Explore Los Angeles's rapid transformation into one of the most influential industrial, economic, and creative capitals in the world.

Through drawings, models, photographs, animations, interviews, and films, this groundbreaking exhibition celebrates L.A.'s rich yet often underappreciated built environment, from its ambitious freeway networks and sleek coffee shops, to its cultural destinations and experimental residences.

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Ed Ruscha has long reflected on Los Angeles's vernacular architecture, urban landscape, and car culture, documenting the city's design and transformation through paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and films. Complementing Overdrive, this exhibition presents vintage prints and materials made in conjunction with his self-published photo books, and rare contact sheets on display for the first time.

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Overdrive and In Focus: Ed Ruscha are part of the Pacific Standard Time Presents, a citywide celebration of L.A. architecture and place running through July 2013. Sign up for Pacific Standard Time Presents updates »

"The Mozia Charioteer is the apex of an earlier, more pivotal moment in Western art, and practically no one in America has seen it. This opportunity won't come again."
—William Poundstone, ARTINFO.com

Encounter Sicily's opulent past as ancient Greek colonies became formidable metropolises, and view incomparable masterpieces from its museums, including extraordinary marble sculptures, rare coins, and other treasures.

On this crossroads of the Mediterranean, the arts attained levels of refinement and ingenuity that rivaled, even surpassed, those of mainland Greece. Exquisite art, literature, and scientific innovation flourished, leaving an enduring stamp on western culture.

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Experience interactive and lively performances from Machine Project and dublab DJs, site-specific commissions by Dance Camera West, film screenings, and a hands-on model of the Getty Center where you add your own innovative design. Los Angeles, modernism, and architecture inspire this creative extravaganza presented in conjunction with the exhibition Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990. Free; no reservations required.

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Saturdays Off the 405 is back for 2013! Discover the eclectic blend of electronic soul, R&B, and folk delivered by Coco O and partner Robin Hannibal. Since their meeting in Copenhagen in 2009, the duo known as Quadron has mingled the sounds of Lauren Hill, Sade, and others with modern instruments to create their magic. Free; no tickets required.

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How might the classic plays of ancient Greece be theatrically staged in the present day? Members of New York's SITI Company, led by director Anne Bogart, return to the Getty Villa to present live readings of three ancient Greek plays and discuss this question with the audience and Villa staff. Recommended for teen and adult audiences. Free; a ticket is required.

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How did early artisans create the superb black- and red-figure pottery of ancient Athens? Hear how scientists, art historians, and conservators are working together to better understand the materials and techniques used to produce these vessels. Project members also discuss the application of high-tech research methods to study ceramic technology, artistic expression, and workshop practice. Free; a ticket is required.

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Unravel the mysteries of one of the world's most treasured and rare books, the Archimedes Palimpsest. Scholars Reviel Netz and William Noel, authors of The Archimedes Codex, reveal how they used modern technology to uncover the secrets of this 13th-century prayer book that contains seven erased treatises from centuries earlier by the great ancient scientist Archimedes. Free; a ticket is required.

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When architects create new buildings for urban centers, how can they innovate while respecting a place's unique historic character? Hear internationally renowned architects and urban planners—including Thomas H. Beeby, Juergen Mayer H., Rafael Moneo, Richard Rogers, and Denise Scott Brown—speak about this issue and present their own recent projects. Registration is $100 ($50 for students) and includes an evening reception, lunch, and event parking.

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Hear Pico Iyer, distinguished author of travel books, novels, and essays, and James Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, discuss museums, cosmopolitan culture, flights into the foreign, and other timely topics. Free; reservations recommended.

Getty Perspectives brings together distinctive voices to explore the arts and the relationship of visual culture to the broader public culture.

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Four internationally renowned leaders in the architecture community join Wim de Wit, curator of the dynamic new exhibition Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990, to reflect on why they chose to work in Los Angeles. They reveal how the city's built environment and spirit of experimentation have affected their projects, and why L.A. continues to be a center for global design discourse. Free; reservations required.

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C O N T I N U I N G   T H I S   M O N T H
– Looking East: Rubens's Encounter with Asia (through June 9)
– Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990 (through July 21)
– Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto (through Aug. 25)

C L O S I N G   T H I S   M O N T H
– Untold Stories: Collecting and Transforming Medieval Manuscripts (through May 12)

H O T   T I C K E T S
– Performance Festival: Framing L.A. (May 4)
– Talk: Ed Ruscha (May 9)
– Conference: Objects in Motion in the Early Modern World (May 10 & 11)
– Saturdays Off the 405: Quadron (May 18)
– Symposium: Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment (May 21)
– Talk: James Cuno and Pico Iyer (May 28)
– Talk: Why L.A.? Hitoshi Abe, Neil Denari, Craig Hodgetts, and Peter Noever (May 30)
– Symposium: Urban Ambition (May 30 & 31)
– Concert: Sonic Overdrive (May 31)

C O N T I N U I N G   T H I S   M O N T H
– Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome (through Aug. 19)

C L O S I N G   T H I S   M O N T H
– Lion Attacking a Horse from the Capitoline Museums, Rome (through May 6)

H O T   T I C K E T S
– Talk: Attic Pots and Atomic Particles (May 2)
– Course: Greek Vase Painting (May 4)
– Talk: The Archimedes Palimpsest (May 9)
– Villa Play-Reading Series: SITI Company Reads the Classics (May 17–19)
– Artist-at-Work Demonstration: A Roman Wedding (May 25 & 26)

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HOURS: Tues–Thu and Sun: 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Closed Mondays

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THE GETTY VILLA
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(310) 440-7300

HOURS: Weds–Mon: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Closed Tuesdays

Admission to the Getty Villa is FREE. An advance, timed-entry ticket is required. Parking is $15, but $10 for evening events after 5:00 p.m.
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