• New writing for the blog!! I reviewed Narrative Painting in Los Angeles at @craigkrullgallery @bergamotsantamonica for @phillyartblog (with amazing works by @lolagil, @jariegrayart, @sandowbirk, @carl_dobsky, @warrenart + others) // I reviewed @rileystearns' The Art of Self-Defense for @bust_magazine // I reviewed The Vision Board at @kopeikingallery for @humbleartsfoundation (with awesome works by @ospix, @hubbyco, @erikarothenberg1 + others). Time to sleep off that jet lag.🥋🖼📷🎬✍️
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    New writing for the blog!! I reviewed Narrative Painting in Los Angeles at @craigkrullgallery @bergamotsantamonica for @phillyartblog (with amazing works by @lolagil, @jariegrayart, @sandowbirk, @carl_dobsky, @warrenart + others) // I reviewed @rileystearns' The Art of Self-Defense for @bust_magazine // I reviewed The Vision Board at @kopeikingallery for @humbleartsfoundation (with awesome works by @ospix, @hubbyco, @erikarothenberg1 + others). Time to sleep off that jet lag.🥋🖼📷🎬✍️
  • So I've been visiting Bergamot Station since I started writing about art. (seriously, check my blog for the 2010 entries.) As a result, it's totally surreal and amazing that the official Bergamot Station Instagram is sharing a review I wrote of a show at one of its galleries!!! 😱😱😱😻😻😻 #repost @bergamotsantamonica ・・・ Another fantastic review of Narrative Painting in LA, the sensational show currently on view @craigkrullgallery 👉 @phillyartblog review by @debonthearts “The conventional wisdom about art in America is that New York is where the art gets made, and then it’s sold in California—in places like Los Angeles. The City of Angels is a city with a large population of wealthy art collectors and a rich cultural history of its own that has never included a particular school or coterie of defining visual artists. Perhaps in response to Los Angeles’s lack of specific painting tradition, Narrative Painting in Los Angeles, currently on view in Santa Monica’s Craig Krull Gallery, aims to shine a light on local contemporary artists whose work chronicles the particularities and peculiarities of the city I still call home.” Read more here: https://www.theartblog.org/2019/08/narrative-paintings-accentuate-los-angeless-complicated-history-at-craig-krull-gallery/
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    So I've been visiting Bergamot Station since I started writing about art. (seriously, check my blog for the 2010 entries.) As a result, it's totally surreal and amazing that the official Bergamot Station Instagram is sharing a review I wrote of a show at one of its galleries!!! 😱😱😱😻😻😻 #repost @bergamotsantamonica ・・・ Another fantastic review of Narrative Painting in LA, the sensational show currently on view @craigkrullgallery 👉 @phillyartblog review by @debonthearts “The conventional wisdom about art in America is that New York is where the art gets made, and then it’s sold in California—in places like Los Angeles. The City of Angels is a city with a large population of wealthy art collectors and a rich cultural history of its own that has never included a particular school or coterie of defining visual artists. Perhaps in response to Los Angeles’s lack of specific painting tradition, Narrative Painting in Los Angeles, currently on view in Santa Monica’s Craig Krull Gallery, aims to shine a light on local contemporary artists whose work chronicles the particularities and peculiarities of the city I still call home.” Read more here: https://www.theartblog.org/2019/08/narrative-paintings-accentuate-los-angeless-complicated-history-at-craig-krull-gallery/
  • GOODBYE, JAPAN 🇯🇵 (every muscle in my body hurts edition) . 1) greetings from the capsule hotel where @coredrills and I are spending the night! (#tokyoginzabayhotel) As you can see, it really is a snug, tight fit--about enough room for me to sit up and lie down! . 2) the night before tonight, I had my final meal of conveyor belt sushi! It's entrancing to watch them go round and round and round.... 🍣🍣🍣 . 3) the hotel we left last night had a really cool hallway, like something out of a Kubrick film (I am basing this assessment on the @lacma Kubrick retrospective, which I saw twice, and not any Kubrick films, which I have not seen, okay, okay) . 4) today I went back to Laforet in Harajuku, a super-cool department store that we visited last week. If you want funky and fashionable clothing, this seems to be the place to go... . 5) spotted on Takeshita Street. Sadly I did not buy one of these delicious animal-decorated ice cream cones.... . 6) ...I got a strawberry/whipped cream crepe instead! Crepes are quite popular in this part of town! . 7) okay. Finally. AT LONG LAST, SETO KAIBA MERCHANDISE!!! Courtesy of a little shop in the massive Akihabara gift store. Worth its weight in Blue Eyes White Dragons 😂😂😂😂... On a side note, how many dangling phone charms is too many? I'm currently rocking three now with this new one... (Previously, I got a little fox at the Inari shrine in Kyoto and Hello Kitty climbing Fuji at the Fuji 5th Station gift shop) . 8) and voila, the capsule hotel! It's like a whole room of enclosed bunk beds! We also get a locker for our belongings and a set of pajamas, slippers, and all the toiletries anyone could want . 9) oh hi there (Anna's capsule pod thing is right above mine) . 10) oh hi there I didnt see u sitting in my capsule in my pink capsule hotel pajamas with my leg up on the wall and my arm up on the ceiling as I watch Jonathan Groff Hunt Some Minds in season 2
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    GOODBYE, JAPAN 🇯🇵 (every muscle in my body hurts edition) . 1) greetings from the capsule hotel where @coredrills and I are spending the night! (#tokyoginzabayhotel) As you can see, it really is a snug, tight fit--about enough room for me to sit up and lie down! . 2) the night before tonight, I had my final meal of conveyor belt sushi! It's entrancing to watch them go round and round and round.... 🍣🍣🍣 . 3) the hotel we left last night had a really cool hallway, like something out of a Kubrick film (I am basing this assessment on the @lacma Kubrick retrospective, which I saw twice, and not any Kubrick films, which I have not seen, okay, okay) . 4) today I went back to Laforet in Harajuku, a super-cool department store that we visited last week. If you want funky and fashionable clothing, this seems to be the place to go... . 5) spotted on Takeshita Street. Sadly I did not buy one of these delicious animal-decorated ice cream cones.... . 6) ...I got a strawberry/whipped cream crepe instead! Crepes are quite popular in this part of town! . 7) okay. Finally. AT LONG LAST, SETO KAIBA MERCHANDISE!!! Courtesy of a little shop in the massive Akihabara gift store. Worth its weight in Blue Eyes White Dragons 😂😂😂😂... On a side note, how many dangling phone charms is too many? I'm currently rocking three now with this new one... (Previously, I got a little fox at the Inari shrine in Kyoto and Hello Kitty climbing Fuji at the Fuji 5th Station gift shop) . 8) and voila, the capsule hotel! It's like a whole room of enclosed bunk beds! We also get a locker for our belongings and a set of pajamas, slippers, and all the toiletries anyone could want . 9) oh hi there (Anna's capsule pod thing is right above mine) . 10) oh hi there I didnt see u sitting in my capsule in my pink capsule hotel pajamas with my leg up on the wall and my arm up on the ceiling as I watch Jonathan Groff Hunt Some Minds in season 2
  • so, uh, I did mount fuji 🗻🗻🗻 . Some relevant numbers: . 7.5: roughly the number of hours it took for us to hike/climb/scramble/stand in line to get from the Subaru 5th station to the summit . 4: number of Snickers bars @coredrills packed for snacks . 1: number of times I had a mental breakdown. Occurred when we began walking down from the summit and my feet slid in the gravel and I was shivering and freezing . 5 through 10: photos in this post taken #nofilter style because it's just that beautiful, especially on the way down . ♾: hours of sleep I require after this adventure
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    so, uh, I did mount fuji 🗻🗻🗻 . Some relevant numbers: . 7.5: roughly the number of hours it took for us to hike/climb/scramble/stand in line to get from the Subaru 5th station to the summit . 4: number of Snickers bars @coredrills packed for snacks . 1: number of times I had a mental breakdown. Occurred when we began walking down from the summit and my feet slid in the gravel and I was shivering and freezing . 5 through 10: photos in this post taken #nofilter style because it's just that beautiful, especially on the way down . ♾: hours of sleep I require after this adventure
  • NAOSHIMA ISLAND (+ other stuff) . Sorry for not posting yesterday. We were stranded in Osaka due to Typhoon Krosa, which caused all trains to Okayama to be cancelled. We holed up in a bunch of department stores and malls in the Umeda area of Osaka, where I bought some art at a flea market in one department store and a dress in another. Fun, but not a lot of photos happening. . But today we made it to Okayama, and then to Naoshima Island, an island filled with art sites and installations. Props to @its_saralyns_world for telling me about it in the first place! Here are just a few shots I was able to get of some of the art on the island--we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the Art Houses or museums. . 1) @coredrills took this shot of me serendipitously while we were exiting the Stone Chambers part of the Go'o Shrine Art House. The passage was so narrow I could barely squeeze my shoulders through it! . 2) but first, we took a ferry ride from Uno Port to the island! They played some lovely dramatic music as we pulled away . 3) whoops it's me in a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin how'd I get in there . 4) after we docked, we walked across the island--basically 30 minutes--to get to the Art Houses. This handy-dandy sign was quite helpful. In the Honmura section of Naoshima Island, all of the art sites are very close together, as you can see here. . 5) here's a shot of the Haisha Art House, which used to be a dentist's home and office . 6) and here's a shot of the other part of the Go'o Shrine! . 7) walking around the town area, we spotted this shop selling small sculptures made of soda cans! . 8) added another button to my fanny pack button collection . 9) we took the train from Uno Port back to Okayama, and managed to catch the end of a lantern festival! Our hotel in Okayama is on a street divided by a canal, so we walked along as the sun went down and caught the lanterns floating down the water. Amazingly beautiful. While we were walking we spotted cranes and little bats (???!!!!!!! Seriously, bats) flying in the sky. . 10) okay, here's a photo from our last day in Osaka: we got a very large chocolate ice cream parfait sundae for lunch like responsible adults
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    NAOSHIMA ISLAND (+ other stuff) . Sorry for not posting yesterday. We were stranded in Osaka due to Typhoon Krosa, which caused all trains to Okayama to be cancelled. We holed up in a bunch of department stores and malls in the Umeda area of Osaka, where I bought some art at a flea market in one department store and a dress in another. Fun, but not a lot of photos happening. . But today we made it to Okayama, and then to Naoshima Island, an island filled with art sites and installations. Props to @its_saralyns_world for telling me about it in the first place! Here are just a few shots I was able to get of some of the art on the island--we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the Art Houses or museums. . 1) @coredrills took this shot of me serendipitously while we were exiting the Stone Chambers part of the Go'o Shrine Art House. The passage was so narrow I could barely squeeze my shoulders through it! . 2) but first, we took a ferry ride from Uno Port to the island! They played some lovely dramatic music as we pulled away . 3) whoops it's me in a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin how'd I get in there . 4) after we docked, we walked across the island--basically 30 minutes--to get to the Art Houses. This handy-dandy sign was quite helpful. In the Honmura section of Naoshima Island, all of the art sites are very close together, as you can see here. . 5) here's a shot of the Haisha Art House, which used to be a dentist's home and office . 6) and here's a shot of the other part of the Go'o Shrine! . 7) walking around the town area, we spotted this shop selling small sculptures made of soda cans! . 8) added another button to my fanny pack button collection . 9) we took the train from Uno Port back to Okayama, and managed to catch the end of a lantern festival! Our hotel in Okayama is on a street divided by a canal, so we walked along as the sun went down and caught the lanterns floating down the water. Amazingly beautiful. While we were walking we spotted cranes and little bats (???!!!!!!! Seriously, bats) flying in the sky. . 10) okay, here's a photo from our last day in Osaka: we got a very large chocolate ice cream parfait sundae for lunch like responsible adults
  • First full day in Osaka! Here is an incomplete list of what @coredrills and I did~ . 1) tonight, we went to an arcade back in the Dōtonbori area. We then spent a good fifteen minutes with this incredibly elaborate photobooth where you pick a background and template that makes your eyes huge and sparkly and then embellish each photo with painstaking care. This is the result . 2) but first, this morning we went to the Kamigata Ukiyo-e (woodblock print) Museum, a super cool funky building with ancient prints. The current exhibition was all about the tradition of horror Kabuki works being performed in the summer during the Edo period. From the museum's website: Horror stories that let people get chills down their spine, or using real water to express coolness. . 3) after seeing it in Azumanga Daioh years ago, I finally tried taiyaki, a pastry shaped like a fish and filled with red bean paste. It was not my favorite but I'm glad I got to eat the fish head . 4) next up: we went to the Museum of Housing and Living, which recreated the streets of 1800s Osaka on one floor... . 5) ...and had lots of little models of how Osaka changed architecturally during the 1900s on the next floor! . 6) which is the mask? which is the person? Where does the mask end and where does it begin . 7) the 1800s street recreation had this lion made out of furniture in one of the reconstructed houses. I dug it . 8) back out in the city, we spotted this smol baby hamb near a shrine that was tucked into an alley. Amazing. A++++ 😍🐈 100/10 would recommend . 9) back in Dōtonbori, we went to an arcade. Here's Anna before kicking my butt in Dance Dance Revolution.... . 10) and here's me after losing very badly, dripping with sweat, leaving the air-conditioned arcade for the humid shopping street, whoops
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    First full day in Osaka! Here is an incomplete list of what @coredrills and I did~ . 1) tonight, we went to an arcade back in the Dōtonbori area. We then spent a good fifteen minutes with this incredibly elaborate photobooth where you pick a background and template that makes your eyes huge and sparkly and then embellish each photo with painstaking care. This is the result . 2) but first, this morning we went to the Kamigata Ukiyo-e (woodblock print) Museum, a super cool funky building with ancient prints. The current exhibition was all about the tradition of horror Kabuki works being performed in the summer during the Edo period. From the museum's website: Horror stories that let people get chills down their spine, or using real water to express coolness. . 3) after seeing it in Azumanga Daioh years ago, I finally tried taiyaki, a pastry shaped like a fish and filled with red bean paste. It was not my favorite but I'm glad I got to eat the fish head . 4) next up: we went to the Museum of Housing and Living, which recreated the streets of 1800s Osaka on one floor... . 5) ...and had lots of little models of how Osaka changed architecturally during the 1900s on the next floor! . 6) which is the mask? which is the person? Where does the mask end and where does it begin . 7) the 1800s street recreation had this lion made out of furniture in one of the reconstructed houses. I dug it . 8) back out in the city, we spotted this smol baby hamb near a shrine that was tucked into an alley. Amazing. A++++ 😍🐈 100/10 would recommend . 9) back in Dōtonbori, we went to an arcade. Here's Anna before kicking my butt in Dance Dance Revolution.... . 10) and here's me after losing very badly, dripping with sweat, leaving the air-conditioned arcade for the humid shopping street, whoops
  • Greetings from Osaka! . 1) we spent the morning waiting in Kyoto station before we got on our train. But once we arrived in Osaka, we walked down to the area around the Dōntonbori area, near the canal, where the nightlife and liveliness happens! . 2) just another view of the Dōntonbori canal. It's super pretty and almost Amsterdam-esque during the day! . 3) I just really appreciated how teeny this pitcher of cream was. Added it to my honey iced coffee. . 4) okay. So. I left the hotel around 4 pm and walked down to the Dōtonbori area just to do some shopping/browsing/seeing the sites. And it seemed like every building, with the exception of some restaurants and maybe one in every ten retail stores, was closed. I was very confused--do stores in Osaka close in the afternoon? Is it somehow a public holiday that would mean everything is closed in the afternoon on a weekday? Google could not assist me, and neither could the poor salesmen I approached in two of the open stores because of the language barrier. But at around 8pm, when Anna and I were walking from the canal to our hotel, the whole area was lit up. Turns out it was basically an area filled with host and hostess clubs. So. That's why everything was closed in the afternoon.... . 5)-6) the canal was AMAZING lit up at night! So many people! So lovely! I mean!!!! . 7) just a chill looking side street . 8) the restaurants in the Dōtonbori area had giant statue things outside them to let you know what kind of food to expect. This crab was animatronic!!!!! I was not prepared!!!
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    Greetings from Osaka! . 1) we spent the morning waiting in Kyoto station before we got on our train. But once we arrived in Osaka, we walked down to the area around the Dōntonbori area, near the canal, where the nightlife and liveliness happens! . 2) just another view of the Dōntonbori canal. It's super pretty and almost Amsterdam-esque during the day! . 3) I just really appreciated how teeny this pitcher of cream was. Added it to my honey iced coffee. . 4) okay. So. I left the hotel around 4 pm and walked down to the Dōtonbori area just to do some shopping/browsing/seeing the sites. And it seemed like every building, with the exception of some restaurants and maybe one in every ten retail stores, was closed. I was very confused--do stores in Osaka close in the afternoon? Is it somehow a public holiday that would mean everything is closed in the afternoon on a weekday? Google could not assist me, and neither could the poor salesmen I approached in two of the open stores because of the language barrier. But at around 8pm, when Anna and I were walking from the canal to our hotel, the whole area was lit up. Turns out it was basically an area filled with host and hostess clubs. So. That's why everything was closed in the afternoon.... . 5)-6) the canal was AMAZING lit up at night! So many people! So lovely! I mean!!!! . 7) just a chill looking side street . 8) the restaurants in the Dōtonbori area had giant statue things outside them to let you know what kind of food to expect. This crab was animatronic!!!!! I was not prepared!!!
  • KYOTO DAY 2! . 1) we visited the Golden Pavilion of Kyoto, which was really quite shiny. I snapped this photo of the trees reflecting in the nearby pond. Can you tell which part is sky and which is water? I took the photo and I have to stare at it for a bit to figure it out.... 😂 . 2) it's very very shiny . 3) see how shiny it is (feat. us) . 4) walking around the beautiful gardens, it's impossible to think of how anyone could want to leave. . 5) we then went to the Ryoanji Temple and saw the rock garden! . 6)-8) we stayed in a ryokan (inn) for our last night in Kyoto. Our room was Japanese-style, so we unfolded our futons on tatami mats and slept on the floor. It was a beautiful room and it felt awkward to bring in snacks to eat, like I was eating in a museum or something. . 9) the ryokan asks its guests to wear yukata and slippers during their stay. When in Rome.... . 10) quick nighttime stroll in a market, where I got some little souvenirs
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    KYOTO DAY 2! . 1) we visited the Golden Pavilion of Kyoto, which was really quite shiny. I snapped this photo of the trees reflecting in the nearby pond. Can you tell which part is sky and which is water? I took the photo and I have to stare at it for a bit to figure it out.... 😂 . 2) it's very very shiny . 3) see how shiny it is (feat. us) . 4) walking around the beautiful gardens, it's impossible to think of how anyone could want to leave. . 5) we then went to the Ryoanji Temple and saw the rock garden! . 6)-8) we stayed in a ryokan (inn) for our last night in Kyoto. Our room was Japanese-style, so we unfolded our futons on tatami mats and slept on the floor. It was a beautiful room and it felt awkward to bring in snacks to eat, like I was eating in a museum or something. . 9) the ryokan asks its guests to wear yukata and slippers during their stay. When in Rome.... . 10) quick nighttime stroll in a market, where I got some little souvenirs
  • KYOTO DAY ONE! 1) went to the super awesome International Manga Museum (@kyotointernationalmangamuseum) just a few blocks away from our hotel. In this picture, I am posing as the museum's mascot . 2) the main exhibition at the Manga Museum is a great history of manga as well as an exploration of its relation to and influence on the graphic novels and visual print cultures of other countries and the hallmarks of manga style . 3) in the section where they talk about how manga has become popular all over the world, I saw the CURSED book that I used to teach myself how to draw manga in elementary school. I remember my mom bought it for me in fourth grade at the Scholastic Book Fair (by far the best day of any given school year) and so it was hilarious to see this book in a museum! . 4) they also had plaster casts of famous manga artists' hands along with examples of their drawing! The only artist I recognized was Wataru Yoshizumi, who wrote Marmalade Boy (s/o to @missvioletontherocks, who I read it with in middle school!!) . 5) we then stopped by the Kyoto Art Center, which reminded me a little of the @cranearts building in that it had art spaces and studio spaces. This picture is from the show by Marcos Ávila Forero, the current artist in residence. Here the artist uses Labanotation, a form of movement transcription used in dance to record choreography, to take down the movements of manual laborers. Back in my ballet days, I never learned Labanotation, but I recognized it enough to figure out that that's what the artist was doing before I read the exhibition handout. Lol . 6) good news: the Fushimi Inari shrine is beautiful. Bad news: ... We did an impromptu hike up Mount Inari to see all of the little shrines. Some of the two worst words in the English language: impromptu hike . 7) I'm smiling at @coredrills but I'm also dying . 8) this view on the path down was worth it though. My God. . 9) last item of the day: we went to the Yasaka Pagoda, which is in a very cool little neighborhood. These wild works of art were hanging on a nearby fence/wall. Reminded me a little of Ahrong Kim's wonderfully exaggerated ceramic forms! . 10) the sky was nice
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    KYOTO DAY ONE! 1) went to the super awesome International Manga Museum (@kyotointernationalmangamuseum) just a few blocks away from our hotel. In this picture, I am posing as the museum's mascot . 2) the main exhibition at the Manga Museum is a great history of manga as well as an exploration of its relation to and influence on the graphic novels and visual print cultures of other countries and the hallmarks of manga style . 3) in the section where they talk about how manga has become popular all over the world, I saw the CURSED book that I used to teach myself how to draw manga in elementary school. I remember my mom bought it for me in fourth grade at the Scholastic Book Fair (by far the best day of any given school year) and so it was hilarious to see this book in a museum! . 4) they also had plaster casts of famous manga artists' hands along with examples of their drawing! The only artist I recognized was Wataru Yoshizumi, who wrote Marmalade Boy (s/o to @missvioletontherocks, who I read it with in middle school!!) . 5) we then stopped by the Kyoto Art Center, which reminded me a little of the @cranearts building in that it had art spaces and studio spaces. This picture is from the show by Marcos Ávila Forero, the current artist in residence. Here the artist uses Labanotation, a form of movement transcription used in dance to record choreography, to take down the movements of manual laborers. Back in my ballet days, I never learned Labanotation, but I recognized it enough to figure out that that's what the artist was doing before I read the exhibition handout. Lol . 6) good news: the Fushimi Inari shrine is beautiful. Bad news: ... We did an impromptu hike up Mount Inari to see all of the little shrines. Some of the two worst words in the English language: impromptu hike . 7) I'm smiling at @coredrills but I'm also dying . 8) this view on the path down was worth it though. My God. . 9) last item of the day: we went to the Yasaka Pagoda, which is in a very cool little neighborhood. These wild works of art were hanging on a nearby fence/wall. Reminded me a little of Ahrong Kim's wonderfully exaggerated ceramic forms! . 10) the sky was nice