Skateboarding Through Venice In The 80's With Josh Bagel Klassman

There was a cool photo show last night at a space called the Red Bull ConsuLAte (?) on Abbot Kinney, with all sorts of great skate images from Dogtown's prime taken by Venice's own Josh "Bagel" Klassman.

There was a guest list, there were beverages (shout out to House Beer!), and there were skaters sitting on couches watching skate videos like it was at their own pad. Mellow.

The fact that it was sponsored by Red Bull in a seemingly pop-up space ("ConsuLAte is an inspiring space and bespoke {"Bespoke!"} resource offering curated experiences through the lens of Red Bull {or Venice locals' lenses} for atheletes and special guests {Ooh! You mean famous people?!} on Abbot Kinney smacked of "Hey, let's do a show by a beloved local to gain a little street cred here on this hip shopping boulevard in the home of skateboard culture, guys!" I can just hear the meeting - but, Bagel IS beloved, and we'll all drink your drinks and look at fantastic shots of local skate legends like Joey Tran ...

... And Christian Hosoi, and Jay Adams (RIP), and all the names who made this place a place that brands like Red Bull now want a piece of. Only instead of being like Adidas and making the ridiculously bold claim that they were "Defining Venice" (before they had even opened the old Hal's doors), now brands are feting the locals and trying to gain respect through the actual respect that these O.G.'s really have. I get it. And I'm happy for the guys like Bagel who are getting the recognition they so richly deserve.

This is Dogtown, and they can smell legit a mile away - so let's celebrate it all over again! And if it's on the corporate dime? It's about time. Take it. That's right. They weren't there, but you were, and that's why we love you and tolerate them. Sometimes. Times like this. Get it.

Long live Dogtown! (why there's a Blogtown).

The Summer Venice Art Crawl - Venice At Its Best

The Summer edition of the Venice Art Crawl was held last night all over town, and it was the best. I think I loved it even more than normal because I've been staying in Inglewood this week, feeling very removed from my home in Venice. I came back for the VAC, and my heart was full with all the Community love, excellent art, and the ocean breeze that we tend to take for granted when we're near it all of the time. It is a Heavenly gift, as was last night.

It's funny ... I've been getting looks all week in Inglewood like I might be a nasty gentrifier, and I just want to yell to everyone that I swear I'm not! I get it! I got booted from my home! One Love! It's pretty cool over here, but I just want to get back to what I know ... so I did. I began my evening at Hama Sushi, where I snagged a VAC map, and checked out the bright colors of Todd Goodman's work being shown outside on the sidewalk in the golden hour light. I especially dug the Jimi.

I stopped into Surfside to see who was there, and saw the excellent work by Mark Satterlee (who I saw up the road at a restaurant in Inglewood a few nights before! He also got priced out of Venice and relocated to the 'Wood), featuring a great piece of Larry Bell. It was still pretty early, so I headed out into the evening sunshine.  

The sunset is always a work of art unto itself, and I took the opportunity to stroll down the Boardwalk and soak up all of what I've been missing this week (I know it's just been a week. Still.). Bikers were heading to the Santa Monica Pier in droves to check out Eric Burdon (The Animals), but I needed to see my Venice people.

I got to see plenty of them at the very fun Park Place Block Party ... so many, in fact, that this stop wound up hogging a lot of my Crawl time. I didn't get to see as much of the art as I usually do, but the faces that I saw more than made up for it. There was art and fun in pretty much every yard along Park Place, all with refreshments and good vibes for all. I was very impressed by the stunning photography of Tanya Rogers, that felt as if you were inside of the photos, they were so vivid.

Steve Cheng was set up with a table of his whimsical art, and little characters that could be used as key chains or necklaces or whatever you feel like, and were adorable.

There was a whole bunch of ceramics up and down the block, all very great, especially the pottery by Kris Hansen being shown outside of Maureen Cotter's house. Mo was there being her usual gracious hostess self, and plugging her upcoming one woman show at Beyond Baroque (August 19th) that no one should ever miss.

Live music was provided by Apryll Aileen in a front yard set-up, and it created a groovy atmosphere.

 I spent the majority of my evening in her yard, telling my tales of late, and being buoyed up by the friends I have made in our Community over the last two decades. I'm consistently overwhelmed by the greatness and generosity of the real people of Venice. You're all something else and I love you forever! Thank you!

I knew the clock was ticking, and that I still had a lot of ground to cover, so as hard as it was to leave the now packed and bumping Park Place, it had to be done.

I met up with some crew back at Surfside for some libations, and to check out the "Eat Your Art Out" interactive art experience put on by Queen Dakota Rayfield. People could sit and make up their own art pieces, and I wish I'd had more time to sit and create. How fun!

I had to crack the whip as I had that missing out feeling, so then we all traipsed over to Paper, Scissors, Rock for the music and the blast that we had at the last Art Crawl.

We blew it and missed the tunes - bummer - but still got to dip inside and see the art real quick. Josh Bagel Klassman had his awesome pieces of Venice history on display, and I once again made a note of which ones I need when I once again have walls to decorate. His stuff is top shelf (like the Calavera tequila he'd just been gifted by Jim Robb!).

The party raged on in the parking lot, so we didn't have to feel like we missed out on too much. The whole night was a big Neptune Reunion (it's just been a month, but hey! Needed.) and all of myself and King Jeremy's royal subjects were still in the mood to party, thankfully. Love you all!

We zoomed by the Canal Club to see what we could see, and were impressed by the incredible watercolors by Louisa McHugh. You need to see them in person, but wow. A real talent.

As a writer, I also very much liked the typewriter pieces on display from Krista Nassi. Hooray for words!

My fellow Queen, Miss Jessica, was my co-Crawler, and a more stunning art aficionado you'd be hard pressed to find. We needed to get a move on to go hear her husband, Johan, get down with The Gumbo Brothers back at Surfside, so off we raced down Speedway.

A quick pit stop at C.A.V.E. Gallery was not to be, as we missed them by minutes. Kid Acne's great work was on the walls, so we sneaked a peek through the window, and will be back.

The good times were rolling hard by the time we rolled back up to Surfside (getting to be our new headquarters already!), with the Gumbos in full swinging mode. Dancing, dining, drinking, and getting down was all under way, and I looked around and felt home once again. After soaking this all up for as long as I could I had to get back to Inglewood to avoid being a lame house guest. But I didn't want to.

I had a blast with all my Venice homies, and as I rode back across the 405, I was reinvigorated. I know where I belong, and who my people are. The Venice Art Crawl is truly Venice at its best, celebrating what we're all about. Showing off, really. This is the thing you want to bring people to in order to help them get what real Venice means. Art. Music. Creativity. Fun. The Real Deal.

Oh, I love you, Venice. But you knew that.

*See you at the Afterburn Art Crawl September 21st!

An Punk Rock Art And Music Weekend In Venice

With heavy things continuing to go down practically every day in the world, last weekend made clear that people were again in the mood to blow off some steam.

The weekend was also book-ended by tacos. After some Friday night hijinks, we finally got to try the excellent tacos at El Primo tacos, the little taco set up on Lincoln Boulevard by the old aquarium building. There was still a line after 11 p.m., and once we had a bite, we knew why. YUM. Get yourself there for some street tacos ... you will be happy.

Saturday was all about art. I picked up my pals at In Heroes We Trust, and we made our way over to San Juan and Main, where they were having a party with a virtual reality situation, set up to show new ways of advertising.

There was quite a line for the v.r. thing, so after admiring Matthew Heller's new First Amendment mural on the wall outside, we made our way over to the C.A.V. E. Gallery for the opening of the Still Screaming punk rock photography show.

The walls were covered with shots that do a great job at summing up that time period that was ruled by punk rock. My favorites were by our local photographer, Josh "Bagel" Klassman, whose black and whites greeted the opening goers right inside the door.

C.A.V.E. was packed with people in their Suicidal Tendencies sweatshirts and otherwise black clothing. It had been announced that Black Flag's Keith Morris was going to be there to spin the punk tunes, but he did not show due to a diabetic situation, we were told. Healing wishes to Mr. Morris!

This Is Why I'm Such A Mess took over the back room was decked out with the whimsical works of Amanda "Mando" Marie & The Lost Object (AKA XO), with her little girls and ghosts beguiling the crowd.

I also very much liked the wooden pieces that named beaches of Southern California, though Venice was missing, curiously. That would have sold for sure.

As it was pretty hot and crowded inside, a gang of us hung outside on the sidewalk, swapping tales and shooting the breeze. That was probably my favorite part, as you don't always get the chance to really stand around and talk with the homies at these events. We really slowed it down and talked, and remembered what we love about Venice ... exactly nights like these. Friends coming together for art and communion, and on this night we even got an extra big full moon to compliment it all. Dreamy. This show is on through July 3rd.

Sunday was the now annual Booze/Bands/Boil at The Cinema Bar, put on by my good friend, Matt Ellis. It was a gorgeous day, and after a fiery set by Chief White Lightning, we took it out back to the patio to indulge in the wonderful crawfish boil put out by our friends at Hatchet Hall.

It's a very messy proceeding, but one that is always fun, always delicious, and once again, designed to bring about a communal vibe. Everyone is in the same boat, ripping off crawfish heads and sucking them down, with juice all over their faces. What a great time!

Lacey Kay Cowden was at her boot-stomping best, with her full band bringing it just as hard. The sunshine steamed in the windows, and her cinematic songs gave us all a bit of an escape ... not that we needed one. Things were perfectly great right where we were.

By now a whole lot of my friends had shown up, so it was back to the patio to do some laughing and catching up, but not before I caught a bunch of good songs by Kat Myer & The Buzzards, who I'd never seen before, but will now certainly keep an eye out for. They were great.

Golden hour found us laughing our heads off, and boy, was that needed. These escapism afternoons are pretty much the only things holding us together these days, and I was full of gratitude for all the great people and vibes. It really is what this life is all about.

Matt Ellis and his full band were in excellent form to headline the proceedings, and we were all in there singing and dancing along the whole time. Any woes that had been brought along this afternoon were soon forgotten, as friends belted out their friend's songs with abandon.

"They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" is the Matt Ellis/Paul Chesne duet that finds that title absolutely true ... they sure don't make 'em like these guys anymore. Make sure you get out to see them play - it's always a great time, and they play a lot. Lucky us!

The Cinema's little stage is so small that bass player, Dustin Bookatz, stood on the floor along with the crowd. Each player (also Fern Sanchez, Josh Norton, and Tim Walker - all awesome) in Ellis' ensemble is so good, I always find myself getting distracted by watching one of them riff, and then snap myself back to the whole. Ellis ended his high-energy set with his "Hey, Mister" song, that we all again sang along to, reminding the Misters of now that we are not down with what's going on. Music for the People.

By now, the People were hungry again, and that meant Tito's Tacos. The line was insane, but the tacos were well worth it, as ever. It was again communally fun, as all the people in line chatted and mingled, and made even a long line fun.

Back to the Ellis Ranch, for more tunes and more fun, and more denial that the weekend was coming to a close. One that had been great, and jam packed with all the things that make being in Venice (and its adjacent zones) so dang great ... especially in the Summer - which it's just now starting to feel like. I'll see you out there, everyone! Have fun, People!

The Venice Art Crawl - Summer Edition!

The always excellent Venice Art Crawl went down last night, and it could not have been a more lovely evening for it. The still almost full moon lit up the night, the air was warm and fragrant with blossoms, and music and laughter rang out all through the town. It was an absolutely gorgeous night. In every way.

I got back to the Westside later than planned, so had a lot of ground to cover in a short time. I took off down Abbot Kinney, dodging the dining crowd visitors, and stopped in to Tumbleweed & Dandelion first. This is one of my favorite old school shops on the Boulevard, and I'm so happy that they're still there. They had kind of an ice cream social going on the front patio, and it all felt very quaint and neighborly.

It was only about 8 pm, but many of the VAC stops on AKB were already closed down. They might want to consider staying open later on VAC days ... just saying. I saw some great pieces by Sophie Kipner being loaded into her car, as Current/Elliot was shut down for the night. Same for the Little Room Portraits, and a handful of others I'd earmarked on my map. Oh, well. C.A.V.E. was wide open, and full of art enthusiasts checking out the work of Jim Darling and L7m.

There was a lot of good stuff in there, but my favorite was "Midwest Storm" by Jim Darling (I may be biased, hailing from the Heartland). I loved the idea of framing the piece with an airplane window too. Very cool.

Rolling around the corner, I saw a crowd outside of the 310 Gallery, where they were showing work by Zach Touchon. His "Geometric Abstraction" paintings were excellent, as was the cold beer.

Cold beverages were also on offer at In Heroes We Trust, where the fun, old-timey Speakeasy truck was again slinging frosty slush drinks out their window. It's always a good time over there.

Inside IHWT they were showing the wonderful work of Hagop Belian. I love his mixed media pieces, and they all have an instantly iconic vibe about them. He's one of my favorite Venice artists, for sure. (A whole bunch of the dresses for sale were highly covetable and artistic too!)

With time a-ticking, I raced back down AKB to see what was happening at Ecole Claire Fontaine. The garden of the darling pre-school was transformed into a twinkling hideaway, filled with art, music, and children enjoying all of the above. Here I especially enjoyed the work of Jen Lavita, full of ocean landscapes and mermaids.

On to the multi-artist venue at Venice Metal Worx. Alberto Bevacqua, Jon Grauman, MB Boissonnault, and Kate Wolfgang Savage all showed work from photography to metal work in their new venue (most having been relocated from the studios over on Sunset and Vernon (due to rent jackups).

It's a great, cavernous space, with the feeling of an auto garage inside ... albeit a beautiful and artistic garage. I loved a metal piece that listed all the coolest bands A-Z, and would highly suggest you mark this stop on the VAC's next installment. Really cool and diverse stuff.

Though I had friends waiting on me over on Windward, I made a quick detour to Park Place, and I'm SO glad I did. The walk street was full of art revelers, and acoustic tunes from Christopher Hawley lured you down the sidewalk.

The whole block seemed to be participating, with one front yard after the next full of friends enjoying the night. It felt like a lovely, eccentric fairytale of a community, and each stop was hosted by warm and welcoming Venetians (Nice to meet you, Daffodil!). Dustin Otterbach showed his metal pieces (and his airplane capsule parked on Speedway), Jill Kraft showed her photographs, and art was everywhere.

I stopped to look at a cool Jimi painting (who did this?!), and noticed a stack of flyers for Venice legend Maureen Cotter's upcoming August one woman show at Beyond Baroque (August 20th!). I've known Mo for almost 20 years now, but had not yet been to her (newish) Park Place pad, so it was a completely pleasant surprise to find a house full of dear, longtime friends. We shot the breeze and shared tight, true hugs before I had to hightail it off to Windward.

I really wanted to make it to the Old Glory Barber Shop in time to see the photography of Josh "Bagel" Klassman, and was nervous that they too might have already shut down, as I'd spent a good chunk of my time currency on Park Place. I need not have worried, as when I rounded the circle of Windward, I was met with a bumping PARTY inside and out.

All the Venice O.G.'s were there celebrating their friend's work that captured what was billed as "Remembering The Good Years", featuring awesome shots of golden years of skating, surfing, and friendship here in Venice. One photo was better than the next, and all were highly covetable for any true Venice collection to be complete.

At this point I gave up on trying to see everything on the Crawl (and most weren't happening by this time anyway), so we just got down and hung with the Old Glory Crew (which was better than fine by me). We wound up the night enjoying amazing pizza and some byob wine at Venice Cucina in the Circle, under the starry skies of another wonderful night in Venice.

Thanks and Congratulations to the VAC, all the artists, and our entire Community for putting this on, and for being there for each other. It's something special. See you in September for the Fall Crawl!

*And on a personal note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my wonderful, beloved Mom, Marilyn Gronner!

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