A New ‘Library of Esoterica’ Brings the Occult to Your Coffee Table
Not so long ago, the discovery of esoteric knowledge was a rite unto itself, requiring research and travel, as many dead ends as discoveries. Today, these quests are as simple as a Google search, a glance at an astrology app or a scroll through Instagram, where the hashtag #witchesofinstagram will lead you to six million... More
Joan Didion Explores the ‘Shimmer’ in a New Collection
“You know, sometimes I think I can’t think at all unless I’m behind my typewriter,” Joan Didion told an editor for Ms. magazine during an interview at the author’s Malibu home. It was January 1977, and Didion’s third novel, “A Book of Common Prayer,” would be published in March. The editor, Susan Braudy, had asked... More
The California Dream of Elysian Landscapes
For Judy Kameon, the most important role a garden can fulfill is to create community, so there is a poetic synergy in the fact that her career as a garden designer began almost by chance, in 1996, when she was hosting a pop-up restaurant in her Elysian Park backyard. Hotelier Sean MacPherson was one of... More
Corita Kent: Pop Artist, Public Servant, Rebel Nun
“To be fully alive is to work for the common good.” —Corita Kent The artist best known as Sister Corita was born Frances Elizabeth Kent in 1918. She grew up in Hollywood but she was no beach bunny or glamour girl; at 18, right after graduating from high school (and to the surprise of her... More
Sara Ruffin Costello’s Southern Charms
Seven years ago, Sara Ruffin Costello and her family did what so many New Yorkers dream of but never dare—they left behind the urban rat race for a slower, sweeter pace of life. For Costello, the founding creative director of Domino magazine, and her photographer husband, Paul, the draw was one of America’s most intriguing... More
The New Face of the Hotel Figueroa
Elegant and airy, lit by natural skylights and chandeliers, warmed by wood paneling, plush seating and a central fireplace, and decorated with contemporary art, books and rare objets: This quietly luxe first impression of the renovated Hotel Figueroa was not what the real estate developer Bradley Hall had in mind when the property came on... More
Global Citizen Phillip Lim
Twenty years ago, Phillip Lim was a talented up-and-comer, designing clothes for the label Development out a downtown L.A. studio where the door was secured with a padlock and the streets were virtually uninhabited. With no restaurants nearby, Lim used to drive over to Zip Sushi, an Izakaya spot five minutes away in the Arts... More
Gangsta Gardener Ron Finley
In South Los Angeles, the term “gangsta” isn’t typically associated with flowers, fruit trees, or fertile bins of compost, but one day it will be, if Ron Finley has his way. For the self-named “Gangsta Gardener,” planting an edible garden is an act of resistance and empowerment, not to mention a smart financial move. “Growing... More
Maripol: Polaroids From The Underground
In 1974, a book called The Faith of Graffiti, featuring photographs by Jon Naar and an essay by Norman Mailer about a new art form rising from the streets and subways of New York City, found its way into the hands of a student at l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, France, named Marie-Paule. A seminal... More
Frogtown: A Creative Hub Blossoms Along the L.A. River
Turn onto the wrong street from Riverside Drive and you might never find it. You’ll hit the 2 or the 5 freeway, or maybe wind up at a side entrance to Home Depot. But once you do enter this neighborhood of single-family homes and low industrial buildings, nestled along the curving, soft-bottom section of the... More
Aaron Moulton: Invoking the Hierophant
“When people discover Alejandro Jodoroswky, there’s like a before-and-after kind of thing,” said curator Aaron Moulton, smoking a cigarette on the deck of his home in LA’s Mount Washington neighborhood, where he lives with his wife Mette and their two children. It was The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky’s 1973 cult classic film, that introduced Moulton to the filmmaker,... More
Desert Storm: Art in Joshua Tree and the Coachella Valley
The drive from Palm Springs to Rancho Mirage isn’t what you’d describe as scenic: The landscape shifts from explosively verdant flora and palm tree colonnades to tan stucco boxes, asphalt, and scrub. But Neville Wakefield, the artistic director of the Desert X biennial, opening February 25 and on view through April, wasn’t necessarily looking for... More