Friday
Looking @ LA
Los Angeles occupies a distinctive position in the American cultural imagination. Unsurprisingly, the city’s dramatic hills, canyons and beaches are a prime location for the projection (and production) of America’s fantasies. The city’s richly varied landscape coupled with its film, art and music industry are just a few reasons why so many eyes around the world are fixed on what Angelenos will do next. Still, there are less obvious reasons that Los Angeles is such an engaging city. LA holds a particular fascination for anyone interested in thinking deeply about contemporary culture. Its identity has been more fiercely debated and critically dissected than any other American city, spawning countless books, films and artworks dealing with the city’s legacy. The following profiles don’t cover outstanding civic achievements, rather they honor both well-known and lesser-known figures in Los Angeles’ cultural fabric that engage thoroughly with the city and, most importantly, have played a pivotal role in shaping perceptions of the Southland from without and within.
Author Archive
HOLLYWOOD IS A VERB. © Ed Ruscha. Edward Ruscha Studio.ED RUSCHA is as much a part of LA as its sunsets, freeways, wildfires, and beaches. Lest we limit him as a regionalist, let us remember that California itself is a slippery character, an idea as much as a place. As the artist incisively observed in [...]
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Photo: Ted VanCleaveStephen Cohen casts his net wide. His galleries, the Stephen Cohen gallery in LA and Cohen Amador in New York, represent a staggering number of international photographers working in a wide variety of genres. As if running two internationally renowned photo galleries weren’t enough, he is the founder and driving force [...]
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Photo: Paul Tyree-FrancisThe twisting drive up the Angeles Crest Highway towards Mt. Wilson alternates between cityscape and the side of the moon, especially at night. This razor thin line between civilization and wilderness is a large part of Mt. Wilson’s charm; the mountain is home to a conglomeration of radio and television towers, but [...]
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