Visual Art
Raymond Pettibon
MCQ Fine ArtThe little house/gallery on Seventh Street delivers perhaps the biggest show of the fall, by one of the critical darlings of contemporary art, Raymond Pettibon. Rooted in SoCal punk art and its DIY graphics sensibility, Pettibon’s drawings and prints range widely across such topics as religion, politics, sexuality, and pop culture, layering enigmatic prose fragments to images of dizzying energy. Gotta see it. Through Nov. 3, mcqfineart.com
Throwback
Renaissance Festival
Sunset ParkFinally, an excuse to bust out the codpiece. Bring your best swords, armor, period costumes, and elaborate medieval fantasies to “The Age of Chivalry.” There will be vendors, food, music, and more. Oct. 13-15, Tickets from $15 for a single day to $45 three-day passes, lvrenfaire.com
Kid Lit
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Historic Fifth Street SchoolTimed to the anticipated release of The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse — words by Barnett, illustrations by Caldicott-winner Klassen — in which a duck and a mouse are swallowed by a wolf, and decide to live happily in the wolf’s belly. There’s a lesson for us all in there. Oct. 10, 6:30p, free, thewritersblock.org
Outdoors
Get Outdoors Day
Cornerstone Park, HendersonWant to learn about outdoor recreation in Southern Nevada but don’t know where to begin? Begin here, with National Park Service rangers giving you the lowdown. Learn about camping, about “leaving no trace” in the wilderness, about how to use Lake Mead. There will be a rock-climbing wall and other family activities. Oct. 7, 9a-2p, free, getoutdoorsnevadaday.org
Lecture
Kennedy assassination panel
Mob MuseumThese days, you can’t swing a suspiciously dead cat without hitting a conspiracy theory about some aspect of modern life, from the deep state to George Soros to the Koch bros. In many ways, the murder of John F. Kennedy is the wellspring of that mentality. This evening, two experts will tug at opposite ends of the assassination’s main controversy: Did Oswald act alone? Author Gus Russo says yes; author Dan Moldea insists he had mob help. Oct. 24, 7p, $20, themobmuseum.org
Music
Melody Sweets
Cabaret Jazz in The Smith CenterIf the French hadn’t already invented the word chanteuse, we’d have had to subcontract them to do it now to describe sultry performer Melody Sweets. She’s a multifaceted singer, songwriter, and burlesque performer. You may know her as the Green Fairy in Absinthe; now’s your chance to catch her in The Sweets Spot, a show of original songs, covers of classic numbers, and lots of oo-la-la. Oct. 24, 9:30p, $20-$40, thesmithcenter.com
Visual Art
Pixel Shtick
In his new exhibit, Eric Vozzola explores the space between the digital and the analogTo say an image is “low res” — low resolution — is to say it lacks clarity, definition, the proper density of visual information. It’s mostly a term used in modern digital media, meaning a picture is fuzzy, cheap-looking — inferior. Low Res, Eric Vozzola’s new set of paintings, noses fruitfully through the fraught space between the digital and the analog. That dichotomy begins at the formal level: He’s probing a digital phenomenon with the analog technique of painting. Now look at the canvas above, “Balancing Curiosities.” Note how it deftly upends the 21st century’s unquestioning belief in the superiority of the digital. Through a wall of pretty squares that indicate the failure of digital imagery to resolve, we get three glimpses of something organic, mysterious, unresolvable, rendered in old-school black-and-white. Feel your visual brain trying to divine the whole from the occluded pieces. That’s a very high-res sensation.
Scott Dickensheets
low res Oct. 24-Jan. 16, Whitney Library, free, lvccld.org