through the Instagram app, Murakami characters step out of their physical forms and into a ghostly digital existence, harbingers of what is yet to come for Murakami’s work and thinking. In addition to museum visitors, the public will be able to experience the AR feature on the East West Bank Plaza at The Broad.
This Is Not America’s Flag Presents Powerful Works, Several for First Time in LA
Titled after Alfredo Jaar’s iconic 1987 work, A Logo for America, the exhibition
This Is Not America’s Flag will provide a critical discourse on the US flag’s meaning, the complexity and contradictions of contemporary national identity, and artists as active citizens. The exhibition presents works from over twenty artists including Laura Aguilar, Nicole Eisenman, Genevieve Gaignard, Jeffrey Gibson, David Hammons, Jaar, Jasper Johns, John Outterbridge, Betye Saar, Fritz Scholder, and Hank Willis Thomas.
This Is Not America’s Flag includes a gallery devoted to works that drain the iconic red, white, and blue banner of its colors to investigate concepts as broad as identity, white supremacy, and manifest destiny. Many works in the exhibition manipulate the symbol—changing its shape, features, or colors, or even removing the flag entirely—to shift its meaning and pose critical questions. Several works throughout the exhibition feature portraiture as a mode of examining the complexity and contradictions of national identity.
This Is Not America’s Flag will present Vito Acconci’s interactive installation, Instant House, 1980, an iconic work of the Cold War era that contains both flags of the US and the Soviet Union. The Indian Congress, 2021 by Wendy Red Star will be on view for the first time in Los Angeles, an installation that metaphorically reconvenes the unprecedented 1898 gathering of over five hundred representatives of 35 Native American nations. Also on view for the first time in Los Angeles will be A Logo For America, 1987 by Alfredo Jaar, a work that challenges the power dynamics evidenced in language when the word “America” is used as a blanket term to represent the US, neglecting the many other nations within the American continents.
The Broad Reopens Thursday Evenings and Announces Free Admission Opportunities
The Broad will reopen on Thursday evenings throughout the run of the exhibition and will offer free admission to the ticketed exhibitions on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m., beginning June 2. Admission to the ticketed exhibitions will also be free on Sunday, June 19 and Tuesday, July 5 in honor of the Juneteenth and Independence Day holidays.
- Tickets to view both exhibitions are $18 adults, $12 for students (18+ with valid student ID), and free for children 17 and under.
- Free tickets will be released on the last Wednesday of the month at 10 a.m. PT for the month following on The Broad’s website at ticketing.thebroad.org/events. For example, tickets for free Thursday evenings in June and for June 19 will be released on May 25 at 10 a.m. PT.
- Families attending The Broad’s Family Weekend Workshops in July and September will also receive complimentary access to the exhibitions, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag, and participate in artmaking workshops inspired by the works on view in the exhibition.
Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow Related Exhibition Programming
The Un-Private Collection: Takashi Murakami + Benoit Pagotto + Ed Schad
Thursday, May 19, 2022 | 7:30-9 p.m.
Tickets: $20; available now at www.thebroad.org/events
Additional Admission: Tickets include access to the special exhibitions Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag between Wednesday, May 25 and Sunday, May 29, 2022
Event Location: Aratani Theatre, 244 San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Livestream: The Broad’s YouTube and FacebookIn advance of the opening of the special exhibition Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, The Broad presents an Un-Private Collection conversation about the metaverse between the iconic visual artist Takashi Murakami and the co-founder of RTFKT Studios Benoit Pagotto, moderated by The Broad’s Curator and Publications Manager Ed Schad.
Chasing the Eccentrics: Takashi Murakami in Conversation with Etsuko Price about Edo-period Painting, Creativity, and Collecting
Friday, May 20, 2022 | 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $25; available now at www.japanhousela.com/events/chasing-the-eccentrics/
Additional Admission: Tickets include access to the special exhibitions Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag from Saturday, May 21 through Thursday, June 30, 2022
Event Location: JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, 5th floor salon, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Livestream: The Broad’s YouTube and Facebook
Presented in conjunction with The Broad’s special exhibition Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, this conversation with Etsuko Price—who with her husband Joe, amassed an unparalleled collection of traditional Japanese art focused on the Edo-period—and artist Takashi Murakami will explore how traditional Japanese painting has influenced and inspired Murakami’s creative practice. This dialogue, moderated by Yuko Kaifu, President of JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, will also offer a window into the long-held friendship Murakami and Mrs. and Mr. Price have developed over their passion for traditional Japanese art.
Houses of Zodiac
Saturday, June 4, 2022 | 8:30-10 p.m.
Sunday, June 5, 2022 | 2-3:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30, available now at www.thebroad.org/eventsAdditional Admission: Tickets include access to the special exhibitions Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag from June 1-12, 2022
Event Location: Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, 200 S Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
In conjunction with The Broad’s special exhibition Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, enjoy a theatrical presentation of Houses of Zodiac. This collaboration between composer Paola Prestini, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, Sankai Juku dancer Dai Matsuoka, New York City Ballet dancer Georgina Pazcoguin, and filmmaker Murat Eyuboglu explores the intersection of mind, body, and nature—themes mirrored in the recent artworks of Takashi Murakami which express his interests in spirituality and ecological and human-made disasters. Houses of Zodiac is a series of live cello solos and dance, with lush filmic visuals and poetic interludes by Pablo Neruda, Anaïs Nin, Brenda Shaughnessy, and Natasha Tretheway underscored by Zeigler along with musicians such as Nels Cline and Tanya Tagaq.
Following the event, an iteration of the film that appears in Houses of Zodiac will be screened monthly on the second Saturday throughout the run of the Takashi Murakami exhibition and will be free to museum visitors. Screenings will be presented in Oculus Hall at The Broad on June 11, July 9, August 13, and September 10.
Resonate Tones: Odeya Nini, Kelli Anna Gendalå + Karen Marie
Tickets: Free as part of Thursday evening free admissionMurakami’s paintings featured in The Broad’s exhibition welcome Buddhist Arhats and Daoist Immortals to help us heal from disaster and to offer a path toward enlightenment. To heighten Murakami’s interest in offering a way though troubling times, The Broad has organized performances/installations featuring artists who deploy sound and the voice as a restorative and spiritual practice to connect with others and to heal our souls. Featuring Sound Bath with Kelli Anna Gendalå + Karen Marie on August 18, 6-8 p.m. and Voice Bath with Odeya Nini on September 1, 7:30-8 p.m.
This Is Not America’s Flag Related Exhibition ProgrammingThis Is Not America’s Flag: A Conversation on the US Flag, National Identity, and Citizenship with Wendy Red Star + Tony De Los Reyes + Stephanie Syjuco + Sarah Loyer
Sunday, May 22, 2022 | 2-3:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20; available now at www.thebroad.org/events
Additional Admission: Tickets include access to the special exhibitions Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag the day of the event
Location: Oculus Hall, The Broad, 211 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Livestream: The Broad’s YouTube and FacebookTaking up key themes in the exhibition This Is Not America’s Flag, The Broad’s Curator and Exhibitions Manager Sarah Loyer will moderate a conversation with exhibiting artists Wendy Red Star, Stephanie Syjuco, and Tony de los Reyes on their use of the United States flag in their artworks and the flag as a symbol of individual and national identity. The discussion will examine the flag’s simultaneous unifying and polarizing qualities as well as key historical and legislative touchpoints.
Additional Programs to Be Announced This Month
Special Exhibition Programming for Families
Family Weekend Workshops
Sunday, July 31 (This Is Not America’s Flag) | 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, September 11 (Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow) | 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tickets: free; available the month prior at www.thebroad.org/events
Additional Admission: Tickets to the July 31 and September 11 workshops include same-day access to the special exhibitions Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and This Is Not America’s Flag
Location: East West Bank Plaza at The Broad, 211 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012The Broad’s Family Weekend Workshops return in-person this season on the East West Bank Plaza at The Broad, with several of the artmaking workshops inspired by the This Is Not America’s Flag and Takashi Murakami exhibitions. Families are encouraged to visit our galleries to view artworks and participate in scavenger hunts in the museum.
Family Weekend Workshops will also be presented May 15, June 26, and August 15, inspired by artworks in the third floor galleries.
About The Broad
The Broad is a contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The museum offers free general admission and presents an active program of rotating temporary exhibitions and innovative audience engagement, all within a landmark building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler. The Broad is home to the Broad collection, which is one of the world’s leading collections of postwar and contemporary art.
The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library, which has been loaning collection works to museums around the world since 1984.
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