Food as Art.

(image courtesy of hillaryshort.com)

Grilled peach with prosciutto, burrata, arugula and balsamic. Slow roasted leg of lamb with cous cous, red pepper, spiced yogurt and herb salad. Tuscan kale, shaved fennel, radish, lemon, ricotta salata and breadcrumb. But first, Fanny Bay oysters. Just a peek at a recent meal had at the uber-cool Gjelina in Venice Beach. At the corner of Abbott Kinney Boulevard and Milwood Avenue, sits chef Travis Lett's three year old establishment. The atmosphere is kinetic, the interiors "industrial chic," and the food, artful. Lett has created a seasonal menu that is both captivating and aberrant. Off the beaten path. The menu is derived using only ingredients available at the local farmer's market, and the wine list represents the California coast beautifully, without excluding the Italians and French.

Just be sure you do not leave the building without having desert. The affogato with caramel and biscotti to be specific. Affogato being an Italian desert, which, upon being delivered to your table, consists of gelato which is drowned in piping hot espresso on the spot.

(photo courtesy of la.foodblogging.com)

Next up? Tequila and qarne asada tacos. The walls at El Carmen on 3rd are plastered with posters of Mexican wrestlers, the back booths with "adult" comics. Found in a Saveur magazine many years ago, my Anthony Bourdain-emulating father had dogeared the page, certain that someday we would make it there to try the enchiladas verde. With a tequila bar featuring hundreds of derivatives of the traditional margarita, (the Guava with salt was divine), the food far surpassed a typical bar-style Mexican restaurant. And on said bar, sit lucite lamps filled with neon-lit water and...small Mexican wrestlers. Get one of everything on the menu, starting with the guacamole. By the end of the meal, you will want to take home a framed (porcelain?) bust of a crazed Mexican wrestler. And, a guava margarita.

LACMA

(photo courtesy of Curbed LA)

One of the highlights of last week’s trip to Los Angeles was far and away a visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. LACMA, which sits next door to the La Brea Tar Pits, consists of nine modern buildings, containing among other things, Modern Art, Japanese Art, American Art, special exhibitions and amazing views of the Hollywood Hills.

The "Urban Light" installation in the courtyard is especially cool, featuring 202 restored vintage street lamps from around Southern California that were collected and organized by artist Chris Burden. You can walk among the gorgeous installation, or swing on the lampposts à la Gene Kelly.

(photo courtesy of Denver Westword)

This summer and fall the Tim Burton exhibit is at LACMA, featuring examples of work done throughout his life including paintings, film, and costumes. The infamous scissor hands once worn by Johnny Depp are on view, along with preliminary character sketches for Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice and Batman. The exhibit runs through October, and was a pleasantly interesting surprise.

(photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Along with a very impressive permanent collection of works from the Abstract Expressionists along with Contemporary artists, including a magnificent Richard Serra steel sculpture, the highlight of the afternoon was Christian Marclay's 24-hour film The Clock. Marclay compiled a montage containing 1000's of film clips ranging from early cinema up to new releases. Each clip features a timepiece at an exact moment during a 24 hour time period. Wether it is James Bond glancing at his watch at precisely *4:07, or Katharine Hepburn breezing past a clock that reads 7:45 while setting the dining table for a dinner party, the film captivates your attention as you never know what will pop up next. It is synchronized with real time, so feels a bit spooky. There will be one 24-hour screening of the film on July 28th beginning at 5pm. Go see this film! It also received the Golden Lion Award at this year's Venice Biennale.

*(I stand corrected. A loyal reader pointed out that I was incorrect in saying 7:24 previously, Bond's watch clearly reads 4:07!)

More on L.A. to come!

(photo courtesy of LACMA)

Walk on the Westside

newly hung Summer Salon at Emily Amy Gallery

Although it is sprinkling outside, it is still a great day to walk around the Westside!!

Please join us from 11-5 today for the Westside Arts District's 3rd Saturday Art Walk. We hope to see you at the gallery!

Tacos Por Favor

(image, Phranc's Striped Swimsuit, courtesy of bergamotstation.com)

One half of EAG heads to Los Angeles on Wednesday. The planning started months ago, and thanks to our friend Capella Kincheloe of A Curated Lifestyle there are a few exciting things on the itinerary like Tacos Por Favor, and the Summer Dance Series on the Santa Monica Pier that only locals might know to suggest. For more great ideas from Capella, read that post here.

(image courtesy of The Getty)

Also on the agenda of course are many, many galleries and museums. Thanks to some insight received from another recent LA transplant, Bergamot: Station has been added to the list, as it's the hot spot for gallery hopping, and a great way to see a lot in one day. With over 30 galleries and the Santa Monica Museum of Art tucked into one complex, sounds like a great way to take it all in. Then of course LACMA for the modern and contemporary collections, and the Getty.

And thanks to fellow foodie Gwyneth Paltrow, and her blog Goop, the list of restaurants to try is endless.

More details to come next week. Suggestions of things to do, see, eat, drink are encouraged!

(image courtesy of Tory Burch)

(images of Animal courtesy of goop.com)

The Reviews Are In...

(image, Bailey overlooking his installation, Windward Coast, courtesy of The New York Times)

As you may know, Radcliffe Bailey's show, Radcliffe Bailey: Memory as Medicine, is now open at the High Museum. It runs through September 11, so there is plenty of time left to catch the show, which includes mixed media paintings and installations. Bailey is an Atlanta-based artist, and received his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art. He is represented in Atlanta by Solomon Projects on Monroe Drive.

If you have already made it out to see the show, what did you think?

Read Cathy Fox's review here. The New York Times write up here. And Creative Loafing's preview can be read here.

(above images, Monk and Travel By Night, courtesy of Solomon Projects)

Tragedies in the Art World

Cy Twombly Dies

Yesterday, July 5, Cy Twombly passed away in Rome, Italy. One of the most influential and successful abstract artists of all time, Twombly was born in Virginia, but lived most of his adult life in Italy. Twombly emerged in the mid 19th century alongside Rauschenberg, Motherwell, and Kline, and from then rose to fame. He was known for his "scribbling," linear, large-scale abstract paintings. Several examples are included below. He has always been a favorite artist of ours, and a constant source of inspiration.

Twombly was only the third contemporary artist given the honor of painting a gallery ceiling in the Louvre, the others being Kiefer and Braque. The painting, which is 3,750 square feet, can be found in the Salle des Bronzes.

(above image, Twombly's "Say Goodbye, Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor," courtesy of nytimes.com)

(image courtesy of www.dangolden.com)

As Jerry Saltz so eloquently said in his celebration of Twombly's life, which can be read here, "Twombly’s fusing of thought, mark-making, narrative, history, myth, and formalism made me see that there is no such thing as purely abstract or representational art. He’s the artist who made me see that all art is equally abstract and that something as simple as handwriting and scribbling, unleashed, can be art."

(image courtesy of www.artobserved.com)

Art Heist in San Francisco

(Picasso's Tête de femme, image courtesy of BBC News)

In other art news, yesterday a "well dressed" man walked into a San Francisco art gallery, grabbed a Picasso drawing off the wall, and walked back outside to an awaiting cab. He has not been apprehended. The Weinstein Gallery, which also carries the work of Chagall, Miro, and Dali to name a few high profile artists, fears that the painting will be discarded once the thief realizes it will be tough to resell. The piece, Tête de femme, is a pencil on paper drawing thought to have been created in 1965, and with an estimated worth of $200,000. Sounds a bit like The Thomas Crown Affair?

Barbie, Is That You?

(images courtesy of www.barbiecollector.com)

The newest additions to the Barbie collection have arrived and thus officially launched the "Barbie Collector Museum Collection." Three masterpieces, one each by Klimt, van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci, have inspired dolls.

The first doll is inspired by Gustav Klimt's 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the second, by Leonardo's 16th century masterpiece, Mona Lisa, and the last was inspired by van Gogh's Starry Night.

We recently viewed Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I, in it's permanent residency at the Neue Gallery in New York. The Barbie version does not do her justice, but is funny considering the hairdo and definitely a new take on the piece.

The Barbie version of Mona Lisa is also entertaining, and a stretch for Barbie. She looks a bit uncomfortable, as she is not used to being so heavily clothed. Since Van Gogh's Starry Night does not feature a woman, it is more of a fashion inspiration. So as far as that Barbie goes, I guess a one-shoulder gown with hints of swirls in blues and creams will have to do? Those shoes...

But back to the first of the new Barbie collection, since it features a piece that we have been thinking about lately. The portrait of Mrs. Bloch-Bauer, which was painted in oil, silver and gold on canvas, has a very storied past. During her lifetime, Adele Bloch-Bauer was a prominent citizen. She was a member of the Jewish-Austrian aristocracy until her death in 1925. When the Nazis invaded, her husband was forced to flee Vienna, and the painting was confiscated along with everything else. From that day on, the painting's ownership was hotly contested for years and years, and was finally regained by a descendant of Adele's.

The 2006 film, The Rape of Europa, chronicles the many lives of this breathtakingly beautiful portrait, along with the countless other pieces of fine art that were casualties of the wars in Europe and the Nazi regime. Ronald Lauder purchase the painting five years ago for $135 million, and it has hung in his gallery at 1048 5th Avenue since. At the time, that was the largest sum ever paid for a painting. If you ever have the chance, go to the Neue Gallery to view this piece, along with their other exhibitions, and be sure to have desert downstairs at Cafe Sabarsky! And just think, for only $34.95 each, we can all own a piece of these masterpieces...

(image courtesy of www.artchooser.com)