THEME FROM RETRO: VINTAGE KARMANN GHIA IS THE IMPRACTICAL BEAUTY OBJECT WE DESIRE
Look at this vintage Volkswagen Karmann Ghia! It’s gorgeous, practically in mint condition. Can you imagine cruising around Los Angeles’s beach cities in this convertible? Or cruising up Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Malibu on a sunny Saturday afternoon, hair flowing in the wind, and the old-school radio blaring 1960sContinue Reading
KICKIN’ IT “OLD SKOOL”: GRAFFITI’S GRAFFITI IN DOWNTOWN L.A.
This gem of graffiti art references old-school graff writing style and tagging. It is striking and unusual with its combination of distinct, clean script — a testament to a deft hand at spraypaint can control — and its neatly left-justified formatting. The white paint on a black-painted brick wall providesContinue Reading
ED RUSCHA AND L.A.: INSEPARABLE UNTIL NOW!
Artist Ed Ruscha has a deep and longstanding relationship with the city of Los Angeles. It’s where he studied art. It’s where he’s made his art and career. An dit’s home. His body of work reflects L.A., at times literally and directly, and other times obliquely, with a nod andContinue Reading
“BODA BODA MADNESS”: THE COSTUMES OF NAIROBI’S MOTORBIKE TAXI DRIVERS
Driving a motorcycle taxi in Nairobi is a competitive business. To stand out and lure fares, the taxi riders adorn their motorbikes or scooters, known as “boda boda,” in decorative thematic designs, colors and accessories. Recently they’ve started wearing elaborate costumes to match their bikes. The practice has taken offContinue Reading
BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE: HOW TO SLEEP ON A PLANE, A VISUAL BREAKDOWN
The Washington Post has published an “Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sleeping Positions on a Plane” on its website. The article does a good job of breaking down all the ways passengers (at least those flying in economy class) try to snooze in their seats. Each position is explained and illustrated inContinue Reading
NO, REALLY, IT’S A WORK OF ART: FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE “HUH?” TO THE SUBLIME
An ordinary-looking fitted bed sheet is draped from a canvas leaning against a white gallery wall. It’s an artwork by the Argentinian contemporary conceptual artist Analia Saban currently on view at the Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles. At first impression, from a distance, one might be thinking, “Huh?Continue Reading
EPIC CHILD’S PLAY: VENICE BEACH MURAL BRINGS OUT OUR INNER KID
The artist who goes by the name Pilpeled created this large, monochromatic mural on the side of a restaurant along fashionable Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice (the Los Angeles seaside neighborhood, not the Italian seaside city). The artwork is fun and playful, depicting a quartet of of kids making faceContinue Reading
AN ART-WORLD GIANT BOWS OUT: R.I.P., CARL BALDESARRI
The world was sad to see the news earlier this week that artist John Baldesarri had passed away last week. As reported by the New York Times, he died at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice last January 2. Baldesarri was a figurative and literal giant ofContinue Reading
GO GET ‘EM, TIGER! BIG CAT MURAL MENACES GENTRIFIED HOOD
We came across this rad black-and-white mural of tiger in full stare-down mode in Santa Barbara’s gentrified former industrial area known as the Funk Zone. Pretty cool.
SNEAKER PIMPIN’: BUBBLY PINK NIKES INSPIRED BY SPONGE BOB SQUAREPANTS ARE REAL!
Seeing is believing. In this case the truth is revealed by the appearance of this pair of Nike “lifestyle” performance sneakers (or trainers, as our U.K. friends might say) inspired by SpongeBob Squarepants, the American cartoon mega-hit. The shoes are pink and bubbly in design theme, a reference perhaps toContinue Reading
HOMAGE OR RIP-OFF? BANKSY X KOONS X ANONYMOUS IN L.A.’s LEAFY WESTSIDE
In a rare feat, a single artwork has managed to simultaneously pay homage to two iconic works of art by two major contemporary art stars. The work is a piece of street art tucked away in an unlikely locale, on the corner of an the exterior wall of public elementaryContinue Reading
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT: HOW A RECLUSIVE SUPERTSAR JAPANESE ARTIST’S DOG SCULPTURES POPPED UP AT LACMA
Where in the hell have these delightful Yayoi Kusama dog sculptures been hiding? Currently on view at LACMA in Los Angeles, these artworks are part of “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art,” a thematic exhibition that shows how creatures have been depicted in Japan over 17 centuries. Kusama isContinue Reading
PRINTED MATTER: THIS MAGAZINE HAS NAILED THE ART OF THE SPINE!
There’s a certain European “interiors” publication has made a unique design for the spine of each issue of its magazine. Regular visitors to this site can probably guess the name of that magazine. It’s the Italian-Spanish design and interior decor magazine Apartamento (pictured above). It’s what was called in theContinue Reading
IN TOKYO: ALFRED TEA ROOM AND THE INCESCAPABLE REACH OF AMERICAN CHAINS
Alfred Coffee is a popular, fashionable budding mini coffee-chain empire in Los Angeles with about a half dozen cafes spread across the city’s hip and moneyed neighborhoods. Alfred also has a smaller spin-off tea salon, aptly called Alfred Tea, in L.A.’s ultra-bougie westside burb of Brentwood. Imagine our surprise toContinue Reading
IN TOKYO: BONSAI TREE HANGING IN SPACE MAKES US QUESTION EVERYTHING
It’s an amusing conceit. In the high-ceilinged foyer of the Barney’s store in Roppongi, Tokyo, an unpotted Japanese bonsai tree hangs in space, framed by a steel cube, suspended like an organic chandelier, the tree roots naked and dangling in air. The tree being de-planted and without soil all butContinue Reading