Art & Design

Echo Parks' Sunset Blvd is Becoming a Mecca of Culture

‘Park on the Dance Floor’ is Shaping the Echo Park District of Los Angeles into Something Special.

By Julian Lucas
Published 6am PST

Echo Park — Last weekend was more than a cruise night, more than a usual exhibition on a Saturday evening, and much more than just a party. It was a celebration of culture and people coming together on their terms, without any influential interference. 

The setting - the streets and sidewalks of Sunset Blvd. The music came both directions, north Sunset, mostly the Cumbias blaring from Género Neutral, and south, you could hear either 80s Funk and even old school Banda. In either direction I found myself bobbing my head and even busting a small OG two-step to George Clinton’s ‘Atomic Dog’ and trying to spin to Banda Zeta’s ‘La Nina Fresa’. Either way, everyone participated in some type of body movement because it was just that perfect. 

The celebration was organized by Classico Tattoo in partnership with Paisa Boys, Género Neutral, low boy, Pure Beauty, 444, Liquid Death Mountain Water, Air Nandez, and California Cowboys Collective. All involved are trend-setting, offering a new fresh way of celebrating the way we socialize. 

PEEP THE RECAP - PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIAN LUCAS...... EVEN THE BLURRY IMAGES

Nadia Lee Cohen ' Hello My Name Is’ Jeffrey Deitch Gallery Los Angeles

Courtesy of Jeffrey Deitch
Photography Charles White

By Julian Lucas
Published June 17, 2022 11:37am PST

Los Angeles— British photographer Nadia Lee Cohen opened her first major solo exhibition Hello, My Name Is in the United States.The exhibition was held at none other than Jeffrey Deitch Gallery. Where else, who else would showcase such an exhibition? It's an overview of works from both her monograph, Women (sold out) and her latest book of the same name, displayed with images, sculpture, and film.

Hello My Name Is, immerses you in photographic imagery and never-before-seen footage of the insular world of Cohen’s human subjects - characters  created and played either by Nadia or in collaboration with models who assume different identities.  In the meantime, a conveyor belt brings  a succession of these characters’ personal effects that rotate in and out of the room.

Elsewhere, in a darkened, theater-like area, Cohen takes on each of the character’s parts.  As skewed as her photographs and accompanying films are, Cohen’s hyper-more-than-real art ultimately encourages the viewer to build relationships with the very real persons we see on a daily basis.

HELLO, My Name Is
Jeffrey Deitch Gallery / Los Angeles
Now through August 13 2022

Jeffrey Deitch
925 N Orange Dr,
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Julian Lucas, is a photographer, creative strategist, and writer in training, but mostly a photographer. Julian also works as a housing specialist which, includes linking unhoused veterans to housing.

Artist and Urban Activist Theaster Gates and Adjaye Associates Unveil the Serpentine Pavilion 2022

Black Chapel, the 21st Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Theaster Gates Photography Iwan Baan 2022

The Pomonan
Published 6-07-2022 5:17pm PST

London— The Black Chapel pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery is the 21st of a sequence of pavilions built in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, London.

It investigates the link between art, architectural design, and spirituality, according to the designers, in an effort to reconnect London's populous with spiritual environmental experiences. The Black Chapel is a vessel and receptacle for those who desire to assemble.

Gates is the first artist that isn’t an architect to be award the commission, to design and build the pavilion , although it was executed with the help of architect David Adjaye and associates.

The pavilion is a black cylinder design constructed of lightweight wood and materials sourced sustainably. Seven suspended panels within the pavilion pay tribute to Gates' late father's profession as a roofer. A bronze bell salvaged from St. Laurence, a historic Catholic Church on Chicago's South Side, rests at the entryway.

Theaster Gates, a Chicago based artist is known for repurposing buildings and communities with through art. Gates' work focuses on space theory and land development, as well as sculpture and performance. Gates reclaims abandoned sites by drawing on his passion and experience in urban planning and preservation. Projects include but not limited to the Stony Island Arts Bank, Dorchester Art Housing Collaborative, in addition to the Rebuild Foundation.

Gates is also a professor at the University of Chicago in the Visual Arts department. In addition, Gates also serves as the Senior Advisor for Cultural Innovation and Advisor to the Dean. Gates is Director of Artists Initiatives at the Lunder Institute for American Art at Colby College Museum of Art. Gates also was a 2018/2019 Artist-in-Residence at the Getty Research Institute.

The Pomonan is a digital media platform. We seek to develop enlightening material that promotes culture and dialogues through digital strategy and creative concepts - utilizing unique journalism through essay and storytelling.