This weekend in the arts, dozens of notable contemporary artists present the works they've made during the pandemic at the Athenaeum, Good Faith Gallery kicks off their regular creative Nite Market, and two musical ensembles finally get their chance to perform for live audiences again — Project [BLANK] and the Hausmann Quartet. Plus, if you're looking for virtual art, City Ballet delivers another vivid filmed, staged ballet production.
'Marking Time: What Athenaeum Artists Create In Quarantine'
Visual Art
Here's one for the time capsules. The Athenaeum Music and Art Library in La Jolla will install an exhibition of the work of 49 artists — all individuals who have previously had a solo show in the museum or had contributed cover art for a concert program (a weirdly sweet and specific qualification which made me want to look up their concert program archives).
Featured artists include Wick Alexander, James Brown, Raul Guerrero, Matthew Hebert, Beliz Iristay, Mark Licari, Jean Lowe, Kim MacConnel, Christine Oatman, Marcos Ramirez ERRE, Philipp Scholz Rittermann, Ellen Salk, Aren Skalman, Perry Vasquez, Ruth Wallen, Allison Wiese and many more.
I love the recent work San Diego artist Allison Wiese has been making, including her neon pieces. She'll have one in this show, called "Plot Devices: Weather Saves the Day," which was also recently acquired by the City of San Diego's civic art collection. Another standout to me is the work Perry Vasquez has been doing in the pandemic, including his series, "The Ideal Copy."
The only theme for these works is that they were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's a really great chance for us not only to literally mark this time, but with a good chunk of the exhibiting artists being local, it's also a chance to see what artists in the region have been up to.
Details: Opens Saturday, May 15 through July 9, 2021. Athenaeum members can drop in during gallery hours, which are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but nonmembers need to make a free appointment first, by calling or emailing the gallery. 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla. Free.
Project [BLANK] Pop-Up Concert At Kate Sessions Park
Music
Local chamber group Project [BLANK] didn't need to put on a last-minute show this weekend. They are still screening their production of "Contralto" on demand, with plans for a production of Olivier Messiaen's "Harawi" for the end of this month. But the freshly vaccinated crew is desperate to perform again for a live audience, so why not? They'll set up Sunday afternoon at Kate Sessions Park, and it'll be concert-in-the-park style: just bring a blanket or lawn chairs and a picnic, and find a socially distanced spot to sit.
Performers will be violinist Batya Macadam-Somer, baritone Jonathan Nussman, mezzo-soprano Leslie Ann Leytham and pianist Brendan Nguyen. Leytham and Nguyen will preview some of the pieces from the forthcoming Harawi program.
Details: Sunday, May 16 at 4 p.m. Kate Sessions Park, 5115 Soledad Rd., Mt Soledad. Free.
Good Faith Gallery Nite Market
Music, Art, Crafts
Good Faith Gallery in Sherman Heights is launching a vibrant but low-key vendor fair that will hopefully take place every other month. They'll have live DJ sets and more than 20 booths from artists, arts orgs, zines, food and more, from Teros Gallery, Burn All Books, Street Sweeper Magazine and Normal Bakery, to name a few. This will be an entirely outdoor event. If you're interested in being a vendor in future Nite Markets, you can watch for a call for vendors for the July event on Good Faith's social media accounts in early June.
Details: Saturday, May 15 from 6-10 p.m. 566 19th St., Sherman Heights. Free.
Hausmann Quartet: 'Paths Converge'
Music
Hausmann Quartet — and their audience — finally return to the Berkeley ship at the Maritime Museum this Sunday for live, in-person performances in their Haydn Voyages series. If you can make it out to the show, they'll certainly make it worth your while with this packed program. There's five pieces: two by Haydn and three by some wildly varied contemporary composers, including a 1932 composition by Mexican modernist Silvestre Revueltas, "Musica de Feria," Aleksandra Vrebalov's forlorn and heavy 2015 work "My Desert, My Rose," and Kerwin Young's 2020 "Peace on the Left, Justice on the Right," written in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.
This will be a 90-minute, outdoor performance without an intermission.
Details: Sunday, May 16 at 3 p.m. 1492 N. Harbor Dr., Downtown. $10-50.
City Ballet: 'Raymonda'
Dance
If you're not quite ready for in-person performances, markets or museum visits, City Ballet has another virtual production for you in full swing, but only viewable through May 23. There's three works in this hour-long video, with a nice mix of traditional stage views and super up-close and personal camera angles. First is "Raymonda Variations," a truncated version of the classical, ensemble piece with choreography by City Ballet's Elizabeth Wistrich inspired by Marius Petipa's original 1898 choreography. It's followed by "Seasons," with evocative choreography by Geoffrey Gonzalez and the enchanting and familiar music of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" suite — using contemporary dress and black backdrop, it feels as timeless as ever. They close out the show with a work they premiered in 2003, "Still World Turning Again," choreographed by Wistrich and set to the music of contemporary Japanese composer Hiroshi Ohguri — I love the use of warrior-like percussion.
Details: Streams on demand through May 23. Online. $29.
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