LOCATED IN CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO. SITUATED ALONG THE PACIFIC OCEAN, THE HOME IS SEEMINGLY OPEN TO THE BREATHTAKING ELEMENTS OUTSIDE THANKS TO THE MONSTROUS WINDOWS AND CLIFF-SIDE POSITIONING. KEY AMENITIES INCLUDE AN OUTDOOR LIVING ROOM, REFLECTIVE POOL, SWIMMING POOL TERRACE AND CACTUS GARDENS.
California Song at MoCA Los Angeles – Hedi Slimane’s first West Coast solo exhibition. The exhibition is dedicated to Slimane’s California period, which began in 2007.
Svenskt Tenn is an interior design shop located on Strandvägen in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1924 by Estrid Ericson, who recruited Josef Frank to the company 10 years later. Together they created the elegant and boldly patterned personal interior design style that continues to pervade the collection to this day.
This week we celebrated the opening of Last Magazine’s curated pop-up , “The Last Space”. “The Last Space” promises to be a physical incarnation of the biannual magazine that is devoted to art, fashion, music, and culture.
Carlo Nunez is a self-described “nude photographer”. His images capture a hyperrealist representation of East Los Angeles. Inspired by fast cars, Latino culture, and the works of Helmut Newton and David Bellemere, his subjects of choice are women who are unafraid to be aggressive in front of the camera; “girls who treat you like shit and you love it”. His photography gives you a look into his fantasy life, he likes girls pulling “Metallica” shirts above their breasts or clutching 7-11 “big gulps”. The goal is to create photographs that seduce the viewer.
In order to achieve an easy-going vibe on set (and less static work) Carlos prefers to break the wall between model and photographer by playing the role of “the boy-friend”. His goal is to put his subjects at ease to get through the “creepy interaction” sometimes required to produce seductive imagery. He is anti “snap-shot” and argues that, “anybody can take a picture but a photographer makes a picture”. When looking for ideas he thinks back to moments in his personal life and tries to recreate them and “get them better”.
Carlos discovered his passions at age of 14 when he began illegally driving his first car from his family home in Orange County to Los Angeles. At this time in his life the inner city feel of Echo Park first inspired him and he continues to juxtapose the urban with greenery or “enchanted gardens” found within the city. His favorite places to shoot include the ornate mariachi plaza in Boyle Heights. He looks to Hispanic metal and skateboarder culture for the kind of “fuck you” attitude that he wants the women in his photographs to embody.
He associates two things with California: Girls and Cars. His work is full of the kind of nostalgia associated with being young, driving around, and looking for cool things to do. That means that he is more interested in perpetuating realism vs. luxury. He wants his images to appeal to the fashion crowd but also to far-away desert dwellers, friends, and family alike. In order to remain essential Carlos feels that it is important for a photographer to be able to “roll with the punches”, convey a feeling of himself without remaining ignorant to a world and a market that is constantly influx.
Naked photography is all about the subject, “people being themselves”. Nude photography is all about the photographer – the photographer’s sexuality” - David Bailey
“Art Book at Paper Chase” is the West Coast showroom for the amazing book distributing and publishing company, “Art Book”. Starting out in the early nineties, Art book has become the primary distributor to distinguished museums and boutiques on both coasts. Some of it’s eye catching clients in Los Angeles include LACMA, MOCA, Book Soup, and they even supply smaller niche shops like Ooga Booga and Family Books. Nestled in an art deco building on Sunset, next door to a strip club, you would never guess that it housed an inspired collection of books in photography, fashion, fine art and books not yet released.
Tricia Gabriel and Jane Brown gave us a tour of their envy inducing work space and explained how the business works at a time when an ever increasing number of people are ordering their books online. They explained that the “Photo-Eye” websites “influence list” impacts demand as do current museum exhibits. The book that was published in conjunction with MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibit is doing exceptionally well as do most “designer books” such as those put together by “Visionaire”. Books also do well when put in context with clothing and design which is why boutiques are upcoming clients. A great example of this would be Marc Jacobs who loves publishing so much that he opened “Book Marc” his own extensively curated book shop in NYC and LA. Art books give everyone the opportunity to cultivate their interests as well as own something both tangible and inspiring.
“I want to do a total glam Stooges-meets-Hawkwind or Sabbath, something like that. I think that would be super fun. I want to throw people off. I want to make a really heavy record: evil, evil space rock. Put a little Satan in space and you got the sound.”
Last night FYF hosted guitar hero Ty Segall at the Eagle Rock center of the arts. Ty Segall is closely associated with the wave of garage rock artists and collaborators currently coming out of San Francisco (ie//Thee Oh Sees) whose music is infused with sweat and soul. Last nights set was pitch perfect , Ty Segall clearly enjoying playing with bandmate Mikal Cronin and the feedback from the crowd. The sold out show ended with an amazing cover of the Black Sabbath’s classic, “Paranoid”.
Listen Here: Finger, Sabbath Cover
“it is neon that welcomes us to sin, neon is a symbol of sin, whether it be announcing a strip club or a sugar filled soda.”
From June until July 16th Leadapron gallery will be displaying “Peccadilloes” an exhibition of Seven Neons by Amanda Eliasch.
Rock trio Blonde Redhead played the first of two Los Angeles dates in support of their 8th full album at Echo Park’s “Echoplex”. The smaller venue allowed for a more intimate setting while the band played songs off of their progressive new album Penny Sparkle. Their set was a little more than an hour long but impressive. Singer Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace have been performing together for more than a decade but you can still feel the energy between them.
From June 2nd to September 30th the Lever House in New York will be presenting “From Darkness to Light” an exhibition by famed commercial photographer David La Chapelle . While La Chapelle is perhaps best known for his pop references, high profile subjects, and religious undertones, the goal of “From Darkness . . .” is utilizing photography in three ways: collage, stickers and paper chain. The pieces are inspired by the simplicity of childhood endeavors taught in early art lessons, re-imagined through the lens of adulthood. To put it simply the show is a breath of fresh air for the once over-exposed photographer.
Swedish dream pop band The Radio Dept played a greatly anticipated show at West Hollywood’s popular venue The Troubadour. While creating timeless music since the 90s, the band has achieved a level of success when three of their tracks were featured on the soundtrack for Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette. Their most recent release, Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002–2010, is collection of singles, b-sides, and rarities ranging their career. The band played a lengthy but beautiful set that indulge casual listeners and hard core fans alike.
Listen Now: Pulling Our Weight
Jonathan Schilder Brown’s LeadApron bookstore/gallery is a revelation! Tucked into a small vine covered building on Melrose Place this new space (barely 2 years old) is one of the best all around collections of modern art books and collectibles. Everything displayed in the store has the distinct vibe of an object that has been hand-picked and cherished by someone with original taste. The white walls and elegant displays add to overall elegance of space making repeat visits not only pleasurable but neccessary.
“It’s that all women are a secret that we try to understand.”- Olivier Zahm
Olivier Zahm, editor of Purple magazine, exhibited an edited selection of his personal photography at Leadpron Gallery. The inspiration behind the show was his usual mix of friends, lovers, and women who have come and gone from his life
As part of MOCA’s controversial “Art in the Streets” exhibit artist Neck Face stopped by the adjoining Levi’s Film workshop to discuss his new film project with director Isaiah Seret. Those in attendance were treated to a rough trailer of the movie as well as a q&a with the artist. The film in progress is slated to be a feature-length kung fu horror movie filmed in the artists alleyway instalation in “Art in the Streets”.
See the Trailer Here: Born Under a Bad Sign
The slogan of the Levi’s Film Workshop located next door to MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibiton.
Space 1520′s most recent collaboration with musician / furniture designer Philip Sumner and Kevin Carney, founder of The Generic Man and Mohawk General Store, resulted in a custom audio pop-up shop that showcased the duos love of industrial design and analogue equipment.
To celebrate the birthday of Freddy Rupert (Former Ghosts, This Song Is a Mess But So Am) , a few of his oldest friends from the South Bay decided to throw him a “Misfits” themed party. At one point several party goers came together to play a set of the legendary “horror-punk” bands songs.
