Fall can be counted on for many things: cinnamon-scented pinecones at the supermarket, the return of must-see TV, and a banner crop of cultural offerings. Here, a few on our calendar this month:

Treasure Island Music Festival
Marking a decade this year, Treasure Island Music Festival returns with headlining acts Ice Cube (joined by fellow NWA members MC Ren and DJ Yella) and Icelandic rock outfit Sigur Rós. Also on the bill: haunting British singer-songwriter and producer James Blake, plus countless others. The 10th-anniversary installment will be the final staging on its namesake island before the event relocates in 2017. Oct. 15-16, Treasure Island, S.F., treasureislandfestival.com.

“States of Mind: Picasso Lithographs 1945-1960”
Pablo Picasso once said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” Now with a new exhibit at Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena—featuring more than 700 prints from the prolific painter’s lesser-known medium, lithographs—fans can see how the iconic artist brought these words to life. The drawings offer a keyhole view into his imagination by retracing his steps, so to speak, and deftly navigate his postwar fixation on movement—from the stick-figure state to the naturalistic rendering of The Bull as well as the evolving six states of Long-Haired Girl. Oct. 14-Feb. 13, nortonsimon.org.

Allan Houser and Claire Falkenstein
Two of the state’s late, great art voices are highlighted at Sacramento’s Crocker Museum this month: See 15 bronze and stone pieces by self-taught Native American artist Allan Houser, whose figurative and modernist works draw on his Chiricahua Apache heritage, and include the show’s centerpiece, Force: a Carrara marble marvel depicting an eagle and dove—ever-timely metaphors for war and peace. Meanwhile, the experimental oeuvre of multitalented artist Claire Falkenstein, whose mediums ranged from painting to jewelry to stage sets, takes shape in an exhibition spanning her trademark kinetic sculpture and lesser-known oil and acrylic paintings, etchings and more. “Claire Falkenstein: Beyond Sculpture,” Oct. 2-Dec. 31; “A Show of Force: Sculpture by Allan Houser,” Oct. 30-Feb. 26, crockerartmuseum.org.

Litquake 2016
The Bay Area festival that elevates authors to rock-star status is in full swing again this year with a bill that’s irresistible to devout bookworms and casual readers alike. Still to come on the schedule: “TV Tales: Stories from the Writer’s Room,” MacArthur Genius grant recipient Claudia Rankine in conversation with author/professor Sarah Ladipo Manyika, a behind-the-scenes evening with Bruce Lee biographer Charles Russo, “Literary Karaoke” and more. Oct. 7-15, litquake.org.

Celebrate Forsythe
Credited with transforming classical ballet into a 21st-century art form, award-winning choreographer William Forsythe will trade the stage for a seat of honor during a monthlong tribute presented at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. On the schedule: a trio of dynamic companies (Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet) performing renditions of Forsythe’s seminal works, including Pas/Parts 2016, originally choreographed for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1999. “He uses dancers as his paintbrush to color outside the lines,” says head of programming Michael Solomon. Oct. 21-23, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A., 213-972-0711; musiccenter.org/forsythe.

Written by Lindsay Kindelon, Danielle DiMeglio and Melissa Goldstein.

 

Email This To A Friend