Courtesy of Los Angeles Poverty Department

36 portraits of Skid Row visionaries by street artist Mr. Brainwash

At first glance, L.A.'s Skid Row doesn't seem like it would have a flourishing performance-art scene.

But Skid Row's Los Angeles Poverty Department -- abbreviated as, yes, LAPD -- was founded by director John Malpede in 1985 to develop the arts and culture of the city's well-known home to the homeless. Though its focus is interdisciplinary, LAPD is also the first performance group in the nation to be made up primarily of homeless or formerly homeless people. Its theory of social justice: Create change and supplant stereotypes by placing the community's narrative into its own hands.

This Memorial Day weekend, LAPD will host a three-day-long parade called "Walk the Talk" that will take place across Skid Row, led by a brass band called Paradigm Brass as well as pick-up musicians. Dozens of performances will take place at approximately 31 stops, each a symbolic site that will honor one of 36 men and women who have positively shaped the Skid Row community.

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Paul T. Bradley

Jessica Hanna's Moment of Triumph

"Everybody threw-fucking-down tonight," says an exhausted Jessica Hanna to her entourage.

Hanna ought to be exhausted -- she is, after all a champion. Just minutes before, she had bested a handful of other ladies in an over-the-top spectacle feat of strength -- and ok, some finesse -- in what was billed as L.A.'s first ever competitive ladies arm wrestling championship.

In the final, Hanna crushed Ladystache, who wore the shame of defeat on her fake facial hair while her conqueror raised an arm with Rosie the Riveter-level pride.

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Courtesy of the artist

Daido Moriyama's photograph Untitled (2011)

This week, artist and sunglasses designer Alex Israel debuts the talk show he shot in the Pacific Design Center, trombonists perform in a downtown art space, and fringe physicists reinvent gravity.

5. They're a collective, not a choir
The trombone is purportedly the brass instrument with a range closest to the human voice -- it's like a Southern preacher, only "with greater amplitude," said poet James Weldon Johnson. It's also one of the oldest instruments. "Trombone choirs" are old things, too, with centuries' worth of arrangements made just for them. But because the Los Angeles Trombone Collective is expressly not a choir, it avoids all of this. Its members favor retooled trombone solos or music not meant for trombone at all. This weekend, at alt-art space the Wulf, the collective will interpret John Cage and debut new live trombone electronica. 1026 S. Sante Fe Ave., #203, dwntwn.; Sat., May 19, 7:30 p.m. (213) 488-1182, thewulf.org.

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Terry Richardson's James Franco in Drag, Courtesy of the artist and OHWOW Gallery

Franco poses in drag for fashion photographer Terry Richardson, as part of the "Rebel" exhibit currently on display at JF Chen.

"There's just a lot of dicks in there. A lot of porno," painter Ty Williams says, shaking his head. "But I get it, though. I understand the prevalence of penises."

We're standing in the alleyway behind JF Chen, a collectible-furniture showroom and exhibit space, at the opening party for "Rebel," an off-site MOCA multimedia extravaganza produced by the world's most famous grad student, James Franco, in collaboration with an all-star cast of contemporary artists, including Ed Ruscha, Aaron Young, Terry Richardson, Paul McCarthy and Douglas Gordon.

Though Franco was somehow involved in all of the projects shown here, and his ongoing obsession with the sexual secrets and adolescent turmoil behind James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause drives the exhibit, the lineup of bigwigs confers an air of legitimacy lacking at some of Franco's previous shows and stunts.

The exhibit itself has been impressively built-out, looking like a soundstage resembling the Chateau Marmont, with videos playing in individual bungalows and shrubbery strewn with blow-up sex dolls and other detritus referencing the art.

And yes, there were a number of penises on display inside, as Franco and his partners grappled with the pent-up, feverish sexuality of adolescence by exploring, among other themes, the homoerotic tension on-screen in the 1955 film, Dean's real-life bisexuality and a smattering of behind-the-scenes affairs that reportedly took place before and during the shooting of the movie.

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Patrick Connor

Jennifer Moon, Prison Relic #2: Typewriter, 2012.

This week's list includes a show about incarceration, Lena Dunham's dad and art for gamers.

5. Behind bars
Artist Jennifer Moon was incarcerated for nine months, though nothing in her current exhibition at Commonwealth and Council tells us why -- except to say she was "a common criminal," not a "political" one. The show does tell us that Moon obsessively picked loose hairs out of her cell bedsheets each morning, dabbled in tobacco smuggling and had a prison romance. Spare photographs of objects she possessed or acquired behind bars hang above little cardboard shelves. There's a book called Where I Learned of Love resting on each, and if you read the bookmarked paragraphs -- which doesn't take long at all -- you'll piece together how Moon learned to assert herself, let herself go and love what she had all at once. 3006 W. Seventh St.; through May 5. (213) 703-9077; commonwealthandcouncil.com.

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Susan Vielmetter Projects

Karl Haendel's drawing Tired Dylan (2008)

[Update: This article previously referred to the MOCA festival curated by Mike D as a fundraiser for the museum. Mercedes sponsored the exhibit, but it was not intended as a fundraiser. The item has been corrected below.]

A festival run by a rapper, a Cadillac in a gallery, a soap opera cast with women in white, "taking account of oneself" taken to its extremes: It feels like spring.

5. So what'cha what'cha what'cha want
Until May 6, the Beastie Boy's Mike D is moonlighting as a MOCA curator. He's organized a festival of audio-video art at MOCA. Backed by Mercedes Benz, the festival has no admissions charge and will, MOCA hopes, bring in several thousand visitors. The artist line-up includes Public Fiction, which is the name of the experimental space Lauren Mackler runs in Highland Park. Mackler has orchestrated her own, quirky festival-within-a-festival at the Geffen. She'll present a panel on cults, a set by electronic improvisers NGUZUNGUZU and a broadcast by homeless, artist-run radio station KChung. 152 N. Central Ave., Little Tokyo; events daily through May 6. (213) 626-6222, moca.org.

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Morgan's Last Supper, a work by Ron English

Morgan Spurlock is best known for his documentary Super Size Me, but is also a prolific creator of other works, such as his reality TV show A Day in the Life. When I spoke to him on a recent Friday morning, Spurlock was wrapping up a busy week of press junkets for his new documentary Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, about the famed San Diego fan fest, before he jumps into Tribeca Film Fest mode with a new project named Mansome. But movies and TV are not really what this phone call is about.

Spurlock is happy and excited and talking a mile a minute about art, as he is now adding "curator" to his list of professional interests. Opening Saturday, April 28, at Thinkspace gallery, the show "New Blood" reflects Spurlock's passion for art and collecting. Spurlock jumped at the chance to curate his own show when offered by Thinkspace's Andrew Hosner, and "New Blood" revolves around work from established art stars like Camille Rose Garcia, Shepard Fairey, the Date Farmers, Saber, Elizabeth McGrath and their hand-picked protégés that the artists themselves have chosen as ones to watch.

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Joe Termini

Mike D

Mike D, Beastie Boy, recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, mad collector of modern furniture and, in general, the man with all the fly juice, has now found the time to curate his own museum show.

"Transmission L.A.: AV Club" is a free, 17-day festival of art, music and food, opening to the public Friday, April 20, at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. In keeping with the museum's recent pattern of splashy, nontraditional events, Mike and Mercedes Benz's avantgardediaries.com bring together a heavy-hitting roster of L.A. and New York artists, including painters Sage Vaughn and Will Fowler, sculptor/installation builder Tom Sachs and designer/director Mike Mills, as well as DJs (Peanut Butter Wolf, Z-Trip) and musicians (Santigold plays the VIP party Thursday night). Throw in superstar Kogi and A-Frame chef Roy Choi, who does a pop-up restaurant on-site every Thursday, and you've got a party worth fighting for.

L.A. Weekly got the opportunity to do an interview with Mike D, aka Michael Diamond, over email on the new show, the hall of fame and what exactly is the proper way to do the Jerry Lewis (a dance move not to be confused with the Brass Monkey).

Mr. Diamond's concept for "Transmission LA: AV Club" doesn't take an all-out academic approach, but encompasses everything that inspires him -- good music, design, food and even coffee. Going to MOCA will be like visiting him at home -- whether that's in Brooklyn or L.A.

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Nanette Gonzales

Bikes took over Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 9. Ride along as we travel from Boyle Heights to MacArthur Park, with a quick stopover at Occupy L.A.

Bibliophiles, engine-loathing cyclists and fans of absurd but beautiful Technicolor art can probably leave their wallets at home this week, at least if they're looking for something fun to do.

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Courtesy of the artist

Corazon del Sol's More Time (2012)

A little girl in ballet slippers, a jean jacket and a tulle tutu began an art collection Tuesday night at Barney's Beanery. It was barter night there, and the room with the pool tables in it had been cordoned off and artworks hung above each booth. The idea was that those who wanted the art would come and bargain with an artist. "What kind of bargain? Like, art for food?" an onlooker seated in the adjoining room asked his waitress.

It was more specific than that, actually. Each artwork announced, in some way or another, what the artist wanted in return. Some artists wanted things pricey but tangible. Jonah Freeman's nostalgic collage on newsprint had words "2012 MacBook Pro" written in a thought bubble. Walead Beshty made an ink drawing of a 15" MacBook Air. Ry Rocklen wanted a kiln in exchange for the print he'd cut to resemble lace and then affixed to a mirror. Others' desires were open to interpretation, or difficult to procure. Anna Sew Hoy wanted a clean body. Shannon Ebner wanted sun. Zoe Crosher wanted an evening with ever-elusive, raw and worldly writer Eve Babitz.

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