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The Man in the Tuskhut: A New Chapter in Los Angeles Panorama Tradition
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Published in Humor and Quirks on Monday, December 8th 2025 at 6:22 GMT by Los Angeles Times- 🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication
- 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source
The Man in the Tuskhut: A New Chapter in Los Angeles’ Panorama Tradition
The Velaslavasay Panorama, the 19‑year‑old immersive museum that has re‑ignited a Los Angeles love for 19th‑century panoramic art, is once again turning heads—this time with a singularly strange and striking new exhibit, The Man in the Tuskhut. The show, which opened last week, blends historical curiosity with contemporary commentary and offers a fresh look at how panoramic painting can become a vehicle for social critique.
1. A Quick Primer on the Velaslavasay Panorama
Before delving into the Tuskhut, it helps to understand the venue that makes this installation possible. The Panorama was founded in 2002 by a group of art‑history enthusiasts who dreamed of creating an authentic, immersive experience in a world that has largely moved on to 3‑D digital projections. The building itself—a converted 1920s theater—houses a 45‑foot‑wide canvas that is painted on a 60‑foot diameter cylinder. Viewers stand in the middle of the room and look outwards at a 360‑degree scene that includes painted backdrops, life‑size figures, and meticulously rendered light sources. The result is a “living painting” that feels like stepping into another era.
The museum has showcased everything from Civil War reenactments to 1920s speakeasies. In recent years, the Panorama has leaned into contemporary topics: a 2022 show on climate change that used a panoramic seascape to illustrate rising sea levels, and a 2023 exhibition that juxtaposed historical scenes of labor with modern images of gig‑economy workers. The Tuskhut installation follows this trajectory of using the historical medium to comment on today’s world.
2. What Is a Tuskhut?
At first glance, “Tuskhut” sounds like a made‑up term. The exhibition’s description, however, reveals it to be a cultural artifact that blends the literal “tusk” (the elongated teeth of animals such as elephants, walruses, and walrus‑like creatures) with the figurative “hut” (a place of shelter or a small dwelling). According to the artist’s statement—featured in a side panel on the exhibit’s page—the Tuskhut is a mythical hat worn by “frontier mystics” in the 19th‑century American West. These mystics were supposed to have used the Tuskhut to “channel the spirit of the land” and to protect themselves from the harsh elements. The hat is described as a wide brimmed, beaded headpiece adorned with ivory‑like tusks that protrude in a jagged array, casting long shadows that create an ever‑changing silhouette on the panoramic wall.
The Tuskhut has no real historical precedent, but the concept was inspired by a combination of genuine artifacts—such as the ivory headdresses used by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest—and a whimsical legend that the artists discovered in an old West‑ward journal that circulated in the 1870s. In the journal, the Tuskhut was said to be a “doorway” to other worlds, a claim that fits neatly into the Panorama’s tradition of blending myth and history.
3. The Man in the Tuskhut: Concept and Execution
The centerpiece of the exhibit is a life‑size figure—a sculpted figure in a Tuskhut, standing on a raised plinth in the middle of the panorama. The artist, Spanish‑American immigrant Lena Varela, used a mixture of mixed media: bronze for the base, acrylic paint for the Tuskhut, and a custom 3‑D printed lattice that mimics ivory tusks. The figure is positioned at a slight angle, so the Tuskhut’s shadows play across the panorama’s interior wall, echoing the way light and shadow would have behaved on an actual dusty Western landscape.
The story, according to Varela, is intentionally ambiguous. “I wanted to give the viewer the freedom to decide who this man is—whether he is a pilgrim, a trader, a mythic hero, or even a modern immigrant.” The figure’s eyes are closed, and his face is slightly turned toward a distant point in the panorama, where a stylized desert meets a canyon. Varela’s intention, she says, was “to reflect the experience of those who feel caught between past and present, tradition and modernity.”
In addition to the sculpture, the exhibit includes a series of short films that loop behind the figure. These films juxtapose archival footage of the American frontier with contemporary images of migrants crossing the border, creating a dialogue between historical and present‑day displacement. An audio track—an original score combining Native American flutes, steel‑drum rhythms, and electronic drones—floods the space, making the viewers feel as if they are inside a living, breathing myth.
4. Historical and Cultural Context
The Panorama’s curatorial team worked closely with historians and cultural anthropologists to contextualize the Tuskhut. A link in the article directs readers to a “History of Frontier Hats” blog post on the museum’s website, which explains how hats served practical purposes in the 1800s—protection from sun, rain, and dust—while also having symbolic roles. The blog mentions the use of ivory in hats by some Native American tribes, which may have inspired Varela’s design.
The exhibit also references a 2021 documentary, Echoes of the Tusk, which explored how modern artists use historical motifs to comment on climate change and displacement. In that documentary, a segment focuses on how the artist’s own family history of migration from Cuba to Los Angeles informs her work, echoing the same sense of “in-between” that the Tuskhut embodies.
5. Public Reception and Critical Response
Early visitors have described the Tuskhut installation as “mind‑bending” and “visceral.” A review in the Los Angeles Review praised the combination of visual spectacle and conceptual depth, noting that “the Tuskhut’s jagged shadows become a metaphor for the fragmented lives of those displaced by climate and politics.” Another visitor, a 27‑year‑old filmmaker, said, “I was standing in a painting and listening to a story about migration—it was a surreal experience.”
Critics have also highlighted the Panorama’s commitment to community engagement. The museum’s outreach team is currently offering guided tours in Spanish, Korean, and Amharic to accommodate the diverse neighborhood surrounding the venue. A link in the article directs readers to the museum’s upcoming schedule of free community events, including a panel discussion on “Art as a Tool for Social Change.”
6. Looking Ahead: What Comes After the Tuskhut?
The Velaslavasay Panorama is already planning its next season of exhibits. The museum’s director, Jorge Martinez, hinted in a brief interview that a “futuristic frontier” theme will follow the Tuskhut, exploring how technology is reshaping borders. The museum’s website, linked in the article, offers a sneak peek at preliminary designs—an interactive holographic landscape that will allow visitors to “walk” through a virtual canyon while listening to AI‑generated music inspired by indigenous soundscapes.
7. Why the Tuskhut Matters
In a world where the past is often used to frame the present, the Tuskhut serves as a bridge between eras. By blending a mythical 19th‑century hat with contemporary themes of migration, identity, and climate anxiety, the exhibit invites viewers to reflect on how history continues to shape the present—and how we, in turn, can shape the future. The Velaslavasay Panorama, with its immersive 360° format, provides a space where these reflections can become visceral experiences rather than abstract ideas.
Whether you are an art lover, a history buff, or simply curious about how panoramic art can evolve, the Tuskhut is an exhibit that deserves a look. It reminds us that the stories we tell—whether painted on a canvas or etched in stone—are living narratives, constantly rewritten by the people who see them.
Read the Full Los Angeles Times Article at:
[ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-12-08/the-man-in-the-tuskhut-velaslavasay-panorama ]
