Hustler of Culture

LA - Big City Forum: Writers Edition (05.18.11)

Big City Forum: Writers Edition

Big City Forum in conjunction with LAAA/Gallery 825 presents an evening about the written word. Join a group of LA's most talented up and coming authors for a lively conversation as they explore ways in which fiction shapes our thinking about personal and collective narratives.

Los Angeles Art Association
Gallery 825
825 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Wed., May 18th, 7 – 9 pm

Presenters:

Harold Abramowitz

Grace Krilanovich

Lauren Strasnick

Margaret Wappler

For more info and bios: www.bigcityforum.org

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

"On A Stick" Book Party

Matt (via Dana) invited me to his book launch for On a Stick at Border Grill in downtown LA. It was a night of small bites (lots of them) and smiles for miles. Which perfectly fit the theme of the book: party-perfect recipes... on a stick. Because eating anything on a stick is always more fun.

Seeing as I'm Vietnamese, I'm excited to try Matt's tasty looking recipe for Bo La Lot (betel leaf wrapped lemongrass beef), Caprese Sticks and Pizza Skewers (I know my French-Italian husband will love), and Grilled Fruit Skewers (for Lulu, our resident fruitcake).

Lulu loves food -- even in books. So I gave her Matt's book to review. Following are her thoughts caught on video:

Final verdict?  On a Stick is good enough to eat. Like, for reals, eat!

LA - "The History of American Graffiti" Book Event (04.23.11)

SM - I.C. Rapoport's "Love" (04.09.11 - 05.29.11)

deyermond art + books is pleased to invite you to, An exhibition of photographs by the legendary I.C. Rapoport

April 9, 2011   ❤  7:00-10:00 PM

deyermond art + books

2801 Main Street
Santa Monica, California, 90405
310-450-4400

www.deyermondbooks.com

Portland - "Learn to Read Art: A History of Printed Matter" Book Event (04.07.11 - 06.17.11)

Learn to Read Art: A History of Printed Matter
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Portland, Oregon
April 7 – June 17, 2011

Printed Matter is pleased to announce the opening of Learn to Read Art: A History of Printed Matter, an off-site exhibition at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. The exhibit presents a survey of the publishing output of Printed Matter, Inc. over the last 35 years. Curated by Max Schumann, Associate Director, and AA Bronson, the show will be open to the public at the Philip Feldman Gallery April 7 – June 17, 2011.

SF - Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Every Day" Book Event (04.07.11)

It's our dear friend Heidi's birthday! And she's signing Super Natural Every Day at Omnivore Books on Food! More details below:

Book Signing & Meet-up with Heidi Swanson
Thursday April 7, 6pm - 8pm

Potluck: If you want to bring something to share with others - it could be from 101 Cookbooks, Super Natural Cooking, Super Natural Every Day, or just a recipe you really love - we'll set up a table for food. But if you don't have time to make something, please please don't let that stop you from coming.

Omnivore Books on Food
3885a Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
415.282.4712

NYC - Prints & Pages Pop-Up Shop (04.07.11 - 05.06.11)

NYC - New York by Numbers Book Event (04.06.11)

New York by Numbers

By Hans Eijkelboom

Launch and Signing
Wednesday, April 6, 5-7 PM

Printed Matter is pleased to launch New York by Numbers, a new book from Dutch photographer and conceptual artist Hans Eijkelboom.  Please join us this Wednesday, April 6, 5-7 PM, for a reception and signing. Printed Matter is located at 195 Tenth Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Street in New York City.

New York By Numbers was created by Eijkelboom over a three week period in May of 2010.  The series of images represent a kind of artistic-anthropological study, a meticulous effort to find and photograph one hundred people wearing numbers on their clothing, 1 through 100.  Working within the confines of the task (what soon became a game), Eijkelboom has generated a collection of images that are both playful and revealing.  His photographs, taken together, are as much driven by the whimsical “need” to capture elusive numbers as they are an opportunity to snapshot a hundred moments activated by an encounter with the right hat, backpack or sports jersey.  Each image is, in a sense, the image he’s been looking for.

OsGemeos Birthday / 10 Year Reunion Dinner

OsGemeos are in town getting ready for the big "Art in the Streets" opening at MOCA in a couple of weeks. The stars aligned and we ended up hosting their birthday dinner at our home with new and old friends in tow -- nearly a decade after we first met during their inaugural trip to America. We've been lucky to catch the twins over the years, but what made the evening incredibly special was our reunion dinner included photographers Louise and Ig from LostArt, who were also with us 10 years ago (see related link below).

I found my original photographs from the 2001 visit and we happily took the trip down memory lane together. Back then, we were much poorer (the twins crashed on the floor of our 150 square foot sublet in New York City) and aside from a lifestyle upgrade for all of us, not much else has changed except that OsGemeos is now more of a household name in the contemporary art scene and we're all a bit chubbier.

As seen in the slideshow above, here we are hanging with old pals, Ig and Louise from LostArt and Gustavo and Otavio of OsGemeos and Wendy, Arnaldo, Koyo and Ray. We celebrated the twins' birthdays and 10 years of friendship. Cheers to many more years ahead...

RELATED: Lost Art, Found Friends

Super Natural Every Day!

Congratulations to our dear friend and James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author, Heidi Swanson on publishing another kick ass cookbook, Super Natural Every Day! Making and eating healthy foods doesn't have to be hard or intimidating and more importantly, it can be tasty and fun to cook (if you have Heidi's Super Natural Cooking, then you already know this). 

Heidi's new culinary compendium is filled with nearly 100 of her favorite nutrient-rich every day meals. Inside this carefully curated cookbook, you'll find doable recipes requiring five or less components. As Heidi states, "Simply put -- here are real foods and good ingredients made into dishes that are nourishing and worth eating and sharing." I am excited to incorporate her go-to recipes to our regular rotation of home-cooked family meals including her tasty looking yogurt biscuits, crepes (my French/Italian husband cannot get enough of Heidi's cooking), open-face egg sandwich, popcorn, black sesame otsu, and roasted strawberries (now that they're back in season)!

Enjoy the dreamy photographs (many shot by our other good pal Wayne), catch yourself drooling, and then hike on over to the Farmer's Market and stock up. We are in for a treat. You are in for a treat. And my seven-year-old-cooking-club, City Cooks Club is in for a treat! For delicious and sophisticated-but-simple foods, do yourself a favor and buy Super Natural Every Day, today!

And thanks for the shout out, Heidi! I can't wait to cook with you again.

RELATED: Hustler of Yum and Hustler of Words

Goodnight Dune

Like the thousands of children before her, Lulu loves Goodnight Moon, the children's picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown. Published in the late 1940s, it seems as popular today as it ever was then. And just like the Sophie giraffe, it's one of the items you know nearly every parent-friend of yours has.

I have always thought the book's art by Clement Hurd to be a little dark, maybe even creepy. But Lulu's demands for the book to be read over and over (in French and English) reassured me that she was digging the small cast of characters, rhythm of the words, and bedroom full of fun.

Goodnight Dune, a retelling of the children's classic updated with Dune characters and environments is making the pop culture geek in me flip out. Who created such a cool mash up?! Enter Julia Yu, a senior developer at The Daily Beast. In her own words she describes her inspiration and process below:

Goodnight Dune was written and illustrated after I saw this article for Five Sci-Fi Children's Books on College Humor, linked from a Reddit post which asked for a more fleshed out version of the book. While the original parody art was amazing I decided to stick closer to the original Goodnight Moon art style, using some stylistic elements from the David Lynch movie version of Dune.

Wow. Seriously. Wow. So cool! I bet all Gen-X parents are loving this new iteration. I only wish Goodnight Dune could be published and read nightly in our household. Following are a few images to get you psyched. Read the whole thing here:

[Shout out to my pal Michelle for the link share!]

NYC - Jose Parla Book Event (03.05.11)

Brooklyn - J Yatrofsky's "I Heart Boy" (02.10.11 - 03.06.11)

NYC - "Adrian Tomine Scenes from an Impending Marriage: A Prenuptial Memoir" Book Event

Wednesday, February 9
7:00pm

Adrian Tomine Scenes from an Impending Marriage: A Prenuptial Memoir with Leanne Shapton

A loose, cartoony departure from Tomine's previous work, Scenes from an Impending Marriage is a sweet-natured, laugh out-loud skewering of the modern marriage process, including hiring a DJ, location scouting, trips to the salon, suit fittings, dance lessons, registering for gifts, and managing familial demands. The most personal and autobiographical work of Tomine's career, Scenes from an Impending Marriage is a charming, delightful token of love.
 
Leanne Shapton, author of The Native Trees of Canada and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry will join Adrian on the Strand Stage.

LA - Autobiography of Mark Twain Celebration (02.08.11)

Wild Animals

Wow! Wild Animals. What an incredibly beautiful book! Wild Animals is a self-published art book by Rop van Mierlo, a graphic designer/illustrator from the Netherlands. I wish he sold prints of his artwork; they would make any kids' room feel extra warm and fuzzy.

Hardcover
40 pages
322 x 288 mm
Color offset
First edition
€ 30

[Big ups to Fiel for the heads up!]

LA - "From Seed To Skillet" Book Event (01.29.11)

LA - Fantômas Centenaire (01.13.11)

HAMMER Presents
Fantômas Centenaire
Billy Wilder Theater
Thursday, January 13, 7pm
 
Co-presented by the Consulat General de France
 
The archfiend Fantômas was created by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre in early 1911. The villain, in top hat and black mask, strode across the rooftops of Paris with a dagger in one hand, casting his murderous shadow over the city.  Born via pulpy paperbacks, he quickly attracted high culture admirers.  The Society of the Friends of Fantômas included Cocteau, Max Jacob, Picasso, Apollinaire, and Colette.  Magritte and Juan Gris painted him; Kurt Weill composed music for him.  In celebration of his 100th birthday, we will screen Louis Feuillade’s haunting, essential silent film Le Mort Qui Tue (1913) with live accompaniment by James Fearnley (The Pogues), followed by a discussion with Fantômas scholar Robin Walz, French director Jean-Pierre Gorin, Los Angeles Times  and NPR film critic Kenneth Turan and moderated by writer Howard Rodman and a birthday party in the courtyard with music by Pink Frankenstein (from Bardot A Go Go!).

ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE.  Tickets are required, and are available at the Billy Wilder Theater Box Office one hour prior to start time.  Limit one ticket per person on a first come, first served basis.  Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability.  Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.   Parking is available under the museum for $3 after 6:00pm, bikes park for free and many public transit lines run directly to the museum.  See our website for more info.
 
Hammer Public Programs
HAMMER Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
programs@hammer.ucla.edu
310.443.7000

NYC - Tom Sachs' Bricolage Magazine #2 Event (12.16.10)

Tom Sachs

Bricolage Magazine #2

Reception and Signing

Thursday, December 16, 6-8 PM

Printed Matter is pleased to announce the launch of the second issue of Bricolage Magazine, by Tom Sachs. Please join us and the artist for a reception & signing on Thursday, December 16, 6-8 PM. Printed Matter is located at 195 Tenth Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Street in New York City.
 
Following the release of Bricolage Magazine #1 in November 2009, Tom Sachs presents the next limited edition zine in the series. The D.I.Y aesthetic of the magazine, photocopied and staple bound, is recognizable from the artist’s previous installation work and other print-based projects. Like much of Sachs’ work, the magazine takes its cue from various hallmarks of contemporary culture, re-tooling familiar imagery through bricolage to shift meaning and find a new sort of critical syntax.

SF - Comfort & Joy Pop-Up Store Event (11.17.10)