Things to do in Los Angeles on Friday

The masters of alfresco rooftop movie viewing have returned for another season of screenings to LEVEL in Downtown L.A. Known for excellent film choices and a steady supply of snacks and booze, Rooftop Cinema Club is your snazzy, comfortable and less stressful alternative to other outdoor movie screenings. You don’t even need to bring your own camping chair—Rooftop Cinema Club provides you with your very own comfy lawn chair (with optional blankets for purchase to up the coziness). And instead of listening to the movie over loudspeakers, you’ll get a set of wireless headphones so you never have to miss a word. Find the full schedule on their site, or in our outdoor movie calendar.

This spectacular exhibition from the Icelandic–Danish artist brings a new series of optical installations to MOCA’s Little Tokyo location. Don’t let the reflective, colorful pieces fool you into thinking this is some run-of-the-mill “immersive” exhibit: Olafur Eliasson’s works invite you to admire the everyday miracles of physics that shape how we see the world. The towering, mirror-lined stacks that fill the entrance of “OPEN” bring the outside in, as the warehouse-style Geffen Contemporary’s skylights create infinite spaces and mini worlds out of the sun and sky. The surprisingly analog optics behind them can be truly sublime: Gently moving water has a pair of pieces appear as shimmery landscapes, mirrors turn tubing into floating rings that trail into a black void and a simple array of pendants produce colorful flares against a screen. These aren’t pieces you’re meant to disappear into; instead, they provide a lens for the enviornment around us. You’ll need a timed ticket ($18) to see “Olafur Eliasson: OPEN.” Look for reservations on the first Friday of the month, from 5 to 8pm, for free admission.

West Hollywood’s chic restaurant and rooftop bar, E.P. & L.P., is serving much more than handcrafted cocktails and modern American bites. The spot also hosts Melrose Rooftop Theatre, an outdoor screening series that runs much of the year on the rooftop space attached to its open-air bar, L.P. Its all-VIP seating setup means everyone gets their own bean bag to watch a mix of cult classics and newly released films, with the audio piped in to provided sets of wireless headphones. Opt for the dinner-and-a-movie package and you’ll get a pre-show starter, main and dessert—or you can skip it and just opt for a cocktail during the movie.

Nature lovers, rejoice! Spend a day at the Natural History Museum’s Butterfly Pavilion, which will be open March 23 through August 24 and be home to up to 30 butterfly and moth species, as well as an assortment of California plants. The seasonal outdoor exhibit allows for adults and children alike to witness nature up close—we’re talking walking amid hundreds of butterflies and having them land on your arms or shoulders. Tip: The prime time for these unique butterfly flight experiences is typically between 10am and 11am each morning.

It’s more than just the low clearance: This exhibition at the Petersen explores the custom paint, engraving, upholstery and, of course, the gravity-defying suspension of the lowrider scene. In addition to iconic cars, the exhibit spotlights influential artists in the Chicano lowrider art scene. Even if you have no interest in cars, this colorful showcase of 20-plus lowered cars and bikes is excellent: The candy-colored paint jobs are dazzling, and the craftsmanship of the customizations—many vehicles are on display with their engines and undercarriages visible—is remarkable. You’ll learn a little bit of history here, how the “low and slow” movement is rooted in the postwar Mexican American zoot suit counterculture, but largely this is an excuse to ogle some L.A. automotive icons.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House—centerpiece of Barnsdall Art Park and Los Angeles’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site—just might be the most stunning backdrop for an art exhibition. And, in this case, the home is the subject itself, too. L.A.-based photographer Ireland captured the intricate details of the Hollyhock House in 21 photographs on display throughout the onetime residence.

The desert-spanning biennial is back, with premieres of site-specific works from about a dozen artists. For its fifth iteration, Desert X will once again stage outdoor installations across about 40 miles of the Coachella Valley through May 11—making it the perfect pit stop if you’re making your way out to Coachella in April. This year’s works explore Indigenous futurism, activism and technology’s role in society, among other themes. Don’t miss Agnes Denes’s monumental The Living Pyramid.

The Boy Who Lived lives on in a wizardly spectacle. As though it had cast a Shrinking Charm on itself, the formerly two-part epic is now a single show, albeit a long one—and one that our New York critic awarded five stars.

Austrian-born Helmut Lang walked away from fashion 20 years ago to focus solely on art. Now, thanks to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, his first solo institutional exhibition is opening in Los Angeles—in the historic Schindler House, no less. Curated by Desert X founding artistic director and Frieze Projects curator Neville Wakefield, the show consists of a series of fist-like freestanding sculptures made with found or discarded materials that “both imagine the future and materialize the past.”

After its fall debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of PST ART, artist Doug Aitken’s multimedia collab with the L.A. Phil and L.A. Master Chorale makes the jump to the Marciano Art Foundation. The free museum mounts the multi-channel video piece in its massive theater gallery, which you can see during routine opening hours (Tue–Sat 11am–6pm). But look out for separate reservations for weekly (typically on Saturdays) live performances organized by both musical ensembles.