AUG | SEP 2
0
1
3
VOL. 1 NO. 2
T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N O F A RT
V en i c e s t r ee t s b alle t choregraphy/dance by jenni garcia video by jacob sigala music “Just us� by shlohmo
TABLE OF CONTENTS aug/sep 2013 vol. 1 no. 2
F e at u r e s the conversation oF art... in venice 3.1 V Venice delves into the many and varied conversations among venice artists in an attempt to define the local art culture. conversation 1 laddie john dill
5
conversation 2 peter lodato and destin clover 9 conversation 3 the artblock group 13 conversation 4 tito 19 conversation 5 jules muck 23 conversation 6 jim budman 27 gallery overview
cover 35
The Jim Budman “Soho Studio” installation within his Venice studio photo by jacob sagala.
© jacob sagala 2013
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
iii
Editor and Designer taylor barnes taylor 3.1venice@gmail.com
Associate Editor christopher johnson Associate Designer rudy garcia rudy3.1venice@gmail.com
Media Editor jennifer garcia
columns
jenni3.1venice@gmail.com
1
38
42
the sea
community
garden
Sitting, a poem by venice poet chance Foreman
a profile of venice y youth build and its director omar muhammad
a photo essay of the venice victory garden and how it became two gardens
44
48
50
music
art
tha Was that W then
the gumbo brothers, the local funk/blues band that brought the party to venice
juri Koll and his vision for a venice art museum
a look inside main magazine, the groundbreaking 1986 publication for venice
iNSiDE cOVEr
52
54
litera literature
thea theatre
T Talking Peace , an essay by venice psychotherapist and poet holaday mason
profile of marilyn Fox, artistic director for the pacific resident theatre
video dance poem, choreography by jennifer garcia video by jacob sigala
iv August | September 2013
contributing Editors india Wilson larry ragan Advisory board laura ragan, dita barnes, ttyrus Wilson
volume 1, no. 2 3point1-venice.com copyright 2013 3.1 Venice is published and designed by l7studio.com. all rights reserved. nothing shown may be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. For more information or submission guidelines: E-mail 3.1venice@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTORS Paula Chorley
Christopher Johnson
Before transplanting to Venice, Paula Chorley lived in New York where she was an American correspondent for a major German television network, Pro-Seiben (Channel 7) for program “Taff”. When she is not writing for 3.1 she is either writing screenplays, TV shows, or working on her next art project.
Chris Johnson grew up outside Atlanta, GA and spent almost a decade working in high level communications positions on Capitol Hill and at the Human Rights Campaign after graduating from Duke in 2001. Drawn to Southern California’s warm weather and laid back lifestyle, Chris relocated to the Westside of Los Angeles in 2011 to fully engage his passion for photography, fashion, architecture, interior design and real estate.
Michelle Santini Michelle Santini resides in Venice and comes from a close knit family of five children born and raised in Los Angeles by Latin American parents. She is a freelance contributor crafting stories about music, community events, health & wellness, architecture & design, and entrepreneurship. facebook.com/Michelle.Santini
Hamilton Matthews Hamilton Matthews writes from his cozy Venice home and performs in television, film, and theatre in Los Angeles and abroad.
Michael J. Bienick Born in Upstate New York, Michael J Bienick’s mixed use of style and technique has allowed him to transform ordinar y symbols into a new realm of surrealism. He lives in Venice, which has gifted him a network of support and nourishment.
Chance Foreman Chance is a poet and filmmaker dedicated to the power of words. He is an award winning poet and is currently developing a book that is slated to be released in 2014. After traveling the world for five years he moved from Hamburg to Venice Beach. He is the Co-Director of Film Media for SOILution and is currently working on his own film project, One Day In Venice.
Rudy Garcia Rudy Garcia, a Venice resident since 1990, has been drawing since the age of four. He is studying to be a professional comic book artist and be published in Japanese comics. Being of Mexican descent, his culture and religion influence his art and ser ve as a motivating factor in his pieces.
Jacob Sigala Though he now lives deeper in Los Angeles,Jacob Sigala grew up in Venice. and was exposed to a range of art and culture that sparked his interest in fashion. He obtained his BA in media and culture studies with a minor in business administration from UC Riverside. He is currently studying fashion at FIDM.
Holaday Mason Holaday Mason, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer and photographer working with individuals, couples and families. She also conducts therapeutic writing and transpersonal workshops on many topics including aging and exploring our personal and collective myths.
Jennifer Garcia Jennifer Garcia has lived in Venice all her life. She attended a college-preparatory high school, Ánimo Venice, and is working tworads her B.S. in psychology. She satisfies her love for the arts by dancing ballet. Jennifer has always been involved with her community, working for her local church, coffee shop, and now her community magazine.
Summer Interns Sarah Popelka Sierra Climaco Casey Smith
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
v
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR A year ago, my daughter went away to New York for her first year in college. She missed California and more specifically, the streets of Venice. In an effort to create a link between her and the town, she missed I would get up every morning and shoot a photo, texting it to her with the words, “Good Moring from Venice.” The more I walked those quiet morning streets the more art I noticed. In back alleys, on sidewalks, and boarded-up windows. The mural art swept across buildings, creating portals to other worlds where only a wall should be.
the old Venice. Our city is a delicate layering of the past, the present, and even a vision for the future. From the canals of Abbot Kinney’s dream to the current incarnation of modernist architecture wedged in with classic craftsman style - it’s all Venice. As I formulated my desire to define what was happening in the current Venice art world, I realized my answer could never be derived from a single source or just one conversation. The art of this city is born out of activism, camaraderie, the environment, and socioeconomic diversity. This was as evident in MAIN magazine, the breakthrough Venice art and culture publication that ran in 1986, as it is now.
The street art was a special part of every morning walk. The associations I drew between painters and the still life of Venice Beach were inevitable. Piet Mondrian was evident in a modernist gate, Wayne Thibaud in some ice cream billboards or Mark Rothko in a brightly painted garage door.
This issue is divided into smaller conversations in an attempt to wrangle the many-armed diety we call art in Venice. She holds a spray can in one hand and a painter’s palette in the other.
This eclectic mix is what makes Venice–well, Venice. It is also one of the things that many locals are trying to vehemently to hold onto. As we grow into this new era we will retain, through the art, some of
The only way to even begin to see what is bubbling under the surface of the art community is to listen closely, keep an open mind and keep walking the streets of Venice.
—Taylor Barnes
Details from two different murals which are only a few blocks apart, in the streets of Venice. Top: mural by Francisco Letelier and Mar y Fama. Bottom: mural by Alberto Bevacqua/Juan Carlos. vi August | September 2013
THE SEA
Sitting by Chance Foreman
The Water Disguised as mirrored glass Reflected Mother Nature’s lash She winked at me A sweet soliloquy A red winged flash And a call of love From tree top to moss covered branch Cattails doing the cattail sway Or just standing still as if to say That you Yes you are beautiful too Where life goes on And death goes only as far as rebirth To rise again through fertile earth We of the paved street And walls of concrete We of the busy lives Where we seldom look to see the sunrise Could do well To sit, and watch, and listen To the magic of her spell.
Reprinted with permission from Chance Foreman. Photo Illustration by Taylor Barnes
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
1
THE CONVERSATION O F ART
2 August | September 2013
in venice
Multiple conversations are forming a symbiosis of creativity within the ar t community. This is a brief over view of the cultural and ar tistic environment within Venice today.
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
3
C O N V E R S AT I O N 1
ladd i e john d i ll th e ti ta n by Taylor Barnes
U
pon entering Venice artist Laddie John Dill’s studio in the Sunset Avenue warehouse district, it takes a moment for one’s eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then, Dill flips a switch and the studio suddenly comes to life with “Light Sentences,” his long, custom-made glass tubes illuminated with gemlike, fluorescent color that glow from recessed spaces in the white walls. The various colors from the electric light sculptures immediately transform the room. With an extraordinary career stretching over fifty years, the prolific artist has worked with light and transmutable surfaces since the 1970s when he first affiliated himself with the West Coast Light and Space art movement.
Dill attended the Chouinard Institute of Art in the 1960s, a prodigious art school that has produced many of the most successful West Coast artists of that period, including Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Joe Goode, Charles Arnoldi. “A lot of artists came out of this little school in downtown L.A., where they had a hard time affording a new saw blade for the single saw they had for the sculpture department,” Dill says of his alma mater. After graduation, Dill took a job at Gemini gallery, which published hand-printed limited edition lithographs, and eventually became very good friends with artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. In fact, he lived in Johns’s studio in New York when he was away and would later move into Rauschenberg’s studio. “I got lucky!” Dill says of his relatively facile transition to New York. “I remember thinking, ‘This New York thing is really cool!” While Dill modestly attributes the origins of his longstanding friendships with Rauschenberg and Johns partly to being in the right place at the right time during his twenties, the fact that he had his first New York show fairly quickly hints at a potent combination of fortuity and preparation. “The timing was right. I showed with Illeana Sonnabend, who was with Leo Castelli at the time,” he recalls. “The only reason they saw my work was because Andy Warhol had a show at the Pasadena Museum of Art and they were all in town. Bob Rauschenberg said, ‘you gotta see this guy’s work.’ They came over and they offered me a show.” That was in 1971—when Dill was just 28 years old. Dill would go on to steadily build a stellar art career over the next forty years. His list of exhibitions on multiple continents now spans several pages and his work can be found in many prominent private art collections, as well as the permanent collections of more than two dozen museums. The award-winning artist is also a recipient of two National Endowment grants and a Guggenheim Photograph by TAYLOR BARNES
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
5
“ S a n t a M o n i c a a n d Ve n i c e w e r e always supposed to be artist f r i e n d l y. H o w c a n y o u s a y t h a t i f y o u d o n ’t h a v e a n y y o u n g a r t i s t s ? ” L a d d i e J o h n D i ll
Fellowship. “There are ups and downs,” he says of his journey towards becoming a world-renowned artist. “It levels off as you get older and you know there will be bumps in the road.” He recalls two significant crossroads in his life: “I had a job at Disney when I was in art school and when I graduated they offered me a position as an Art Director… I turned it down and that was the first crossroad in my life. The second one was refusing tenure at UCLA. I always wanted to stay an artist.” Dill has called Venice Beach home since the late 1960s, a time when many artists were drawn to the area to take advantage of the large industrial spaces found within what he remembers as an “incredibly well-manicured” beachfront community with vast expanses of sand. “I think I was here in the glory days,” he surmises. “It started in the 1950s, when Billy Al Bengston moved to Venice in 1955. I had a studio that straddled Speedway and Boardwalk and an apartment on Wavecrest Avenue with two bedrooms, a fireplace, and a spectacular view of the ocean for two hundred dollars a month!” He later shared a studio on Electric Avenue with renowned painter Ed Ruscha for over twenty-five years until the established—and profitable—Venice duo were forced to vacate their space after their landlord moved to exorbitantly raise their rent as gentrification encroached. Indeed, Dill has witnessed Venice change dramatically before his eyes since his early days on Wavecrest Avenue. He points to an increasingly expensive local real estate market as a key reason for why fewer artists currently take up residence in the neighborhood. Instead, many young artists are moving eastward toward the Jefferson and Crenshaw area, an economic migration of local talent that causes Dill—and many in the local art community—great concern. “Santa Monica and Venice were always supposed to be artist friendly. How can you say that if you don’t have any young artists?” he wonders. “You’ve just got dinosaurs like me and some of my dinosaur friends who were smart enough to buy their buildings.” In response, Dill has become actively involved with the 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica, a development that offers low-cost, live-work spaces for artists. The community offers brand new, below-market spaces and plans to expand with additional buildings in the future. Dill hopes that by providing 6 August | September 2013
more affordable live-works spaces, the Santa Monica/Venice area will continue to attract a new generation of artists. Today, when Dill considers the movement of artists into new geographical areas, he thinks globally not just locally. “If I was a young artist, I would go to Berlin,” he says. “When I put my show [Martin-Gropius-Bau, “Pacific Standard Time Berlin] together in Berlin, I hired a couple of guys to help with the installation. One was American, one was English, and they were young artists. I asked, How do you like it here? and they said, ‘We love it!’ One of the universal reasons why artists like certain places is because they can get large spaces cheap.” Despite the lure of international art hubs such as Berlin, Paris, or New York, Venice will always be home for Dill. “I am a community guy,” he confesses. “There are other guys, like Arnoldi and Larry Bell that are involved too. This is our neighborhood.”
“Sierra Lake Reflection” 1995 84” x 180” Cement, glass, oxides w/ oil
One community organization that Dill thanks for supporting local artists is Venice Family Clinic, a UCLA-affiliated health center that once offered free health care to uninsured artists on the Westside. “Venice Family Clinic is a very important place,” says Dill. “I finally got them to agree that if an artist or a person didn’t have health insurance they could get help there. One day, one of my guys got hurt and didn’t have insurance. I sent him to the clinic, where they patched him up and got him into a hospital where they took care of his needs.” Drawing upon his past experience as an uninsured artist navigating the complicated medical system, Dill is a dedicated member of the clinic’s advisory board and was an original supporter of Venice Art Walk, the clinic’s annual community fundraiser. “Art Walk is a good way to get artists together,” he continues. “That’s when you find out who is where and what they are doing.” Reflecting upon his long history with the city of Venice and his international acclaim, Dill concludes, “Success in art is measured by your staying power.” The fact that the septuagenarian is still producing work from his current studio on Sunset Avenue is an undeniable testament to his staying power. His presence and dedication to the local art community—also shared by some of his contemporaries— provides a powerful role model for the young, emerging artists of Venice. artwork reprinted with permission of of the Artist
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
7
8
June/July 2013
C O N V E R S AT I O N 2
P e t e r lodat o t he m e n to r dest i n c love r t h e m e n te e by Paula Chorley
“W
hen two bohemian pirates are setting sail in the same neighborhood, man, you’re bound to hang out.” Destin Clover then adds, “Our sense of humor is the same. We see the clowns in the same things.” Destin is referring to respected minimalist artist Peter Ladato. Lodato’s work has been featured in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the LA County Museum of Art, and numerous collections both public and private. Clover is a musician and contemporar y conceptual artist whose work has been commissioned by celebrities, such Photograph by Paula SWEATT Chorley PHOTO BY BRITTANY
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
9
as Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, and Chaka Khan. A couple of generations separate these artists. Peter Lodato has a more composed, distinguished demeanor, while Destin Clover has the air of someone who could rock out, jump on a wave, or kick down a door on a moment’s notice. Dig a little deeper and you can appreciate how they found common ground despite their differences. Clover explains, “It’s easy for me to over work a project and not put the brakes on. I think I have learned a lot of patience from Peter and his work. He is a minimalist and that being said, I think it shows growth as an artist to tell yourself to keep things simple and maybe I should just ‘let it lay’ sometimes to have an impact.” Having known each other for ten years their generation gap would be better judged in dog years, as both artists embody a youthful adolescent spirit. Lodato and Clover share a common love of interesting conversation, PBS shows, playing music together–all accompanied by whiskey and other fine “accoutrements.” They first met over a cocktail Hal’s Bar and Grill on Abbot Kinney, or as they call it “the other office, the one that’s fun to go to.” Clover says, “Hal’s is a great supporter of the neighborhood and in general for art –I mean, look at the art on the walls–Ed Moses, Peter Alexander, and Joni Mitchell.” The restaurant has been a Venice artists hangout for over twentyfive years, which is almost how long Lodato has been squatting at their bar. As a teenager, Lodato was influenced by a PBS series covering the New York art scene in the 1950s and 60s. Specifically he credits watching an interview with artist Barnett Newman, as well as his mother who was a painter as inspiring him to become an artist. In college he planned to major in psychology and minor in art but was intercepted by his art teachers who immediately recognized his talent and encouraged him to switch his major. In graduate school, Peter was asked to be in “The 24 Los Angeles Artists” and subsequently was invited to show at the Michael Walls Galler y. “I got to be on the sur face
“Untitiled” by Destin Clover. Photograph courtesy the artist. 10 August | September 2013
at that time, in the art world in the critical world – that’s how it began. I never really had to take my work to dealers and do the dog and pony show which most artists have to do.” Lodato continues, “Sam Francis had a studio on what is now Abbot Kinney but used to be called West Washington. Larr y Bell, Billy Al Bengston, and Kenny Price all showed at Ferus Galler y, which was on La Cienega, but they all lived in Venice. That was the first generation of Los Angeles artists that were considered a group. I would be considered the second generation.” Peter is also an educator, teaching art histor y and studio classes at several California art institutions. He says, “Teaching is fun when you have good students but if you have duds it sucks your energy.” Enter Destin Clover stage left, the “anti-dud”, and “anti-energy sucker”. Clover, a prolific self-taught artist, credits his hippie upbringing in rural Oregon, with no running water or TV, for his unrelenting desire to create. “Our entertainment was making things.” He likes to “keep it moving,” filling countless notebooks with drawings in his never-ending search for new ideas. “Who wants to sit around and do the same thing ever yday? That would be tough. That’s not something I’m really about. I really like to reinvent the wheel.” He laughs and says, “As well as go back and DO the wheel. That is what I love about Peter’s stuff, that simplicity. He has such a rhythm to his work. I really appreciate it. My last series were watercolors and that was definitely inspired by Peter.” The two artists have a interconnected relationship based upon creativity and wisdom. Clover has the energy to explore and experiment, bringing his place as an artist in a social media age to the conversation. Whereas, Lodato has the longevity of career and the wisdom to understand his process in a way that only an artist that has practiced his craft many years can. Clover, continuing the “conversation” comments, “I find that I have been collaborating more with younger artists than I have in the past. So many great artists, who not only inspired the community but ever yone, came from Venice. I want to keep that vibrant spirit alive.”
“Yen and Yang No.7” Peter Lodato
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
11
aB
Left to Right: Francisco Letelier, Eric Schwabel, Alberto Bevacqua, Mary Fama, Gary Palmer, Sandy Bleifer, Pamela Weir-Quiton, and Jim Budman.
12 August | September 2013
C O N V E R S AT I O N 3 A r t b lo c k th e g r o up by Taylor Barnes
ArtBlock is not just another art event, art “crawl” or art “walk.” It is a salon, an ongoing discussion among established and emerging artists based in Venice regarding the livelihood and future of the local art community. Inside a cluster of industrial buildings located within a rectangle formed by Sunset Avenue, Vernon Avenue, 4th Photographs by TAYLOR BARNES
Street and Hampton Drive, an impressive array of talented artists gather regularly to discuss how they can elevate the level of awareness for their work among the public—and key art collectors—while promoting solidarity among the many players in the long-
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
13
Cer tain communities are welcoming of the spectrum of creative people whose contributions are not primarily economic, social or political. Venice has always been such a community. Sandy Bleifer
established Venice art community. Faced with rising prices to live and work in Venice driven by the influx of new businesses, restaurants and global tech companies to the area now christened as “Silicon Beach,” these artists are determined to play a key role in shaping the city’s new cultural renaissance. Venice ArtBlock did not start out to become a movement or even a salon. After not being included in the 34th anniversar y of Venice Family Clinic’s Art Walk—a new artist studio tour route focused primarily on studios located east of Lincoln Blvd, excluding many Sunset Avenue ar tists who had supported Art Walk for many years prior—this diverse group of thirty-seven artists came together to discuss the direction of the local art community. After a round of discussions, the group formed what is now known as Venice ArtBlock with the goal to support and promote an expanded roster of neighborhood artists who are established or emerging players in the local and national art scenes. The group has met regularly since May and is plans to host its own open studio tour in October. While recent meetings have included hashing out logistical details on providing food, wine, and transportation for the event, there is also passionate discussion about the mission of the group and the role they wish to play within the community. The conversations are open door and open-ended: during a typical meeting various art types wander in—many come straight from their studios in their work clothes—new people are introduced, presentations are made, and bottles of wine are opened. “It’s a little like herding cats,” laughs artist Francisco Letelier about the difficulty of guiding the discussions at a lively ArtBlock meeting. 14 August | September 2013
The ArtBlock website lists an international mix of artists whose collective work across creative disciplines also spans multiple generations. “Venice for me, aside from all of its more obvious aesthetic attributes, is and always has been a place where a sense of community and freedom of individual creative expression co-exist,” obser ves Artist Gar y Palmer, who came to Venice from Belfast many years ago. “This is actually quite rare even in our modern globalized society. Many places have an attractive sense of community but in most, we will always feel like a foreigner if we’ve come from somewhere else. Venice is essentially a community of individuals and no matter where they’ve come from, all who choose to live here can be ‘Venetians’.” ArtBlock member Lynne-Marie Eatwell, a painter who grew up in Cape Town describes the South African landscape as a “stunningly beautiful place with mountains, sea, and wide, white beaches” whose beauty often inspired her early paintings. “When I got to Venice in [YEAR?], my first impression of Los Angeles was, ‘My God, this place is ugly!’” she hoots. “What was initially available to me as an artist were the streets of Venice, so I started looking more closely. The telephone lines were interesting: the way they crisscrossed the sky was beautiful—particularly at certain times of the day. Beauty is everywhere; you just have to see it.” “Many people have the idea that being an artist is a career choice that grants economic and social status,” says artist Sandy Bliefer of how some artists may perceive their role in their communities. “However, I feel that being an artist is more about pursuing an individualistic perspective of ‘being’ and ‘seeing’ rather than being a part of the char-
acter and social structure of a given community. Often, the intangible and unpredictable influence of artists poses a threat to neighborhoods with entrenched economic and social investments. Only certain communities are welcoming of the spectrum of creative people whose contributions are not primarily economic, social, or political. Venice has always been such a community with its high tolerance for diversity of origins, ethnicity, ideology, and expressions. Most communities are not this way.” Pamela Weir-Quiton has been in her Sunset Avenue studio for forty years and welcomes the idea of the local art community bonding together. When she first moved here, she shared the space with a sculptor and a ceramicist. Even though their work was ver y different, they shared ideas and in-
spiration. She would like to recapture that feeling with the ArtBlock group. “I was one of the first artists in the 20,000 square foot building. But I never knew anybody. Now, I feel, I have got to start stepping up and speaking as an artist in Venice.” In seeking to understand and define the role of the group in response to recent gentrification in Venice, ArtBlock leaders say the meetings are helping to forge new and stronger bonds among working artists in the neighborhood. Although the group is still in its infancy, the excited energy present during recent meetings seems to foreshadow its members using their collective influence to set the course for the future of the local art community. veniceartblock
Left to Right: Ara Bevacqua, Jaclyn Wiseman, Lynne-Marie Eatwell, Pamela Weir-Quiton, Lin Werner, Eric Schwabel, Sandy Bleifer, Jean Edelstein and Gary Palmer.
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
15
the A r t blo c k CONVERSATION …
William Attaway
Bettina Kleeman
Alberto Bevacqua
Francisco Letelier
Ara Bevacqua
Anne Faith Nicholls
Jim Budman
Elizabeth Orleans
Sarah Danays
Gregory Weir-Quiton
Sandy Bleifer
Lynne-Marie Eatwell
Pamela Weir-Quiton Jean Edelstein Mary Fama Ermir Karma Marton Katon Sue Keane
1616August August | September 2013 2013
artblock open studio tour
Gary Palmer Recess Design Eric Schwabel Caroline Vidal Lin Werner Jaclyn Wiseman
aB 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
17
18 August | September 2013
COMMUNITY
C O N V E R S AT I O N 4 t i t o th e pa ch u co a rti st by Rudy Garcia
T
he gift of creating art comes to people in many forms: some artists draw upon their surroundings to express what they see while others use their own lives for inspiration. For local artist Eliberato Tito Salazar Casillas, known simply as ‘Tito’, his talent and passion for art started early with childhood drawings of cowboys and Indians. However, in his depictions of these infamous battles, the Indians were always the victors. Even then, Tito was rooting for the underdog who would need an extra dose of courage—and luck—to win against the odds. The underdog was a role with which he could personally relate.
P h oto g rap h by J AC O B SI G A L A 19 August | September 2013
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
19
Born in Aguas Calientes, Mexico, Tito moved with his mother to the United States in 1972, where they settled in Venice Beach. Living in the ghetto of Ghost Town—now known as Oakwood—the majority of his life, Tito was heavily influenced by gang life and the neighborhood cliques around him. He would eventually become one of the “Original Gangsters” that started the Venice 13, a notoriously violent Westside gang with deep membership and roots going back to the 1950s. Despite growing up in gang culture where tattoos were prized, he decided against adding any additional ink to his body besides the insignia of his own gang. Instead, he preferred to admire the tattoos worn by other people and would eventually start to paint jailhouse tattoos—he calls them “homeboy art”—on his friends. As he gained more experience, his tattoo art—often laden with gang and religious symbols— became more intricate, drawing the attention of those around him to his talent. Looking back at his early years, Tito remembers that life in the Venice ghetto—an area now being rapidly transformed by newer, wealthier residents unfamiliar with Oakwood’s gritty past—was not an easy one. “Growing up in it was dirty and harrowing,” he says. “One had to know when to run and when not to run.” As tension and violence between rival gangs escalated in the 1980s, Tito says he’s thankful today that he had his fellow members for protection—and that he was available to offer protection when needed. Like many students living in impoverished neighborhoods, Tito struggled in school. His days in the classroom were difficult because he spoke ver y little English. He still cherishes the influence of one teacher, “Ms. Glorious,” an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. Undeterred by his reputation as a troublemaker, she saw his potential. She helped him learn English and find direction in his life. Equipped with new language skills and confidence, Tito was able to expand his horizon and connect to the world around him through art. Through his paintings, murals and collaborations with other street artists and Venice YouthBuild, Tito began to car ve out a legacy in his neighborhood. His credits include an antigang violence mural at the Vera Davis center 20
June/July 2013
as well as a mural on Stewart Street in Santa Monica that promotes peace and coexistence. “It’s not just putting stuff up on a wall, it’s a lot of time and hard work,” he says of the painstaking process of creating a mural. “The wall is never a flat surface to paint on and getting the proportions right is hard.” Today, Tito’s religious paintings are in St. Clement Church in Santa Monica and his “Zoot Suit” artwork has earned a following in the local community. “It’s the fantasy of ever y vato loco [‘crazy gangster’] to put on a Zoot suit,” he says. Inspired to empower children to discover art the way it found him when he was young, Tito has spent the last several years teaching art
at afterschool programs in Los Angeles neighborhoods from South Central to Beverly Hills. When working with teenagers, he puts their collective talents to use by making T-shirts for homeless teens in the neighborhood. Tito is constantly evolving as an artist and is currently working on a new piece that will depict the men who wore the Zoot suit in the 1940s. This was a period of political unrest and the Zoot suit became a symbol of pride for their culture. With his humor, passion and humility Tito has become a strong role model and teacher for young ar tists in the neighborhood. His respect for the self-determined underdog will continue to play out in his ar t as well as his approach life.
It’s the fantasy of every vato loco [‘crazy gangster’] to put on a zoot suit. 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
21
22 August | September 2013
C O N V E R S AT I O N 5
jules mu c k t he str e e t a rti s t by Paula Chorley
RUNNING AMUCK IN VENICE For those of us who are well versed in the “Art of Procrastination”, let us put our hands together and applaud Jules Muck. One of Venice’s better-known street artists, she churns out one, if not six paintings a day. That’s right, you heard me, and if you didn’t already know her work before AND you live in Venice, you will now indubitably see her murals all over town. Her graffiti portraits are inspired by pop culture ideas reinterpreted in her distinctive glowing, green-toned style.“I hear stuff, I process it, I spit it out again, with whatever twist it got messed up with in my head, you know? I don’t do a collection of one thing that takes five months and then it debuts in Berlin. I’m painting here (motioning to her house and front yard) everyday. I’ll probably sell something still wet, if someone wants it.” Jules Muck’s front yard (which is essentially her living room and work space) has a tendency to look like a “Sanford and Son” junkyard or the coolest yard sale you have ever been to. If you drive by her house on 6th Avenue you can’t miss her signature work stacked and piled all around the outside. Muck has shown her work internationally and domestically in museums and galleries, and has been published in books. She has been criticized for being too accessible, “When your paintings sell for thirty grand [in galleries], you can’t sell for anything less, because then you’re screwing your collectors, and you get a worse rep than before you started. I’m not in this mad rush to get my prices up.” She continues, “I mean, if someone’s going to walk up to my house and buy a painting, I’m going to sell the painting. I like to move stuff. I like to get it out, and I like to do stuff that people want. That’s why I like doing the murals, because everyone gets to see them. Then you don’t have to have them in a house or a museum or whatever?” Jules Muck went from being a kid in Greece bombing (spray painting) flying pigs on the sides of police stations–to tagging her name on top of other people’s murals like the Wall of Fame in Harlem–to being discovered by graffiti icon Lady Pink. “Lady Pink was an idol to me, she was one of the founders of graffiti in New York, and she wanted me to work with her. I had gone from getting arrested to getting paid, overnight.” She was quintessential in pushing Muck: getting her work published in magazines, placed in museums, and flying her all over the
Photograph by Paula Chorley
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
23
world to paint graffiti. Lady Pink introduced Muck to the Wooster Collective and historical events like 11 Spring Street, where she “got on the floor next to Doze Green and Shepard Fairey in this amazing space.” In a moment of full circle déjà vu, Muck was the first female to paint at The Wall of Fame in Harlem, the very same one she used to tag with her bombing crew. She did such a great job that, the following year, she was given the entire wall to invite female graffiti artists from all over the world to paint. “Because I don’t look like a scary gangsta, I find it easier to get permission to paint murals,”says Jules Muck. Other than that, being a girl in a predominately male art world, and an even more male dominate graffiti world, has its ups and downs. “I think, for the most part, it’s an advantage being a girl, because statistically there’s less successful women in the field, and there was a time when that angered me. I did a piece at the Bronx Museum of Art, where I put all of the statistics (about women artists) in it, and one of them was that five percent of all the art in museums is by women. Which is like, WHAT!?…that’s hectic. So that means that I have something to do.” Muck landed in Venice when a friend invited her to stay but then kicked her out three days later after meeting a guy. With nothing but her vinyl and spray paints, she eventually ran out of gas on Electric Avenue. At the time she thought, ”Well, I’m not just going to do random graffiti, because I can’t deal with getting arrested right now.” She continues, “I was sleeping in my car, and everybody on Electric Avenue was sleeping in their cars. I would set up these huge canvases, like sixty inches by eighty inches, and I would paint on the corner of California and Electric. That’s how I met everybody in Venice that I know.” She would steal electricity from Abbot’s Habit coffee shop by plugging in Christmas lights in their bathroom and throwing them out the window, painting by that light all night. That same coffee shop eventually gave her a show where she sold a boat-load of her paintings and moved into her own place. Muck lived in Echo Park for a month and missed Venice so much she literally walked back because she didn’t have a car at the time. “Ever since I stepped foot in Venice, I can’t go anywhere without meeting a new friend, another person tagging along.” She explains, “No one’s too cool to say what’s up. People are constantly exploring new things here, they’re excited about it, they want to meet other people, and talk to people about things. There are so many burgeoning groups in the art community in Venice. I love that everyone’s trying to do stuff. I love that there’s the Venice Art Crawl and Artwalk, and then there’s just random artists that I know that are doing these art parties. Nothing’s off limits. Freaking celebrity-status artists are hanging out and chatting with artists that just started.”
For artist, Jules Muck, all surfaces are potential canvases. Opposite page: Painted gas pumps for the former pop up galler y, Venice Gas Station, at Windward and Pacific. 24 August | September 2013
She travels for work, but says “every time I go, I’m just gritting my teeth until I get back to Venice. This is the only place I’ve ever felt comfortable. I don’t leave Venice unless you pay me. You know, like why the f**k would I go anywhere, if everyone else is paying to come here?” WWW.JULESMUCK.COM
Photograph by TAYLOR BARNES
COMMUNITY
25 August | September 2013
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
25
26 August | September 2013
C O N V E R S AT I O N 6 j i m b udman th e a rti s t co lle cto r by Christopher Johnson The old wooden door that hangs at the entrance of Jim Budman’s Venice art studio ser ves as a portal to his personal and distinctly unique mélange of paintings, sculpture, furniture, lighting, books and found objects, amassed over more than thirty years of collecting. Although Budman has maintained an apartment in Venice since 1984, the hanging door,a gift from a prop stylist, and much of his art collection hails from his days as owner of the Budman Studio in Manhattan’s SoHo district from 1998-2004. On any given day, a rotating roster of artists would convene at his loft studio on Lafayette Street to paint, discuss music and art, share photographs and screen film footage. As a gesture of thanks, many of the artists who painted under his roof would create a still life of the studio. Today, these paintings are sprinkled throughout his displays. Facing skyrocketing rental rates as SoHo became one of the hippest and most expensive neighborhoods in the countr y, Budman returned to Venice. He made sure not to leave New York behind. The ground floor of his tiered, light-filled art studio located a few blocks from the beach on Vernon Avenue features an eye-popping vignette; Budman refers to the setup as an “installation,” carefully recreated from his SoHo loft. Each step through the “room,” framed by large wooden paned windows and doors salvaged from his loft yields a new discover y. Art, sculptures, lighting, furniture, and mementos express his love of postmodern design. An eclectic collection of paintings by artist friends including Kenny Harris, John van Hamersveld, Jules Muck, and Ron English fill walls. “I think this should go over here,” Budman smiles as he picks up a small sculpture and carefully positions
a l l P h o t o g r a p h s b y JACOB SIGALA
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
27
28 August | September 2013
An eclectic collection of paintings by artist friends including Kenny Harris, John van Hamersveld, Jules Muck, and Ron English fill the walls.
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
29
Above: Another view of the SoHo studio setup within Budman’s Venice studio. The Swedish inspired fireplace is featured on the wall, in a painted tribute. Below: the signature neon sign that welcomes everyone to the Budman studio. Next Page – Top: Detail of the front hall area with paintings of the doll heads. Bottom: Samples of Jim Budman’s current work.
it a few feet away. His spontaneous decisions to move things around, as he walks through his studio, underscore his passion for creating dynamic displays of collectibles and lighting— many of which come from surprising origins. He points to an illuminated cube topped by a bowl of melted plastic containers, most commonly used by restaurants for takeout orders, as evidence of his reliance on visual appeal, rather than provenance, in selecting pieces to add to his collection. An insatiable collector with an ever-growing inventor y, Jim has transformed a small area off the studio’s entrance into a moody storage and display area. Boxes containing years of mementos are stacked neatly in ever y direction and an enviable collection of miniature doll heads peer out from a shelving unit. The collection of vintage hanging lighting pendants and chandeliers brings a warm glow to the compact space. Budman keeps a glass bowl
30 August 2013
of multicolored marbles nearby to hand out to visitors—“in case I ever lose my own marbles!” he laughs. On the second tier, there’s more New York City memorabilia, including a pair of vintage taxi signs that once crowned the city’s checkered cabs. It’s here where Budman has car ved out his “Blue Room,” an enclosed, cozy lounge area that is completely upholstered in the blue, heavy-duty blankets used by furniture movers. Under his hand, the fabric’s large yellow seams and zigzag stitching are reinterpreted as chic design elements on the sofa, chairs, and walls. A huge vintage painting of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger stands guard over a narrow wooden staircase that leads up the top tier where additional artwork, furniture, and conversation pieces abound and hang from the walls and ceiling. Budman, who readily admits he is not formally trained in art or photography, confesses that he has always let his curious eye guide him in looking for beauty in unexpected places. His SoHo studio had spectacular views of lower Manhattan and the Twin Towers before they were destroyed in September 2001. One morning, after one of his evening soirees, Budman walked out to his terrace where he noticed a wine glass sitting on the ledge. To his surprise, he discovered a remarkable reflection of the Twin Towers in the half-filled glass and quickly snapped a picture with his camera. After the towers fell, he was so moved by the image that he sent out one hundred copies of the photograph to his closest artist friends and encouraged them to submit their own interpretation of the picture as part of a collaborative art project. “I’ve never really set up of any shots and I’ve always been fairly spontaneous at what I do,” he explains. “I rely more on what I’ve seen and tried to capture rather than my technical ability.” Intrigued by the growing role that smart phones play in documenting memorable moments of everyday life, Budman’s latest work presents screenshots of images strategically captured in his iPhone camera roll. After carefully composing each shot and considering its position in the lineup of images, he prints and mounts the 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
31
32 August 2013
I’ve always felt that some of the best things we do are mistakes… grid of thumbnails on various sizes of wood and finishes each piece in resin—a clever nod to the practice of encapsulating historical objects in the liquid. “We’re all so plugged into our smartphones!” he declares. “As a photographer, the grid reminded me of contact sheets. Many of us take thousands of photos that go up in the ‘cloud’ somewhere and often never see the light of day. This is a new way to archive and honor those moments.” As a steadfast supporter of the local art community, Budman has offered his Venice studio as a workspace for artists, including Takashi Murakami, who used the space to prepare for his exhibition at the Blum & Poe galler y. He unexpectedly found himself the subject of an artist’s gaze when Parisian street artist and photographer JR wheat-pasted a large-scale photographic mural of Budman’s signature eyebrows across an Abbot Kinney storefront as part of his “The Wrinkles of Los Angeles” series in 2011. Today, Budman continues to be inspired by the rise of new artists around him. He recently welcomed Los Angeles artist Erik Alos into his studio to work on his intricate fantasy paintings. In Budman’s world, there is always more to see and learn—even discarded objects can have nobility in his eyes. “I’ve always felt that some of the best things we do are mistakes,” he explains.“We can find something in the trash and it can turn out to be something so special.” 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
33
g a l l e r y
34 August | September 2013
O V E R V I E W by Paula Chorley
F
rom the 50’s to the 70’s, Venice was regarded as an affordable paradise for artists, art dealers, musicians, and poets. It was an artistic enclave and a favorite with the Beat Generation. Ever yone from Kerouac and Ginsberg, to local artists Robert Farrington and Charles Brittin, congregated at the Venice West Café and the Gas House, galler y spaces and watering holes for regulars who showcased their work there. The Ferus Galler y, which opened in 1957, is considered one of the first exhibition spaces to show many notable Venice artists such as; Ed Moses, Larr y Bell, and Richard Diebenkorn. The city is still producing outstanding artists for example, Chase’s recognizable ‘eye’ graffiti animates our streets. Contemporar y artist, Doug Aitkin’s video and light installations are exhibited in the prestigious museums around the world. Legendar y painters, Laddie John Dill and Billy Al Bengston still reside in Venice. With a community so culturally abundant and historically steeped in the arts, one would expect a substantial galler y scene. Many respected and unique galleries exist in Venice, however several of the smaller galleries have closed or moved, leading one to question why it is so difficult for them to sur vive? What does this means for local artists who wish to show their work? The LA Louver gallery, along with C.A.V.E. (Center for Audio and Visual Presentation) and Obsolete maintain their unique visions and support local talent. Gerbert Gallery, Ver y Venice, and The Sacred Door as well as seven other small galleries have closed or moved in the last few years. L&M will close at the end of summer, Marine Contemporary is moving, and Aran Cravey is relocating to Hollywood. Gallery owner Cravey explains the exodus, “Abbot Kinney real estate is expensive. I want to grow, have a larger space, more room to use with more expanses, and bigger exhibitions and projects. I’d like to bring in some artists with larger works. That’s part of relocating but also being part of a community that is starting to thrive in Hollywood.” While some galleries that deal only in fine art are struggling to keep their doors open, combining businesses, such as G2 Gallery with novelties, or artists combining their studios with a gallery, may help cover the high cost of rent. In keeping with Venice’s radical spirit, many of our local artists are showing their work at art parties and in homes, where the high rental costs no longer present a problem. The attraction of being included in something “underground” has its own allure and brings together an interesting mix of the
photograph courtesy obsolete gallery
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
35
Venice community. Simultaneously, the city is experiencing a revival of the salon concept. The idea of an art salon is not new. In the early 1900’s, the writer Gertrude Stein would have private Saturday meetings in her Paris home inviting luminaries of the art world such as Picasso, Matisse, and others to discuss art, literature, and politics. In the 1950s and 60s, Venice writer Lawrence Lipton was known for hosting Beat Generation salons on Sunday afternoons. The salons often ran into the wee hours of the morning and ended on the beach at sunrise.
L.A. Louver lalouver.com 45 N. Venice Blvd.
Marine Contemporary marinecontemporary.com 1733-A Abbot Kinney
Conduit Gallery by appointment only meilinglee3@gmail.com
Obsolete obsoleteinc.com 222 Main Street
Peter Goulds founded LA Louver in 1975. They maintain a program of museumquality exhibitions and specialize in contemporary American and European painting and sculpture. In 1995, L.A. Louver built a new three story 8,000 square feet building in Venice designed by Frederick Fisher where they reside today.
Claressinka Anderson opened Marine Contemporary Art Salon in her home in 2009. “I was interested in reinterpreting the idea of the salon in the context of the contemporary art world and creating a space that fosters thought and discussion about what it is to really live with art. I wanted to help broaden the audience and inspire young people to start collections.” Greg Colson, a long time Venice resident, is part of her current show at the salon.
Mei Ling (an artist herself) collaborated with some local artists and friends and began having events this year. Mei Ling was inspired by pop-ups happening in London in restaurants and other unusual spaces and loved the idea of bringing friends and family around for “round table events and opening her space to local Venice artists.” So far, she has been having collective art parties with music, however she will be planning other types of parties and events. She explains “It is a private residence, and it’s our home, and we really love the arts in all forms: the healing arts, the culinary arts, visual arts, anything that stimulates the five senses.”
Enter Obsolete and you enter into a beautiful, unexpected realm of oddities collected by Ray Azoulay. He gives home to a curious mix of found art and antiques, furniture, lighting, and objects, and contemporary paintings precariously placed in a dark entrancing space.
In 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2009, L.A. Louver organized group shows (also the current exhibit) under the auspices of “Rogue Wave,” a program that examines emerging artists living and making work in Los Angeles.
36 August | September 2013
She followed with Marine Contemporary Gallery in 2011. “I look for artists where there is a real sense of the “hand” in the work. I am also not interested in trends, but focused on authenticity and longevity in an artist’s practice.”
After a career in fashion in New York, he became interested in collecting antiques and otherworldly objects. He expanded his exploration by investigating in Europe (Italy, France, and England). Justin who works in the gallery explains, “He goes traveling for three weeks at a time and whatever he finds that trip becomes our new vocabulary.“
In 2009, Claressinka Anderson invited people to her house calling it the Marine Art Salon. These gathering were so successful that she eventually opened Marine Contemporar y galler y on Abbot Kinney. Paradise Garage and 5 Car Garage are doing their own spins on this salon concept. True Love and Conduit hold private ‘art parties’. These alternative gatherings are representative of a new art culture in Venice, which blends the past with the present, presenting a generation of young Venice artists in a more a casual, grassroots setting.
Aran Cravey Gallery arancravey.com 1638 Abbot Kinney
Paradise Garage theparadisegarage.org 1212 Palms Blvd.
5 Car Garage by appointment only www.emmagrayhq.com
True Love Gallery by appointment only adamcmyk@gmail.com
Aran grew up in an art family and between New York, Paris, and Los Angeles, she has always worked in galleries, Christie’s being one of them. Eventually she was dealing art out of her house and then was planning to show out of her loft in Venice when the space on Abbot Kinney opened up and she took it. Aran usually finds her next project by asking artists she knows and admires whose work they are looking at. “I think it’s the most sincere and best way to get an understanding of what’s happening. I try to show work that engages the viewer in a conversation that goes beyond the work itself into a dialogue that participates with the past and present, giving us a little insight into the future.”
Pentti and Liz are both installation artists who after searching for a space for an art gallery they finally converted their garage. They explain, “We want to expose artists that haven’t been seen here yet, even if they live here or if they’re big famous artists in other places.” They have more established artists like Kate Hardy who showed at the Whitney Biennial. “We wanted to promote a kind of funk aesthetic. We were just reacting against so much minimalism and getting sick of this slight nature of trendy art right now.” That being said they are not opposed to minimalism and by “funk” they don’t want to be confused with a “New Age Gallery.”
Emma Gray literally has a 5-car garage at the bottom of her garden. Her property is on a hill overlooking the Penmar golf course that divides Venice and Santa Monica. The former owner of the property collected and refurbished vintage cars, and Emma has now converted the garage into a “gallery” space.
Adam and Jane opened the doors to their home a year and half ago. As Adam explains “For a while we were trying to figure out how we could bring our friends together, and basically do something cool and meaningful in the community. We know a cool group of people that are all artists, filmmakers, painters, and sculptors. It’s always been a thing that they didn’t really have a place to show here.” Every few months they choose who and what they show organically depending upon the artist and stage of development of the work. Then all the furniture goes out and art goes up on the wall.
She does daytime openings by invitation only and artist talks for collectors. As well as advising and building collections she also works with local contemporary artists “who are too good not to be represented and who, I think are on the brink of a major career, and all of them have very distinct visions. The goal is to help elevate them and help find them the right gallery and exposure. I am interested in creating context for them.”
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
37
BUILDING
BLOCKS
Venice YouthBuild offers hope and opportunity for at-risk youth who are willing to reach out for a way to better their world and the world around them. by Christopher Johnson
I
magine climbing out of bed before the sun rises each weekday morning to stand at the bus stop, knowing that you will have to transfer several city buses to make it to your destination on the other side of Los Angeles by 7:30 a.m. For many students who graduate from Venice YouthBuild, their days slogging across town to the program’s headquarters in the Venice Community Housing Corporation is a rite of passage for a new lease on life. Armed with the desire to free themselves from the snares of neighborhood gang violence and unemployment, the students who join the program each year are well aware that sleep time is just one of the many sacrifices they must make in order to earn their high school diplomas and develop valuable sustainable building construction skills through the Venice YouthBuild program.
One such student was Clarence Bourne, a 20-yearold YouthBuild participant who was fatally shot by two men on June 23 as he walked home near Exposition Park in South Los Angeles. His untimely death marked the end of what the LA Times called a “promising life,” his transition to adulthood tragically cut short just days before he was to be honored at his YouthBuild graduation ceremony. For photos COURTESY OF VENICE YOUTHBUILD
Omar Muhammad, program director of Venice YouthBuild, the long standing ovation and numerous awards Bourne received posthumously at the ceremony serve as poignant reminders of the many hurdles his students must overcome to survive and thrive one day as successful adults. From his office located on the Venice Community Housing Corporation campus behind an ivycovered wall on Rose Avenue across from Whole Foods Market, Muhammad oversees Venice’s YouthBuild program that empowers at-risk youth to earn their high school diplomas and develop critical job skills for long-term employment in the construction industr y. Through classroom education and paid on-the-job mentoring, Muhammad guides his YouthBuild participants through a rigorous, full-time training program that teaches green building skills, provides work experience and contacts within the competitive construction industr y, and contributes to the growth of local sustainable housing communities. As a convert to Judaism following his Christian divinity school degree and upbringing as a black Muslim in Maryland, Muhammad readily identifies 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
39
“Venice YouthBuild can be an army of young people ready to ser ve the people and businesses in Venice… not because they have to, but because they want to.” Omar Muhammad with his program participants’ drive to understand and successfully navigate the often difficult world in which they live. Students from 18 to 24 years old are welcomed into Venice YouthBuild to learn and work in a safe, gang-neutral environment—but are warned that the rewards of completing the program will not come easy. “When a student joins YouthBuild, they take off their rival gang ‘colors’ and put on the orange color of the program,” he explains. “We are preparing our students to transition back into the working environment so they can provide for themselves, take care of their neighborhoods and communities, and have some skills along the way.” Inspired by the concept of the “talented tenth” promoted by influential civil rights advocate W.E.B. DuBois as the means by which black leaders would uplift their community through their educational knowledge and dedication to social change, Muhammad decided early to dedicate his career to helping people pursue their highest potential. After working at the Los Angeles Mission and seeing his first year students keep returning year after year instead of graduating from living on the street, Muhammad joined the Los Angeles Conservation Corps in 2000 as an education program manager overseeing young adults. Faced with funding difficulties at the Conservation Corps during the re-
40 August | September 2013
cent recession, Muhammad continued his work as a spiritual leader in the community and joined Venice YouthBuild as program director in May 2012. Established in 2006 in response to rising gang violence across Los Angeles, Venice’s YouthBuild program is modeled after the national YouthBuild organization and receives federal funding and support from AmeriCorps to provide job training and employment for local disadvantaged youth. Each year, roughly forty students begin the intensive, ten-month curriculum centered on individualized classroom instruction and on-site construction training. The students receive a stipend of ten dollars per day in addition to being paid minimum wage for work completed on a construction site. Because some of the students are homeless or struggling to provide food for themselves, Venice Whole Foods Market— which also sits on its board—provides fresh food for class meetings. Despite the challenges his students may face in the future, Muhammad is hopeful that the students who do graduate from the program will remain committed to using their knowledge and skills to be self-sufficient and contribute to their communities. “Venice YouthBuild can be an army of young people ready to serve the people and businesses in Venice and their neighborhoods, not because they have to, but because they want to,” he smiles.
photograph by jacob sigala
Omar Muhammad,Director of the Venice YouthBuild program.
GARDEN
THE VENICE VICTORY GARDEN “Like nature, a seed grows a plant, the plant flowers and goes to seed creating many. One garden has become two.” Ryland Englehar t The Soilution Group& Owner, Cafe Gratitude
A small miracle of nature took place this summer, on the corner of Rennie and Rose Avenue–the Venice Victory Garden took a dusty, empty lot and let nature weave her magic. Ryland Englehart, the owner of Cafe Gratitude on Rose Avenue, along with other members of the community group Soilution took it upon themselves to visualize and create a one-hundred precent organic garden. The The Venice Victory Garden is part of a farming revolution based upon the work of agricultural biologist, Graeme Sait. Earlier this summer, Sait spoke to an audience of one hundred devotees in the midst of the Victory Garden–an abundant tribute to his method of farming. The raised beds have moved to the front of The Source Spiritual Center, on Rose Avenue and another location near The Wood Cafe, in Culver City, at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Centinela Avenue. Once again, with the help of the Englehart and the Soilution group nature will weave her spell. 42 August | September 2013
GARDEN
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
43
MUSIC
44 August | September 2013 44 August | September 2013
MUSIC
COMMUNITY
by Michelle Santini
G
umbo is a heavily seasoned stew combining various ingredients and culinary practices anchored in West African, French, Spanish, German, and Choctaw cultures. The local Venice band born out of the New Orleans Mardi Gras musical tradition, The Gumbo Brothers, are equally spicy with a homegrown name that reflects their eclectic musical taste.
by Taylor barnes 45 AugustIllustration | September 2013
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
45
MUSIC The band is composed of Gregory “GWild” Guild Sonnier from La Fayette, Louisiana (lead singer/bass guitar), Johann Sebastian Stein also known as Jo Funk/Big Chief from Thibodaux, Louisiana (vocals/lead guitar), and Reggie Longware also known as Reggie Reg from Santa Monica (drums). Their performances celebrate the fusion of blues, funk, soul, rock and roll, and will have you bobbing your head, snapping your fingers, clapping your hands and stomping your feet. The Gumbo Brothers often play local venues such as; The Basement Tavern, The Mint, The Santa Monica Pier twilight concert series, Hollywood & Highland 88.1 Wine + Jazz summer series, The Charleston, and the Venice Bistro. Although they write their own songs they are best known for covering hits such as “Big Chief” by the Meters, “Very Superstitous” by Stevie Wonder, “Thank you for letting me be myself again” by Sly and the Family Stone, “Cisco Kid” by WAR, and “Shakedown Street” by the Grateful Dead. The band was destined to land in Venice, a city rich in cultural diversity and musical history. Sonnier stated his emotional connection to Venice, California, and the bridge between his Louisiana roots and his new home was because “Venice, Italy is originally where the Carnivale was born.” The vision that Abbot Kinney had for founding the city of Venice in 1905 was to make the city reflect not only the stylistic appearance of Venice, Italy but also the essence of it’s rich culture. Sonnier is a product of a mixed European, French Canadian, and Cherokee musical family from Louisiana tracing back to his Acadian roots five to eight generations. He has sung, danced and performed with Mardi Gras ‘tribes’ and is interconnected with the Mardi Gras Indians, Wild Magnolias and the Wild Tchoupitoulas. It is through following the Mardi Gras tradition that The Gumbo Brothers have adopted their second line musical essence. Second line music is
The band members, from left to right: Gregory “GWild” Sonnier, Reggie Longware, and Johann Sebastian Stein.
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
46
MUSIC described as the entourage of people that follow a particular band, tribe or parade during Mardi Gras. Whenever you see the Gumbo Brothers perform you feel like your right in the middle of the French quarter. They are not just a band but a reflection of the New Orleans culture and they are partly responsible for bringing Mardi Gras to the Venice Beach Ocean Front Boardwalk. The Gumbo Brother’s embrace of the second line music tradition led them to perform at the Lana World Festival, in Thailand. The festival hosts a concert of various world musicians, as well as seminars for aspiring musicians and music lovers. Greg shares that in addition to performing they were asked to discuss the historical significance of their music from an ethnomusicology perspective, “Congo Square is originally where the different groups or tribes, …Haitian, African, or different Indians were allowed to drum, by the French. They were allowed to meet and play, so a lot of the Jazz, and a lot of the snare drumming of the big bands was influenced by that.” Other popular bands that resonate with the Gumbo Brothers are the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass, Trombone Shorty, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation. They are also strongly influenced by some household names such as Stevie Wonder, Isley Brother’s, Al Green, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. For those that enjoy the Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras experience of New Orleans, this band does a great job of bringing back the raw natural sounds of the drums and horns, when music was simple yet rich in texture. The layering of multiple instruments and various genrational influences creates a listening pleasure for any music connoisseur. When the saints come marching home the Gumbo Brother’s will be stomping right along with them. For more information on upcoming performances by the Gumbo Brothers check their website: thegumbobrothers.com .
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
47
ART
V i CA venice institute of contemporary art
With all the talent within the borders of Venice it is surprising that a museum has not been formed here already but if Juri Koll has his way that will change. He acknowledges that Venice is off the beaten path from the rest of the city. Without a major institution or university close by this will have to be a project that is as unique and the city itself. How about a circus tent for a museum set upon the sand of Venice Beach? The Venice Institute of Contemporary Art (ViCA) is the brainchild of Juri Koll, artist, journalist and filmmaker. Koll’s institute resides on the internet for now but he is laying the groundwork for a very ambitious project – a Venice Beach Museum of Art. Koll started ViCA with the purpose of creating a respected online forum for the contemporary arts in Venice. A long time resident of the Sunset Avenue, Koll holds a particular passion for the art that is produced in this area. He sees a need to preserve the legacy of Venice arts and provide an environment to encourage new movements. The ViCA website states that their mission is to “through ongoing exhibitions and events… protect, preserve, and promote the values of the individual, independent artistic expression that have formed the historical practice of creativity in Venice.” If his nicely curated website for ViCA is any indication, Juri Koll could be on to a very good start to see a Venice Muesuem of Art someday. veniceica.org
48 August | September 2013
P h o t o g r a p h s b y TAYLOR BARNES
COMMUNITY
s
uccess is not always defined in ways that it is in the art world. doug edge, jim budman and larry bell, these are ver y successful people emotionally, and as people. that is such a grounding force because you can get so caught up in the lure of success in the art world. some of the greatest people i know haven’t had massive success but have the most incredible careers… i watch them, and i see them, and i get to interact with them. the people that might not be described as rich or powerful in the art world, are the most powerful thinkers i’ve ever been around, that is the genius part of being here.” mb boissonnault artist/painter
THAT WAS THEN
MAIN MAGAZINE In 1986 Tom Sewell, one of the original Venice Beach Renaissance artists, launched the large format “MAIN Magazine.� It only ran for 12 issues but the magazines were significant because of who and what they covered. Devoted to art, architecture, photography, style, and culture, Main documented the excitement of Venice at that time. It
50 August | September 2013
THAT WAS THEN
featured contributions from Frank Gehr y, David Hockney, Stephen Ehrlich, Ted Tanaka, Don Bachardy, and John Van Hamersveld. All twelve issues are available for download from Tom Sewell’s website. Cruising through these issue gives you a feel for how dytomsewell.com namic the creative culture of Venice was in the 1980s.
MAIN magazine cover art courtesy of Tom Sewell 51 August | September 2013
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
51
52 August | September 2013
LITERATURE
Talking Peace by Holaday Mason
Y
ou’re driving. The car behind stops the length of an eyelash from your bumper, blasting the horn. Entering the coffee shop, someone stops midway through the door to text with no idea you’re behind. You’ve stepped into the crosswalk on Lincoln Blvd. A car runs the intersection nearly hitting you. All we need do is go about our daily lives to feel the hostility in far too many human exchanges. Communications, verbal, and non-verbal are political and spiritual actions that must begin with contact with ourselves. All intimacy flows from compassionate awareness. Awareness of our own inner world is the starting place. Words are bridges that help us to cross-pollinate and evolve, accessing the unique alchemical evolution potential in any circumstance. Yet, too often we seduce, deflect, distract, and build barriers, rather than bridges. We have constant conversations in our minds, which we mostly don’t hear; yet we listen to. How much distinction we have in our inner worlds, the moment at hand, informs the level of mastery we’ve got in any exchange. Often, we’re afraid to say what we feel, but if we don’t, there’s a lie. Lying destroys any organic connection within ourselves, so how then can we be in connection with others? Self-knowledge must come first. If you find this harder than it sounds, you’re not alone. We are culturally, increasingly disconnected. Afraid of passion, others, differences, we’re unsure of how to be responsible for our feelings. Previous generations were either repressed or too uncontained. Subtle & not so subtle objectification became the norm allowing us to create an over-arching culture of disconnect. We both defend against & feed this state by focusing on the superficial. How can we trust when there’s an exponential increase in how violently we treat our own nature. We are at war with our bodies, sexuality, and the sacred! When I know what I feel and have the courage to speak non-violently to you (or my own inner self), I’m creating the fertile field needed to make new growth. BUT, new growth means going into the unknown, which, requires basic trust. To be trustworthy takes work. Painting, “road to correspondence,” by michael j. bienick
Here are a few things to start paying attention to: • What is going through your mind? • What is the self -talk, the story? • What are you aware of feeling? • Is the feeling originating from a chronic “story,” a set of interior dance steps? • Is the feeling sourced from an actual event outside of you? For the most part we don’t talk about how WE feel or what we need, we tend to talk ABOUT things or people – even ourselves. Try this… At least 10 times today, see what you’re feeling. Are you are acting covertly and thereby being violent to yourself and others? If you need to say something, can you find a compassionate sense of where the other person is, going forward talking about how YOU feel, not the other person? See how naked and scary it can be to speak from an “I” statement. Go slowly. Try to be certain you aren’t slipping in an attack under the guise of saying how you feel. Saying, “ I’m fat” is very different than saying, “ I’m uncomfortable in my body today.” With practice and honest rigor we get the hang of it…like building any muscle. Today, try to build a bridge BETWEEN you and the other. Focus on saying what you feel, make requests of needs or wants, Notice blaming, attacking, or pointing fingers. Communicating consciously opens us to the realm of negotiation and vulnerability. It’s a long-term practice that requires we cultivate compassionate honesty, tolerance, compromise, sacrifice & patience. We are the “they” as they say. If we risk, we may lose, but we will gain our own inner capacity and the things and people that matter will be gradually enriched. 3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
53
The heart of the company is based on the love of great writing. 90% of this company are people that became actors because they love great plays. Marilyn Fox, Artistic Director Pacific Resident Theatre
THEATRE
the conversation...
Theatre in venice THE PACIFIC RESIDENT THEATRE (PRT) HAS HELD A PLACE IN THE VENICE ARTS COMMUNITY FOR 26 YEARS. THE COMPANY IS ASSEMBLED OF ACCOMPLISHED ACTORS, WRITERS AND DIRECTORS STAGING SOME OF THE FINEST WORKS OF LITERATURE FOR THE THEATRE. 3.1 VENICE SAT DOWN WITH Artistic Director, Marilyn Fox TO TALK ABOUT HER JOURNEY WITH this group and how theatre has evolved in venice. by Hamilton Matthews
Hamilton: What brought you to Pacific Resident Theatre (PRT)? Marilyn: About 26 years ago, I was teaching a class, one of the first acting classes I taught, at a theatre called The Powerhouse Theater, in Santa Monica. The Powerhouse had actors in rehearsal for two plays “Happy End”, Bertolt Brecht’s musical with the Kurt Weill score and a new play by James McClure called, “Thanksgiving.” There was this company of actors and I was interested in who they were, they were all of these graduates of the American Conservatory Theatre. This was during the early 80’s, which was a great period of American conservatory theatre. They were all wonderful actors, who had been part of that program, and some people who knew them or had been in some other serious theatre programs, they had all come to Los Angeles and they were gorgeous and they had great agents. I mean everyone looked like the Kennedys. They were the most beautiful people and I looked pretty good that summer, so I was invited in. A couple of the guys in the theatre company said, hey, you should audition for “Waiting for Lefty,” I did, and I ended up playing Edna. That was when we first moved to Venice Blvd. A member of the theatre, a guy by the name of Steve Marcus, found a space on Venice Blvd and that was our original space, in the middle of the block. I was taken into the company, I had a different background from these people, and they were all classically trained actors. They were doing a Clifford Odets play and I came in there and they said, “oh, my gosh!” this is a Jewish girl that really understands Clifford Odets. I was taken into the company with a lot of warmth. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY PACIFIC RESIDENT THEATRE
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
55
THEATRE My husband, Gar Campbell became, in many ways the teacher and or mentor to everybody. He never joined the company officially, but through me, he became more and more involved. I was asked to be artistic director of the theatre after three years, in 1988, because our founding artistic director had been working a lot in regional theatre and she was very busy. I didn’t accept it at the time and we had a wonderful artistic director Stephanie Shoyer, who is like a Julie Taymor, just a brilliant stager, really unique. We had a good reputation, and then she furthered the reputation of the theatre. Gar and I worked closely with her for about seven years and I became artistic director in 1995. That’s kind of the history of the theatre. There was a time when we had our main stage space next to the Helm’s Bakery building in Venice, which is now a parking lot. We always kept our workshop space on Venice Blvd, which is now our
56 August | September 2013
THEATRE home. So, that is my history with the theatre and primarily I came into the theatre because I am an actress and that has remained my main understanding and calling. I tremendously learned from Gar and the people in our company and became a director through the theatre. H: What’s your favorite thing about Pacific Resident Theatre? M: Oh wow, I think my favorite thing are the actors that make up our company. The heart of the company is based on the love of great writing. I think that’s where all of us really come together. I would say that probably ninety percent of this company is people that became actors because they love great plays; they love really being part of something that is written by a mind greater than their own. The thing that I recognized in the people that were doing work at The
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
57
Powerhouse, they all came from a serious classical background. They came to Los Angeles to have film careers, but they had to have a theatre or they would go nuts. They had to be doing the kind of plays and the work that they had studied, it was the whole reason they became actors. That is my favorite thing, and another favorite thing is that we have an unusual structure, which is why I think our theatre has lasted. We have main stage shows that we do for our subscribers and for the public. We also have a free space that is a cooperative space in the company. Any member of the theatre can create his or her own work, at all times. There is an autonomy that actors don’t usually get; actors are usually waiting to get a part. Nobody is going to stop you at our theatre. You want to play Hamlet? Play Hamlet, you can make it happen in the workshop, you just have to convince other people to do it with you. H: What challenges do you face running a small theatre in Venice? M: Well, Venice has become such a hip destination, that I would say it’s a positive because there’s more foot traffic, more people, but I guess the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity would be to make the identity of Venice. I think PRT fits very well into the identity of Venice because it is known as an arts community and we represent that. The challenge is to take a younger hipper audience that wants to party in Venice and find a way to keep Venice an arts community, by getting them interested in theatre. That’s a challenge, we run into the same problems of any theatre, big or small, which is that you are very dependent on word of mouth and print, that’s the deal. I mean, I love the idea that a theatre can be self supporting simply from doing good work and that tends to be more true the smaller your theatre is. It just gets tricky when you are trying to produce plays and you really want your production values to be as good as possible to still be competitive. H: I just came by PRT and saw Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” which was wonderful. Why did you pick this piece and what has your experience been with it? M: I picked it because it was on my mind, I don’t really even know why, but the play just kept coming into my mind. Our mission statement is to do the lesser-known plays of great writers and developing their work. We do other things too, I wouldn’t say that we wouldn’t do a well-known play of a great writer, but we are known for doing lesser-known plays. It’s not that people don’t know these plays; it’s just a less seen play. It’s been an extremely happy experience. The two actors that are playing Eddie and Bea are people that have been in this theatre for 25 years and they are people that like to work together. You know how it is, it starts with the center, and it’s so nice to be doing an Arthur Miller play. As for the actual directing experience, I co-directed the play with Dana Jackson. Dana studied with Gar and myself in our acting class, she has a ver y deep understanding of what Gar was teaching, an almost mathematical understanding. Gar came from science so he had a scientific mind as well as an equally creative artist mind, he had both sides, and he taught about structure and the way to look at a play. Anybody who could avail themselves of his teaching and really take it in, like Dana did and have that foundation is such a joy and a blessing for both of us and for the show. Because sometimes you are battling an aesthetic, espe-
58 August | September 2013
THEATRE
Opening night at PRT
cially as an artistic director, because not ever ybody sees or achieves things the same way, that can be a bumpy ride, it doesn’t mean that they’re right or wrong, it’s just that the process of understanding what’s going to be happening up there. So this has been a happy collaboration, we all know each other so well. There’s a lot of trust and a lot of humility in terms of the way people were working, no one at our theatre thinks they have all the answers and it’s a lovely way to work. It’s such a beautiful community, we’re surrounded by the walk streets, and a lot of our audience can and does walk to the theatre. I mean, yes, people drive here, but it’s interesting that you could be down at Abbot’s Habit and see five or six people that you saw at the show. I love the whole walking vibe of Venice! Where in Los Angeles do people walk to things? All the art institutions of Venice are so important, because you don’t want Venice turning into a Pinkberr y, or even a super high end Pinkberr y. There’s a handmade feeling in Venice that’s really beautiful. H: Any ideas what you’re doing next, or is it secret? M: Well it is secret in the way that until I’m absolutely sure, I won’t announce it. We do four main stage shows a year, We are going into our fourth show now and often we flip-flop between our different spaces. We are beginning a workshop of a new production of Henr y V, a shortened version and I think that abridged work will continue. Maybe we will take on some undiscovered classic, maybe something new, we are setting up our next season. We just want to include a good portion of the greatest writers, along with fostering new plays and tr ying to do that in a way that works, that supports the future and doing the classic works that recharge us, that originally drew us to the theatre. PACIFICRESIDENTTHEATRE.COM
3.1 Venice Magazine 3point1–venice.com
59
RIGHT Edouard Manet’s painting, “A Bar at the Folies Bergere” – The Folies Bergere was one of several gathering places for the creative cognoscenti of Paris in the early 1900s. TOP “A Bar at Hal’s” – A photographic homage to Manet’s painting. Since 1987 Hal’s Bar & Grill has been the watering hole of the Venice art world – on the wall behind the bar is Laddie John Dill’s “Sierra Lake Reflection.”
60 August | September 2013