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From the gallery: Quint Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by San Diego-based artist Perry Vásquez from January 25-February 18, 2023. Some Palms centers the palm tree as a symbol for the idealism of California, simultaneously mythologizing and interrupting its appeal. Date palms, synonymous with the California landscape, were imported by Franciscan monks in the late 1600s as ornamental nods to the plant’s appearances in the bible, transforming Southern California from an arid desert into an oasis. These palms, with only one species native to California, provide neither shade nor fruit, and require vast resources of water from near and far watersheds in order to thrive. Vásquez has considered this ecological quandary to create paintings of palms engulfed in flames, an image which has become synonymous with accelerated rates of wildfires across the region. In other paintings, he further dissects the myth of the palm tree with paintings of Monopalms, the concealed utility structures that use synthetic materials to conform to the foliage that encapsulates the Southern California ideal. At times, Vásquez’s lone, burning palm confers quasi-religious comparisons to Roman-Catholic representations of purgatory and the anima sola (or lonely spirit). Prayed to in devotional art in Europe and Central America, the image of the anima sola depicts a woman breaking free from her chains in a fiery prison in between heaven and hell, marking her destiny to reach the afterlife. From this perspective, the artist explores the palm tree’s symbolic past and uncertain future as iconography of an increasingly unwelcome environment. Ultimately, Perry Vásquez reframes these icons as fixtures of cultural impermanence, moving between realist renderings to atmospheric gestural compositions emphasized by impasto flames against an otherwise flat surface. Perry Vásquez, originally from Los Angeles, has been working in the San Diego region since 1987 and earned his MFA in Visual Art from the University of California, San Diego. He is a recipient of the 2021 San Diego Art Prize. Vásquez has exhibited his artwork in group and solo exhibitions locally and internationally and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and Laguna Beach Art Museum, the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego. Vásquez is currently a Professor of Art at Southwestern College, CA. Related links: Quint Gallery on Instagram

Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: The Open Ears Project, R.F Kuang's The Poppy War trilogy and a Dungeons & Dragons show called DesiQuest.

From the organizers: Glüme was born & raised in Los Angeles underneath the Hollywood sign. As a child actor, dancer, & singer, she got her start early on Broadway at the age of 6. She grew up leading a life fit for a film; full of magic & tragedy. After being diagnosed with Prinzmetal disease, she found a lane of her own while recording music at home. As a solo artist, she is happy to be here telling her stories & making art that she hopes can help people find their way over the rainbow. Her sophomore album is out on Valentine's Day 2023 featuring collaborations with Rufus Wainwright, Sean Ono Lennon, STRFKR, Of Montreal, & Johnny Jewel. Twin Ritual is influenced by Synth-pop, Post- Punk and Indie. They deliver upbeat drums, swirling synths, pulsing bass, driving guitar hooks, and dreamy female vocals, the band’s members include Laura Levenhagen (vocals/synth), Anthony Ramirez of Glass Spells (bass/synths), Antonio Estrada (guitar), Michael Buehl (drums). "There is an easy comparison to artists such as Blondie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and most certainly All About Eve with the band’s strong female lead, but Twin Ritual’s sound is more power-pop driven than their predecessors, with hints of The Killers, Interpol, and Editors snuck in there." - Post-Punk.com This is a 21+ event

"Script/Rescript" features the artwork of ten artists who use historical and contemporary medicalizing scripts of their own bodies to colorfully rescript – or rewrite – visual language attributed to individual conditions of disability. An X-ray, a prosthesis, a cane, a crutch, a pill, a wheelchair tire, or a syringe are the foundation in which to build new creative layers of empowered self-described embodiment. The work in this exhibition conveys disabled identity via new mapping, through-lines and mark-making, where the artists reject pathological archives by injecting them with memories, lived experiences, and sensorial attributes. Artists: Featuring work by contemporary disabled artists: Panteha Abareshi Jillian Crochet Sugandha Gupta Ana García Jácome Bhavna Mehta Dominic Quagliozzi Katherine Sherwood Akiko Surai Sunaura Taylor Chun-Shan (Sandie) Yi Gallery hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 12-4 p.m. and by appointment. Contact artgalleries@sdsu.edu or 619-594-5171 for appointments. Related events: Thursday, October 13 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. University Art Gallery Opening Reception with Artists Thursday, November 10 from 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. Donald P. Shiley Bioscience Center, Gold Auditorium “Disability Perspectives in Contemporary Art” Panel Discussion as part of Arts Alive SDSU Discovery Series; RSVP to artsalivesdsu@sdsu.edu Artists: Ana García Jácome and Bhavna Mehta; Curator: Amanda Cachia; Moderator: Dr. Yetta Howard All events are free and open to the public Related links: SDSU School of Art and Design website SDSU School of Art and Design on Facebook SDSU School of Art and Design on Instagram

So Cal Comics is excited to announce its participation in the nationally popular one-day event designed to stimulate business for comic book retailers and publishers, Free Comic Book Day. This event will occur on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at the massive outdoor arena of Southern California Comics. "We're going all out this year," says owner Jamie Newbold. "We'll be handing out thousands of free comic books to everyone and anyone who comes to our event. It's a great opportunity to rediscover the love for your favorite childhood hobby." 2023 marks the 21st year of the event and the 25th anniversary of the opening of Southern California Comics. We will celebrate the anniversary with limited edition store shirts and tote bags, available starting on Free Comic Book Day. Previous shows have attracted as many as 1500 people. This year we have 24 vendors of hot collectibles and local comic creators sharing their original creations. So Cal Comics has an impressive guest list of local art talent, but the Tour de Force is the seminal arrangement to have over one million dollars worth of comic books on display in one glass case. Actual copies of Action Comics 1-10 will be on display, which is a great photo opp moment because of San Diego's comic heritage. "This is a great photo opp for the press," says Newbold. "These books are rarely seen in public for their scarcity." The event is family-friendly and will be held outdoors. Cosplay is encouraged! Visitors will be treated to a kaleidoscope of incredible collectibles, from comic books to Barbie dolls. "We have experts on hand to talk about comic books and comic collecting in San Diego," says Newbold. "It's a great opportunity to learn about the history of comics and the industry as a whole." Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind event! So Cal Comics invites you to join them on May 20 to celebrate comic books and the love for this timeless hobby.

From the organizers: The San Diego Museum of Art is hosting a free celebration of art, folklórico dance and music inspired by the world-famous Guelaguetza festival from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The culturally immersive event is presented alongside the Sergio Hernández:Embers of Oaxaca exhibition, which opened last fall and will be on view through February 12 in partnership with the Mexican Consulate General of San Diego and the Baja California Secretary of Culture. The festival will feature six traditional dances from regions throughout the state of Oaxaca, and regional songs performed by Lilly Rincón, directed by Mexicali-based Compañía Esplendor Folklórico. There will also be free, family-friendly art-making activities and artworks for sale by artist vendors from Oaxaca. Sergio Hernández (b. 1957, Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, México) is among the leading contemporary Mexican artists today focusing on the wonders of the natural world, including native species of southern Mexico, the Pacific Ocean and constellations of the night sky. Hernández’s printmaking—following in the tradition of fellow Oaxaqueños Rufino Tamayo and Francisco Toledo, and his use of local materials such as cochineal (the beetle-based red pigment developed before the Spanish conquest by Indigenous Zapotec artists and subsequently exported around the world as the “perfect” red), tie his art-making practice to important local and Indigenous traditions. Guests can enjoy free Museum admission from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., complementary to the event. Related links: Event information at SDMART.org SDMA on Instagram SDMA on Facebook

Some automakers are reducing production of electric cars and Tesla sales have dropped. Can California sustain its record pace and meet the state mandate?

Jennifer González is History of Art and Visual Culture professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a faculty member of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York. She writes about contemporary installation, digital and activist art. She has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the American Association of University Women, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Her publications have appeared in Diacritics, Camera Obscura, Bomb, Open Space, Art Journal, Aztlán the Journal of the Archives of American Art and in numerous exhibition catalogs including Jimmy Durham: At the Center of the World (2017) and most recently Diego Rivera's America (2022). Her books include "Subject to Display: Reframing Race in Contemporary Installation Art", "Pepón Osorio, and Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology" which was included in the top art books of the decade by ArtNews in 2020.

When he takes over, in the fall of 2027, he will be the youngest music director in the orchestra's 133-year history.

The library joins other big cities to skirt censorship by expanding availability of books deemed inappropriate in nearly two dozen states.