Ed Moses At 90 - A Celebration At William Turner Gallery

If you're from Venice and you care at all about art, most likely you were at the opening of Moses@90, the survey exhibition at Bergamot's William Turner Gallery of the entire career of Ed Moses. Everyone was there. There were so many old school Venice folks that it almost felt like the last night of the old Hal's again (where Moses always had the big wall reserved for his work), just with lesser wine.

The parking lot was packed with overflow guests, and it took a while of chatting before we could even make it inside the first building.

It was extra festive, with everyone seemingly thrilled both to be there to honor such an impressive body of work, but also to see each other. Stories were swapped about openings past, and just about everyone had at least a few Moses anecdotes or quotes to share.

The sad part was that Moses himself was not in attendance to see this whole thing ... the massive turnout of old friends and fans that adore him ... the work being oohed, aahed, and photographed over ... the pretty ladies done up for a night out, all primed to flirt with ... but I was told he was not feeling well enough to be there. That's a shame, because the evening was truly all about Moses, from the art to the conversation.

His presence loomed large, however, with each significant phase of Moses' five decades of painting on display. It's rare to see so many different periods in an artist's career all shown at once, yet this show has it all.

There is so much work to see that the event occupies two separate venues on the Bergamot campus, both the William Turner Gallery and the former Santa Monica Museum of Art building, which is even bigger.

There were the big stark primary color paintings taking up one entire wall ...

There was a plaid looking period ...

There was a series of work that even left the brushes used by Moses still attached. Next to spiders.

This was a show that I'll probably want to revisit while it's on, as there were so many friends to catch up with that the work didn't really get its proper attention from me. Not that I really could have given it, so densely packed in was the crowd that it was seldom easy to get right up there and absorb it, even if I had been able to stop talking.

One thing I always notice at events like this is how art truly does bring people together. Yes, to come out and look at a local legend's vast array of important work and have fun together, but you also see and hear people making plans, making friendships, and forging relationships with others that just found out they had something in common in other areas of life because they were looking at the same art. You know what I mean? I saw business cards and numbers being exchanged all evening long, and it encouraged me. That the people and the scene still matter, to the world and to each other. Art unites.

Thus, Moses is a uniter, which goes along with his status as a Shaman in the art world. It is a guise that fits him well, as he self-describes there on the wall.

The colors are something I've always loved about Moses' work, never afraid to be bold, or to sparkle, to provoke or to force self-examination, as some of his warped mirrored pieces insist.

I miss seeing the work of Ed Moses on the regular at Hal's as much as I missed the turkey burger, I realized while walking the halls of this show. It was a comfort to see one of his giant wall pieces there as we sat together and enjoyed our Venice. Moses is another one of ours ... he lives and works here in Venice, and was one of the original pioneers of making it a haven for artists and just making it straight up cool. I felt this cool as I soaked it all in, and knew that those around me felt it and knew it too.

That is a life real well lived, when you're still creating your work at 90, everyone is still awaiting it, and you get to revel in the celebration of it all in your lifetime. I hope Moses well knows how great of a time was had by all in his name. Cheers to you, Sir, and Happy 90!

Moses@90 is on through June 25, 2016
William Turner Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue E-1
Santa Monica, 90404

From Firefly To Burro - An Abbot Kinney Pioneer Expands

I finally got to sit down and hang out with my dear friend Erinn Berkson last night and do some long overdue catching up. You probably haven't seen much of her either, because the woman has been simply swamped. In one of the very few Abbot Kinney mom and pop success stories, Berkson has taken her beloved Venice shop Firefly and transformed it into a mini-Empire called Burro, and expanded from her flagship space on Abbot Kinney to include outposts in both Malibu and Westlake Village. In like six months. Wow!

Asked why she changed the name when it was already so well established, Berkson said that when it wasn't clear if she'd be able to stay on Abbot Kinney with its skyrocketing rents, she had to think about what she would do next. It was sink or swim time, and she chose not only to swim, but to soar. The name Firefly never really resonated with her, but she has always loved donkeys. They are - like her - extra hard working animals, and a symbol of the Old Californ-i-a pioneering style - also very much like Berkson, a fifth generation native Californian, and one of the first shops to make Abbot Kinney "cool" in the first place.

When the opportunity arose to open in a beautiful part of Westlake Village ("Seriously, going there is like a work vacation" - E.B.), she took the shot. Construction delays happened, as they do, and in the meantime a space became available in the Malibu Country Mart. So, Hello, Malibu!

Berkson took the fixtures and stuff for Westlake Village and put it in Malibu, where they opened right before last Christmas on December 10th. Also right before last Christmas, the very day after Berkson got a storage space on Venice Boulevard to store all the merchandise for the new stores, the Public Storage facility caught on fire. Most of the merchandise was destroyed, just as the Malibu store was about to open.

Her attitude about it is amazing, as she considered her loss nothing compared to the priceless art and treasures that other people had stored there. But it was a huge drag, and the last thing she needed, with the stress of three stores going she was already dealing with. NOW I totally got why I hadn't been whooping it up with my friend, Erinn in a while. Geez Louise.

It's all good now though, in fact, more than good. All four (including the precious Baby Burro, also on Abbot Kinney) stores are open and thriving, and whenever Berkson can get away from doing inventory and ordering the thousands of beautifully curated gems you can find in her Burro stores, she cruises around to check on them, and catch up with her longtime diehard customers, often with her darling daughter, Mia (now 5!) in tow. The Westlake Village location is the first store that Berkson fully curated and planned in advance ("Abbot Kinney still has furniture in it from my old house!"), and she says it's a dream come true. I cannot wait to visit when I next go over the hill.

"Venice is my home. I live here. I love it here," explained Berkson about all of this. I'm glad we're explaining it too, because she told me that one Venice customer, not knowing who Berkson was, said right to her face, "Yeah, the owner totally sold out." Not true. At all. In fact, she's made the very best of the situation here, and along with pioneers like The Green House, Principessa, Venice Vintage, Enda King, and Ananda, they are not only standing their ground successfully, but branching out and getting bigger. This makes my heart swell, and I'm so proud of all of them for being bastions of calm and community within the influx of corporate chains that are challenging the unique sense of place that Venice has always been known and loved for. They're just not having it, and I love them for it.

And I love Erinn. I'm so proud of her for all of this, you can't imagine. I remember the days of sitting out back of the original Firefly space next door, making margaritas, writing up sales on garage sale pads ... Burro has come so far, it's truly amazing. I'm just thrilled for my dear, dear friends, and proud that so many more people are now getting to know her wonderful taste and sense of fun. Awesome.

"Venice means all these 70's artists that were living here, and still influence and shape me. They're still here, they're still working and swearing and acting like the innovators they were, and still are. People moving here now are moving here for that, whether they know it or not, and they need to have some VISION. Wealth does not mean you have to tear down bungalows." Yeah.  Berkson went on to say, "But Venice through my eyes might be different now for someone new that's 25 ..." And perhaps that's part of the hipster mentality. We'll continue to support our truly LOCAL businesses that continue to strive to make Venice different and special (and are happy to share that same magic now with Malibu and Westlake!).

Please support your original pioneers of Abbot Kinney so people will continue to know what cool truly is. Go Erinn!!!

Burro Venice/Baby Burro
1409 Abbot Kinney/1405 Abbot Kinney
310-450-6288

Burro Malibu
23410 Civic Center Way
310-456-3700

Burro Westlake Village
Westlake Plaza, Suite 960 South
805-379-9980

Burrogoods.com


*Photos courtesy Erinn Berkson.

Bunny Lua - Green House Goddess

When I think about my very favorite women in Venice, Bunny Lua is at the top of the list. I spent some time with her recently at her family business, The Green House Smoke Shop, and I'm clearly not alone in adoring Bunny. All day long, her regulars came in, thrilled both to see her, and to get the most quality smoke products in town.

In a time of so much change in Venice, The Green House is an exception to the recent rule of longtime Venice businesses getting moved out and replaced by cheesy high-end stores run by people who simply do not get the neighborhood. On the contrary, The Green House has added another location at 736 Washington Boulevard, in addition to the original on Abbot Kinney. So loyal are her customers that when the new one opened up shop, they were getting enraged customers walking in there thinking that they stole the Green House name! There are happy sighs of relief once reassured that it was a second, just as cool location, by the same people. Phew.

It's easy to see where that loyalty comes from. Lua and her "Old Man," Sandor Caplan, are super knowledgeable about every item they sell, and it's evident that they actually care about their customers. It's an education to sit and listen to them deal with people and their smoking needs, as they were schooled by legends in the field, such as Tommy Chong, Jason Harris, Jack Herer and Charlie Weinberger.

But it's not just the expertise that brings the people back. Even if they have to come far, like a Hunter Thompson looking guy that came in all the way from Apple Valley, just to see Lua and get his specific kind of Nat Shermans (which they carry every single kind of). He called her a "Dakini", a Tibetan goddess, and kept saying things like, "Whoa, you really are tuned in!" and "Wow, you really do listen!" And she does. So much so that she feels like a Mom to the whole community, often listening to peoples' deepest stuff when they come in and need a kind and generous ear.

She's also a Mom to their wonderful son, Leaf, who has grown up in the shop and been raised by the whole Venice village. He's the kind of kid who the first thing he said when he saw me was "Straight A's!" and threw up a high five. The kind of kid who asked us questions about how to best be a gentleman. Who loves basketball so much that Caplan installed a hoop on the sidewalk right in front of the shop for a while. They're the kind of Venice business that keeps it old school too. If Leaf has a midday doctor appointment, they'll close the shop and take him. If it's a particularly gorgeous day, you might find a sign saying, "Gone Swimming!" Their business card says they're open "11-ish." (And they close at 7-ish). "It's a beach community ... things happen in the daytime. Business is just one part of life ... but it's not ALL of life. You have to LIVE." Amen, my sister.

The Green House is a place that endorses "smoking for your health". That sounds funny, but to hear Lua explain it, it makes sense. "Smoking is an age-old ritual. You do it for enjoyment. It relaxes you. It's something you do for yourself ... for your sanity, your alignment, for your clarity and spiritual self." Which is why they carry the top shelf items (like the very popular Pax vaporizer) to do so. Like, you could go get some cheap water pipe on the Boardwalk, "but there's a huge difference in quality pieces. There just is. We have integrity. Have some self respect," says Lua. Yeah.

Being pioneers and mainstays of the legitimately "cool" part of Abbot Kinney, Lua and Caplan have always kept it real at The Green House (which opened on 4/20/2001, appropriately).  When they opened, "Abbot Kinney was kind of a scary street. Our first customers were gangsters, and this shop was a neutral zone." It still is. Lua enthused, "I love the people I meet here, from the homeless of the homeless to literally royalty. We're part of each others' lives, and my stores wouldn't be what they are without my customers. They are the soul of our business. We want to provide something they want with pleasure and passion." This became more obvious with each customer that walked through the door. After one long conversation about fracking and wealth inequality with a guy visiting from New York, he said, "I have chills! I'm so glad I opened my mouth to talk to you!" And it's like that all day long, with owners and customers alike both enjoying and learning from each other.

Lua was born in the Phillipines and raised in Hawai'i and California. She and Caplan settled in Venice in 1998 and have been an important part of the town ever since. Very active locally, Lua has taken on the Abbot Kinney festival planning, been a film liaison between local merchants and production companies, was active in getting a new playground for Westminster school, an active pursuer of getting bike racks, garbage bins and crosswalks installed, cleans up all the trash after the filthy food truck people Saturdays after First Fridays, and the list goes on. She clearly cares so much about the community she calls home, and does her best to "Protect our hood".

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood kind of feeling here. I love this place. I AM a Venetian. I belong here. I will protect Venice." We aren't talking about stopping progress or change. "It's about protecting the feeling of the place. People feel like they're a part of something here, it's special. We don't want to lose that feeling ... and the kind of loyalty we enjoy only happens in a true community." Just the a guy came in and asked if his dog could come in too, to which Lua replied, "That's your VIP pass." It's that kind of a place.

That neighborhood feeling is disappearing though, and it's up to people like us to preserve it. Lua said, "People all used to know each other. You could run next door and borrow a hammer. Kristy at Jin Patisserie would save the last cake she knew I loved. The corporations coming in are taking away that community feel, and that's what I miss the most." THAT is what we're trying to protect.

When you walk in the Green House door and see all the postcards friends of the shop have sent from all over the world, you realize how truly much a part of their customers' lives these special places are. I asked this spectacular Venice woman what she would want to say to everyone in the neighborhood, and she simply and beautifully answered, "Be kind. All of Venice needs to care about each other." True words, timely words, and ones that Lua absolutely lives by.

Stop in and say hi at either Green House location ... and try them again if they happen to have left early to see a particularly great sunset that day in Venice.


The Green Houses are at:

1428 Abbot Kinney

          AND

736 Washington Blvd.