Contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama kicked financial ass in 2023, outshining former leading revenue-maker David Hockney in total art sales!…
THE BLOW-UP GLOW-UP: BELGIAN DESIGNERS MAKE INFLATABLE VERSIONS OF CERAMIC VASES AND PITCHERS!
Tired of fleeting fun and deflated dreams? Say goodbye to helium headaches and beach ball blowouts because Belgium-based Home Studyo…
BOOTSTRAPPED DRIPPY: RICK OWENS AND DR. MARTENS EXTREMELY LACED COLLABO BOOTS HAS US ALL TIED UP!
Rick Owens and Dr. Martens have been playing footsie since 2021, and let’s just say, their chemistry is hotter than…
RIDDLE WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY INSIDE AN ENIGMA: THOSE PESKY MONOLITHS STARTED POPPING UP AGAIN!
In an era where the mundane is often met with apathy, a series of enigmatic monoliths have emerged from the…
FORGET “I’LL BE BACK!” HE’S HERE!: FIGURE AI UNLEASHES THE FUTURE WITH CREEPY AI-DRIVEN HUMANOID ROBOT WHO DOES HOUSEHOLD CHORES!
Alright, folks, buckle up because we’re diving into the latest and eeriest creation straight out of a sci-fi flick. You…
PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED: THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS AND THE ROYAL PHOTOSHOP FAKERY FIASCO!
In the world of royals, even a seemingly mundane family photo can ignite a firestorm of controversy and conspiracy. Case…
“SERIOUS AND WIDESPREAD OFFENSE”: CALVIN KLEIN BILLBOARD WITH SEMI-NUDE FKA TWIGS BANNED IN U.K.
The latest buzz in the world of fashion and controversy has been brewing over the recent takedown of a provocative…
DEEPFAKE ROYALE! ARTIST CREATES CREEPY FILM WITH ALL THE JAMES BONDS!
It’s simultaneously creepy and hilarious. And it’s definitely brilliant. Using AI video technology tools and filming herself on a green…
SPRAY-PAINTING THE TOWN: THE INSANE GRAFFITI TAKEOVER OF A LUXURY L.A. SKYSCRAPER!
In the heart of downtown Los Angeles, where dreams of opulence once stood tall, a new narrative unfolds—one sprayed in…
THE PASSING OF AN INIMITABLE STYLE ICON! RIP, IRIS APFEL!
In the wild and wonderful world of style, we’ve just bid adieu to one of its most electrifying figures: the…
WHAT THE APPLE CAR MIGHT HAVE LOOKED LIKE! : HERE’S A COLLECTION OF 50x A.I. ARTIST AND DESIGNER RENDERINGS OF THE VEHICLE THAT NEVER WAS!
This week it was revealed that Apple Computer is shuttering its autonomous vehicle program known as Project Titan, a.k.a., “Apple…
HITTING THE BRAKES! : THE APPLE CAR THAT NEVER WILL BE!
Apple’s ambitious electric car project, dubbed “Project Titan,” has come to a screeching halt after a decade-long endeavor. The company,…
MOONSTRUCK! : ARTIST JEFF KOONS’ COSMIC ART LANDS ON LUNAR SURFACE AS PART OF NASA SPACE MISSION!
In a cosmic fusion of art and space exploration, Jeff Koons‘ latest venture has propelled his miniature moon sculptures to…
SELLING THE SIZZLE: OUR FAVORITE 2024 SUPER BOWL AD!
Have you seen the TV commercial for skincare brand CeraVe? The one that ran during the 2024 Super Bowl last…
CAFFEINATED STYLE, PART 3: MADDENINGLY BEAUTIFUL COFFEE SHOP DECOR!
In the latest entry in our series looking at beautiful coffee shops and cafes we love is Frontside Cafe in…
WALL OF COATS: ARTIST’S INSTALLATION ARTWORK IS … WALL OF COATS!
The artist is Ann Hamilton. The artwork is titled “side by side.coats.” The location is the Los Angeles County Museum…
OUT OF HARMONY: THE UNBEARABLE HEAVINESS OF FILMMAKER HARMONY KORINE’S DISTURBING DYSTOPIC PAINTINGS!
Harmony Korine is better know as one of the leading figures to emerge from the New York City independent film…
TIK TOK STYLE WAR: “SAD BEIGE” BATTLE LINES DRAWN OVER PIX OF HOME INTERIOR MAKEOVER ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
The DIY interior design work of a Norwegian woman named Emma Ganzarain has gone viral on Tik Tok after she…
MUSIC NON-STOP: NEW ELECTRONIC TUNE BY ALOHA DEATH — “DOWNTOWN DAWN PATROL” IS OUT AND STREAMING!
We’ve just dropped a new tune we produced as part of our ongoing Global Graphica music project and record label.…
STREET FAKES: TAYLOR SWIFT AS STREET ART SUPERSTAR!
Taylor Swift is a pop-music mega-star with an audience on a scale of which the world has seldom seen. Her…
THE BIG DRAW: CHECKING OUT THE MASSIVE KEITH HARING EXHIBITION IN L.A.
We dropped in on the massive retrospective exhibition of the late, great pioneering artist Keith Haring at the Broad art…
CONTEMPORARY ART ON VIEW: ARTIST TRNZ CAPTURES CHILDHOOD IN ITS PRECIOUS MOMENTS OF PENSIVITY AND PETULANCE!
The new show by the artist TRNZ at Thinkspace in Los Angeles is filled with paintings that evoke children’s storybook…
MUST-SEE TV: OUR LATEST VIDEO IS FIRST EPISODE OF NEW SERIES CALLED “ARTIST IN RESIDENCE”!
We recently released a new video we produced on the Australian artist Lincoln Mayne. It’s the first in a series…
CONTEMPORARY ART ON VIEW: ARTIST RAY DUNLAP’S DEEPLY PERSONAL VISUAL CHRONICLES OF AN INTER-GALACTIC DREAM TIME!
“Diary of an Abductee” is the title of artist Ray Dunlap‘s latest solo exhibition currently on view at the East…
SLEEPER HIT: MUSEUM VISITORS NOT-SHOCKED AT SIGHT OF MAN NAPPING ON THE GALLERY FLOOR!
Patrick Jackson’s two life-size, realistic human figures lie supine on the floor of two separate galleries in the Hammer Museum…
CAFFEINATED STYLE, PART II: MADDENINGLY BEAUTIFUL COFFEE SHOP DECOR!
Next stop on our survey of beautiful cafes with legit coffee is Singing Sun Coffee in the seaside town of…
CAFFEINATED STYLE, PART I: MADDENINGLY BEAUTIFUL COFFEE SHOP DECOR!
We’re exploring and documenting the interior decor and style of a few of our favorite third-wave coffee shops in a…
ARTWORLD EN REGALIA: GUESS WHAT BUILDING THIS IS! THERE’S A HINT IN THE TITLE OF THIS POST! WINK WINK!
Did you guess? Did you guess that it’s the Marciano Art Foundation (MAF) museum building and home to one of…
NEW PROJECTS: ART IS LIFE – AN INDISPENSABLE VISUAL REFERENCE TO AN ART CRITIC’S BOOK!
“Art is Life” is a collection of essays and articles by New York magazine’s art critic Jerry Saltz. The book is…
THIS OLD MANSION: VISIT TO ARCHITECTURAL TREASURE BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BLOWS OUR MIND WITH GENIUS DESIGN VISION AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL!
We visited an architectural landmark last weekend. That landmark is Hollyhock House in Los Angeles. The house is a sprawling…
URBAN JUNGLES: MASSIVE PLANTS MURALS INVADE CITIES AROUND THE WORLD! THE ART OF MONA CARON!
Swiss artist Mona Caron‘s building-size murals inject larger-than-life images of verdant botanical life into otherwise drab urban landscapes. Many of…
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: MASSIVE L.A. MURAL STOPPING PASSERSBY IN TRACKS IS JUST “ONE OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS OF ALL-TIME”!
In the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, there’s a massive mural of a middle-aged man, his hands clasped together,…
LET’S GET GRAPHICAL: WINE LABEL CAJOLES DRINKERS TO THINK WITH BRANDING AND DESIGN!
We like wine. We like drinking it, whether imbibing a basic table wine from the local Trader Joe’s supermarket with…
THRILLER THREADS: GRAPHIC TEE PAYS HOMAGE TO ITALIAN CULT-CLASSIC HORROR FILM!
“Suspiria” is cult-classic supernatural horror film of the 1970s by Italian filmmaker Dario Argento. It was part of a horror…
STREET ART 101: ICONIC MURALS, BOLD STATEMENTS – WHO IS D*FACE?
D*Face, the British street art maestro, is a multimedia maverick who wields spray paint, stickers, posters, and stencils with unbridled…
FASHION & STYLE 101: CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE FASHION – EVOLUTION, INNOVATION AND INFLUENCE!
Japanese fashion has evolved into a global powerhouse, captivating the industry with its innovative designs, meticulous craftsmanship, and unique aesthetic…
ARCADE FIRE: WE WENT TO A DAVE & BUSTER’S RESTAURANT IN AMERICA AND NEARLY DIED OF SENSORY OVERLOAD!
Yesterday we went to a suburban California outpost of the American restaurant chain Dave and Buster’s. It was a dizzying,…
PRINTED MATTER: NEW ISSUE OF APARTAMENTO MAGAZINE ARRIVES!
Apartamento magazine is here! This new issue of the English-language, Barcelona, Spain-based “everyday interiors” mag is jam-packed with interviews with…
SOUND AND VISION: AT TECHNO PIONEER CARL CRAIG’S RADICALLY THUMPING, MINIMALIST EXPERIENTIAL ART INSTALLATION IN L.A.!
Last week we went to the exhibition of Detroit Techno pioneer and artist Carl Craig at MoCA in Los Angeles.…
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: NEW NETFLIX ALI WONG SERIES “BEEF” IS GIVING US PANIC ATTACKS!
We’re now fully in the deep end of the Netflix series “Beef.” We’ve only got an episode and a half…
ART 101: THE ART WORLD’S MARVELOUS, MIRTHFUL PIED PIPER – WHO IS JEFF KOONS?
In the grand spectacle that is the art world, few artists can command attention quite like Jeff Koons. With his…
HAPPY CAMPER: BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE’S NEW CAFE IN JAPAN IS “ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON” PERFECT! THINK WE’RE IN LOVE!
Like something out of a Wes Anderson film, this Blue Bottle Coffee cafe in Nagoya, Japan, is a too-perfect, polished,…
PARKS AND REC: A QUICK VISIT TO TOKYO’S POPULAR “ROBOT PARK”!
Tucked away on a hillside between two leafy residential blocks of central Tokyo sits Sakurazaka Park. Better known colloquially as…
SHOW ME THE HONEY : STREET ART SWEETENS THE HYPER-SHOPPING MECCA OF TOKYO’S SHIBUYA!
It was a sweet surprise to see the street art of San Francisco-based artist Fnnch (pronounced “finch”) in Tokyo a…
IN YOUR FACE : TOKYO ELECTION BILLBOARDS COLOR EVERY CORNER OF CITY WITH PORTRAITS OF POLS!
It’s election campaign season again in Tokyo. If you’re on the ground in Japan’s capital, you can’t help but know…
FAR AWAY, SO CLOSE : JAPANESE ARTIST’S TOWERING HEAVENLY “SURF ANGEL” STATUE IS AN INDELIBLE EPIC DREAM!
Japanese artist Motohiko Odani’s massive, fantastic, classical-style neon and plaster sculptural object “Surf Angel (Provisional Monument 2)” towers in a…
EVERYBODY HATES PUBLIC ART, EXCEPT WHEN THEY DON’T : THE INCREDIBLE, INEDIBLE AND POPULAR “TOKYO EGG”!
It seems almost axiomatic that most public art is bad. Like really, really mind-blowingly f*cking bad. And though it is…
PRINTED MATTER: HIGHLY ENTERTAINING “THE NINETIES” IS MUST-READ ROMP THROUGH A DECADE’S POP CULTURE HISTORY!
We’re reading the paperback edition of Chuck Klosterman’s most recent book, a look at 1990s pop culture and historical trends…
JET LAG CONFIDENTIAL: BACK IN TOKYO! BUT FIRST, COFFEE!
We’re back in Tokyo and it feels so good. Except for the mad jet lag, which feels very much not…
CONTEMPORARY ART 101: FROM “SUPERFLAT” TO SUPERSTAR – WHO IS ARTIST TAKASHI MURAKAMI?
Takashi Murakami is perhaps the best-known among a handful of Japanese contemporary artists who have over the past couple of…
PEAK TV: MENAGERIE OF A-HOLES “SUCCESSION” RETURNS FOR FINAL SEASON!
It’s here. The fourth and final season of the HBO dramatic black-comedy series “Succession” aired in the United States Sunday…
ANTI ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA CLUB: NEPO BABY SPAWN OF INDIE FILM AND MUSIC POWER COUPLE BREAKS INTERWEBZ!
Well, well, well, looks like we’ve got ourselves a little “NePo baby” on our hands. For those of you who…
OH, MEMETIC WORLD: THOUGHTS ON THE A.I.-GENERATED TRUMP ARREST MEME!
Well, well, well, if it isn’t the latest internet sensation: hyper photo-realistic A.I.-generated image memes of former President Trump being…
CINEMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE: WHY “EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE” DESERVED ITS OSCAR!
The film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2022. Some may argue that…
FROM THE STREET TO THE WHITE CUBE – WHO IS THE ARTIST KNOWN AS “KAWS”?
The work of KAWS, the pseudonym of American artist Brian Donnelly, has been taking the art world by storm for…
STREET ART 101: IN PRAISE OF SUBVERSION — WHO IS BANKSY?
Banksy, the elusive street artist, has become a legend in his own time, carving out a unique niche in the…
ART 101: THE POLKA-DOT PRINCESS OF CONTEMPORARY ART – WHO IS YAYOI KUSAMA?
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist who has captivated the world with her mesmerizing polka dots and psychedelic installations, is nothing…
CAFFEINATED BY DESIGN: THE COFFEE TABLE BOOK ABOUT COFFEE!
The name of Italian espresso-machine maker La Marzocco may not roll off the tongue easily or be a household name.…
WIDE WALLS: MEMORIAL MURAL REMINDS OF US THE GREATNESS OF THE LATE, GREAT KOBE BRYANT!
Just over three years since NBA superstar Kobe Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash on a Calabasas mountainside, his…
SPEED FREAK: DESIGNER HANS LOHRER’S BOLD VISIONS FOR PORSCHE!
Hanns Lohrer was a German painter and commercial graphic designer based in the city of Stuttgart. In spite of his…
ON VIEW: ALEX ISRAEL’S PASTEL-TINTED, SURF-INSPIRED VISION!
We’re fans of artist Alex Israel. It may in part be due to the fact that we’re surfers here at…
FILM 101: WHO IS WES ANDERSON?
Wes Anderson is a renowned American filmmaker and screenwriter who has made a name for himself in the film industry…
ARCHITECTURE 101: WHAT IS “GOOGIE” ARCHITECTURE?
Googie architecture is a style of modernist architecture that emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century, predominantly in…
“GOTHIC FUTURISM” : THE BLOCKBUSTER ARTWORK OF PIONEERING HIP-HOP ARTIST RAMMELLZEE!
We went to Deitch Projects gallery in Los Angeles on Saturday for the last day of the blockbuster “Gothic Futurism”…
“HALF-ARSED!” : HORROR SHOW OF UNFINISHED ARCHITECTURE PLAGUES NEW ART MUSEUM NEAR L.A.
The recently opened Orange County Museum of Art (“OCMA”) is an architectural cautionary tale. When the $94-million-dollar new museum opened…
PRINTED MATTER: GRAPHIC NOVEL AS AFRO-PUNK MEMOIR IS A TOUR DE FORCE!
If there’s only one graphic novel you buy this year, “The High Desert: Black, Punk, Nowhere” should be it. It’s…
AT THE MUSEUM: INCREDIBLE NAVAJO-INFLUENCED ART OF ERIC-PAUL RIEGE!
We’re blown away by the artwork of Navajo artist Eric-Paul Riege. His current show at the Hammer Museum in Los…
INCREDIBLE EDIBLE: ARTIST CREATES GIANT FOOD SCULPTURES TO DROOL FOR!
We checked out the whimsical “Fulton’s Exhibit” in Hollywood last weekend. The show is a collection of giant food sculptures…
VAN LIFE: YET ANOTHER VEHICLE PAINTED BY KENNY SCHARF!
We spotted yet another vehicle adorned with artwork by the artist Kenny Scharf in Los Angeles. This one was on…
MEDIUM IS MESSAGE: THE POTENT RELEVANCE OF BARBARA KRUGER!
The Broad museum in Los Angeles has several major works by the influential American artist Barbara Kruger in its permanent…
DEUS EX MACHINA: THIS TOKYO VENDING MACHINE SOLVES OUR THIRD-WAVE COFFEE LUST!
A cluster of vending machines stands on a Roppongi street corner next to a small public parking lot a few…
VISUAL TRASH: STREET ART, GRAFFITI, ADVERTISING, OH MY!
On the shiny, new gentrified south end of Downtown Los Angeles there are remnants still, old and recent, of the…
POST-MODERN CLASSIC: REVISITING ANDY WARHOL’S “MAO” PAINTINGS!
Between 1972 and 1973, the late great pop-art pioneer Andy Warhol created 199 silkscreen paintings of the notorious Chinese revolutionary…
HOUSE BEAUTIFUL: MR. DOODLE TURNS 12-ROOM U.K. MANSION INTO TRULY EPIC GRAFFITI ART CANVAS!
British artist Sam Cox, better known as Mr. Doodle, spent roughly two years during the COVID pandemic painting black-on-white doodles…
STYLE BEASTS: THE REAL FASHION SHOW IS ON THE STREETS!
The New York Times has an excellent photo essay on how the streets of Milan come alive with style beasts…
CINEMATIC WAVES: WE MADE A SURF FILM!
So we made a little surf film. Though the word “film” here is used broadly. “Somewhere” is a short surf…
KILL YOUR TELEVISION: WHAT WE’RE WATCHING, RIGHT NOW!
We’ve just started watching the second season of the Hulu original series “Only Murders in the Building.” We’re three episodes…
COSMIC THING: KENNY SCHARF CARTOONS ADORN L.A. TIRE SHOP!
Two dark-pink, disembodied cartoon heads by Los Angeles-based artist Kenny Scharf bookend the signage on the facade of a tire…
PRINTED MATTER: THE TINY TOKYO BOOKSTORE STUFFED WITH AMAZING COLLECTION OF ART-PHOTO BOOKS!
It’s the little bookstore crammed with enough books to fill a shop twice its size. It’s the Shelf bookshop in…
STREET ART: MURAL BY MR. B-BABY IN LOS ANGELES
Awesome street art mural by Mr. B-Baby near intersection of Venice Boulevard and Centinela Avenue in the Mar Vista neighborhood…
ROCKSTAR GAMES: ROBOT SINGER IMPROVISES LYRICS IN REAL TIME! WE’RE DOOMED!
Desdemona is her name, and she is a pop singer and a robot. Mechanical, life-size and driven by artificial intelligence…
LET THERE BE LIGHT: THE HOT, SEXY NEW LAMP TAKING OVER NYC!
According to the New York Times, there’s a new lamp that seems to be ubiquitous in New York City restaurants.…
LONG GAME : LEGENDARY 95-YEAR-OLD “PAINTER’S PAINTER” PREPS FOR HIS NEW SHOW AT GUGGENHEIM!
The New York Times had a great article on the artist Alex Katz last week. The artist is a giant…
LA LA LAND GRAFFITI : “SICKID” BILLBOARD HUSTLE IN HOLLYWOOD !
Driving around a major U.S. city long enough and you’re bound to see unused billboards that have been hijacked with…
STREET ART P.S.A. : HOUSTON GRAFFITI GIVES IMPORTANT HEALTH REMINDER!
Here’s an important message we should all heed: “Breathe.” A lovable and small graffiti artwork on the side of a…
BREAKING – THE PASSING OF A FASHION VISIONARY : R.I.P., ISSEY MIYAKE !
We awoke this morning to the news that Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake has died. He was 84. The Washington…
ON THE BOOKSHELF: A CHEEKY LOOK AT MEMES!
“The Memeing of LIfe: A Journey Through the Delirious World of Memes” is a droll, entertaining study of a most…
CRYPTO ART : MURAL OF THE BORED APE YACHT CLUB NFT AS GYM DECOR
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been around for few years now, but it was in 2021 that these captured the public’s…
ARCHITECTURAL DESSERTS : GEOMETRIC VANILLA MATCHA POPS!
These vanilla-matcha popsicles are like no other pops we’ve ever had. They’re called Dream Pops and are vegetable-based, containing only…
WRIT LARGE : MASSIVE “MSK” GRAFFITI THROW-UP IN L.A. ARTS DISTRICT
We spent a morning in the Arts District on a recent visit to Los Angeles. It’s home to lots and…
POST-MODERNISM IN THE PARK : CONTEMPORARY ARTWORK AS PLAYGROUND
Dubbed the “post-modern playground slide” in the park across the street from my in-laws’ home near Roppongi in Tokyo. The…
“KONNICHIWA!” : BACK IN TOKYO AND IT FEELS LIKE HOME!
We got to Tokyo early in the morning just after sunrise. It was a bright, hot morning with the humidity…
UP IN THE AIR : BACK TO TOKYO!
Yup! We’re heading back to Tokyo. After getting all our COVID booster vaccinations and updated health documents and customs and…
BEYOND “SUPERFLAT” : AT THE MIND-ALTERING TAKASHI MURAKAMI SHOW IN L.A.!
We finally made it to the landmark Takashi Murakami exhibition at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. We posted about…
UN-CONTAINABLE : AT THE OPENING OF THE BRILLIANTLY-CURATED “VESSEL” ART SHOW IN LA LA LAND!
On Saturday we went to the opening of a new group show at Hashimoto Contemporary in Los Angeles. It’s called…
ON THE SCENE : DESIGN VISION, STYLE & SURF CULTURE AT MOLLUSK!
The Mollusk surf shop in Santa Barbara, California is a beautiful showpiece of a retail space. It’s the recent addition…
BEFORE INSTAGRAM : DIVING INTO THE IMAGE COLLECTION OF A GROUND- BREAKING MASTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY!
Artist, filmmaker and photographer William Klein is arguably one of the 20th Century’s greatest image makers. While Klein worked in…
NIFTY : NFT STREET ART SIMULTANEOUSLY EVOKES AWE AND EYE-ROLLS IN TOURISTY POST-GENTRIFIED OVER-HIPSTERED VENICE HOOD!
On a wall in an alley behind a block of fashionable cafes, luxe-hipster boutiques and a foodie-grade ice cream shop…
SUPERFLAT IN LA LA LAND: TAKASHI MURAKAMI’S FIRST MAJOR SOLO SHOW AT THE BROAD MUSEUM OPENS!
This weekend saw the opening of a major Takashi Murakami exhibition at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. It’s the…
ARCHITECTURAL DEATH: THE DEMOLITION OF ICONIC TOKYO BUILDING!
The Nakagin Capsule Tower Building in Tokyo is an unmissable architectural oddity and gem in the heart of the Japanese…
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