Reality & Reverie

art walk

Living in DTLA has it’s ups and downs. One particular dividend is the monthly art walk held every second Thursday of the month that spans through blocks of the historic core and draws many-a-folk to the city. Having been in the neighborhood for a few months now, even for love of art, I hardly find myself inspired to sift through the zombie homeless, as well as underage girls walking piss-ass drunk, and, barefoot (ew) down spring street. Feeling perkier than usual today, I decided to brave the streets, tune out the crowd, and explore what April has to offer.

Discovery part une. the neighborhood cafe, equal parts art gallery poppin’ with an awesome street art show featuring a grip of the cities finest street artists.

Exhibition runs daily from 9am-7pm, go grab a cuppa joe and enjoy these fine works. I found this show to be highly representative of the streets of Los Angeles.

Discovery part deux. *there’s no place like home, tap, tap!*  While everybody in DTLA tries to dress like next season’s highlight issue of Vogue, which usually entails pretty much wearing all black, I miss the kitschy unpretentious style of my old neighborhood Hillcrest in SD. I stumbled upon an adorable eco friendly pop up shop hidden in the corner of the Medallion retail spaces that fill during artwalk. Pop Lux Eco, eco-friendly style brought to you by Ivy Glass, Shelley Smatana & Allison Tarcelli. Side note, fuck you, taxes, I would’ve at least dropped a benjamin to these cute gals if I didn’t have to throw my money to the system. They had me at crochet dreamcatchers, floral porcelain “whisky” charm necklaces and indoor glass garden bubbles, when the Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” started playing, I was feeling quite nostalgic and in love with their little shop. The prices are reasonable and the shop stands out amongst the rest by being unequivocally stylish in that crafty chic way.

This was their first artwalk. Shop with me next month and keep up with them on the internet here.

Just another day in LA, folks.

hear ye, hear ye

It’s been a hot minute. I must say, I’ve found myself in the city of dreams, in a complete rut. One day I woke up completely abased, and I haven’t tangled my way out of being stuck in a state of self absorbed depression.

Some days are undoubtedly worse than others, but THIS day will surely be one to look forward to…

Buff Monster’s work is known to be highly representative of my new love-hate neighborhood, Hollywood, Los Angeles California. Uniquely, this show takes a turn east in which “Legend of the Pink Cherry” will feature new acrylic on wood pieces drawing inspiration from the Renaissance era. This show will also be featuring the debut project of sixty collectable trading cards honouring the Garbage Pail Kids, this project is known as the “Melty Misfits”.

In an effort to suck it up and own my new Los Angeles residency, for what it’s worth, I will proudly be at this event to support my most cherished, and pink, artist!

oh, Wes.

This week, I thought it terrible that my wireless router had given out on me after 4 years of solid signal. Little did I know, an impromptu trip to Best Buy would lead me to two things, my first celebrity sighting in Los Angeles this year, the ever so high-larious Jason Mewes from Kevin Smith’s smashing hit Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as a disheveled end cap of Criterion Collection films. Though I feel quite challenged in keeping my blog current, hip, and with the times, I do feel the need to pay overdue homage to the November 2011 addition of Wes Anderson’s Rushmore to the Criterion Collection. This discovery turned a daunting errand into another worthy charge on my credit card.  (I say another, as earlier this week it was Jeffrey Campbell shoes)… Yes, it’s a bit late, although to reword Herman Blume, Rushmore’s my Rushmore.

For a more current bit of happening, tune back to summer 1965 on an island off the New England coast in Wes Anderson’s 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom here.

this weekend: the affordable art fair

Oh. Hai. I love living in LA. While I’ve been choking up various ideas of things to tell you about, I’ll admit, I’ve been in quite a (good) funk lately that I’ve encountered some writers block. I am currently a new resident of DTLA, and have had to conveniently put forth little to no effort to find cool shit to do. I.e, artwalk, every second Thursday of the month, outside my door. BAM. Endless galleries and shops, less than 15 minutes away. Heaven. Not to mention the streets themselves, infiltrated with art. It’s great. What’s better is when all of artists, organizations, and supporters join forces and have events such as The Affordable Art Fair, which will be held at the deck at L.A. Live January 19th-22nd. My most anticipated gander will absolutely be the Thinkspace spot at the event.

Tomorrow afternoon (January 19th) on the event deck at L.A. Live, the Affordable Art Fair will kick off their Los Angeles showing with a goal of presenting contemporary art priced from $100 – $10,000, hence their name. Among the booths we will be viewing, one of the highlights for AM will definitely be the lineup at Thinkspace featuring the likes of Adam Caldwell, Audrey Kawasaki, Brian M. Viveros, DABS MYLA, David Cooley, David MacDowell, Jacub Gagnon, Jason Thielke, Jeff Ramirez, Linnea Strid, Mari Inukai, Meggs, Pakayla Biehn, Pedro Matos, Sarah Joncas, Stella Im Hultberg, and Stephanie Buer.

More preview shots after the jump including a look at the beginning of a Dabs Myla mural…

via Arrested Motion

check out the rest of the Arrested Motion preview of Thinkspace Gallery @ Affordable Art Fair, here!

Resume, adjustment period/unpacking/laziness.

Be Back Later!

discarded- more than a mere diss

(Photo by Khoi Nguyen/ArrestedMotion.com)

Hello! Ironic timing of this story. I have been a very busy bee planning my second move to Los Angeles, hence the writing hiatus. In my prior, and future neighborhood of downtown LA sits the massive high dollar building known as the Ritz Carlton Residences. Earlier in 2011, celebrated urban artists  Mear One, Chor Boogie, and Shark Toof, along with the L.A Art Machine teamed up with some (as expected) kick-ass art for a high dollar promotional event the Ritz Carlton targeted to attract affluent potential occupants to fill vacant residences. Here’s the sad turn to the story of the Zohar Law Firm vs. Ritz Carlton/AEG.

Read More

sum it up- designercon 2011

I survived my first Designercon. Well, it was quite easy. In fact, despite the presence of many well known players in the vinyl art scene, the event was still overwhelmingly under-hyped with plenty of walking space, and only a few rows of booths. While it was great fun to see artists like Gary Baseman, Sucklord, Spanky Stokes, Luke Chueh, and Buff Monster, there were several booths that caught my attention that one afternoon in Pasadena. Here goes the list of new discoveries.

Right off the bat, intense felt cuteness diverted any and all of my attention from the surrounding vinyl goodies. Tina Rodas of Los Angeles creates trees and creatures made of wool felt. Her goods are eye catching and simply the essence of happiness. Check out her Etsy shop for hi tree.

See my “About Me” page? Japanophile, it reads. This is accurate. After stumbling upon the cute felt, I stumbled upon a $5 rack of screened tees with Japanese words and designs. SOLD. Love. Rick Sans is one part of the collaborative duo that is Sans Oceana, a fashion and art line out of Cleavland, OH. Along with the eye catching apparel, Rick’s booth featured several custom painted toys, in which is becoming a very successful path for Sans Oceana. I must say, their toys were quite gorgeous, and the prices reasonable. Their website reads that their obsessions include Asian culture, designer toys, video games, and Tokyo in general. This makes me a huge fan, already.

Check them out here.

Chubby Boob Nerd Crew. Not the most eloquent name for a company. In the vinyl world, anything goes. These guys rock. Aside from the nerd crew cop car posted up outside of the convention, they were toting a very prestigious collection of everything from skate decks, signed customs, KAWS x Hennessy and my favorite, Buff Monster originals. A fun booth to stop and peek around. Chubby Boob site & blog here.

Doris Vader. This was by far the highlight of DCon for me. Artist Jack Venturo a.k.a Jackorama had a beautiful sculpture of a more delightful take on our favorite villain. Eye catching, it was, and sadly tagged as “SOLD” You can see more of Jack’s work on his website. Believe it or not, a little birdie told me that Jack is a set designer on Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken, very suiting given his great work with figurines.

There may need to be a Part II to this post, as the talent at the event was endless. Overall it was a great time, and those were a few of my favorite moments in the day.

(I should really take the time to upload video of the Sucklord interviewing Gary Baseman, hilarious!)

Good times, good times.

xx

nerdgasm

T-Minus 4 days until DesignerCon 2011. Are you going?  It’s my first year, and I must say I am just as, if not more, thrilled about the event than I am for Comic Con. While I love all the variety that the big con has to offer, I have a small fetish (which leads to a growing collection) with vinyl toys. DesignerCon seems to be the burgeoning outlet for players in the vinyl toy world, as it is ALL about design, fine art to urban, from mainly vinyl toys to plush, apparel, printing & sculpture. The con features artist booths and scheduled appearances as well as exclusive toys, live painting, goodie bags, and MORE!

Check out the growing list of 2011 exclusives & vendor info on the DesignerCon website  here.

Perhaps, you are a little lost..

When sparking up conversation about interest in the vinyl toy world, many people simply just don’t understand why I would go out of my way to collect a small item for my shelf, or how each individual artist speaks to me through such a small and unconventional medium. During Comic Con in San Diego this past summer, I had the pleasure of attending a panel and speaking with the creator, Daniel Zana, of a documentary called The Vinyl Frontier which explores the vinyl art scene and it’s worldwide movement. Through a series of interviews and footage with these mega-talented artists, you really get the feel for the excitement and even addiction that comes with collecting these vinyl goodies.

Watch the trailer for The Vinyl Frontier here, grab yourself a copy, and head out to Pasadena this weekend all your with all newfound vinyl love and glory :-)

Every explorer needs a map. If you’re getting into vinyl, make sure you follow fellow blogger and amazing toy collector (basically, vinyl extraordinaire) SpankyStokes at his blog &  #spankystokes on Twitter. He has the HAPS on more amazing exclusives to search for at DCON 2011.