Art walk

Although we relocated from the reservoir in Silver Lake to the Sunset Junction area a few weeks ago, I still haven't quite figured out my morning walk with Eloise. It was so easy to go around the body of water with all the other walkers, joggers, and dog owners. These days I zigzag around bungalows, apartments, and shops. This morning, I took Eloise down to Sunset to check out public art--including this blue piece not far from El Cid. Its form recalls "muffler man" predecessors as well as the "decorated fire hydrant" genre. The perlious positioning along a particularly busted up portion of sidewalk on a cliff adds some drama to its otherwise quizzical expression.


Not far from our first stop is the mural on the Solutions audio shop, made famous by Elliott Smith's XO album cover art. After Smith died, the wall became a memorial of sorts, as layers of scribblings and tributes were added to its surface. Not long ago, it was tagged by non-indie rock listeners but today it looks better than ever. Two personal connections with the piece: (1) Going to a Smith's garage sale in Portland after seeing him perform with The Spinanes opening for Versus the night before, (2) renting PA equipment from the shop for my brother-in-law's wedding reception and having to return a connector to their shop.


Around the corner from Solutions is The Kitchen. It's kind of a trendy restaurant because it's open late and located next door to a popular gay bar. The tofu steak is just okay. But the main draw is the David Choe mural painted shortly before he split town. Dave probably finished it in one day and wrote "See you later L.A." by the logo. He's not bitter or anything, though, since he returns regularly.


In front of the aforementioned bar was an actual artist showing his wares! The pastel on paper work was rather colorful and the abstract patterns were engaging, but the creator was not giving comments.


Finally, across the street and closer to the gelato and pupusa places is the longstanding Space Invader piece over the coin laundry. Or is it? The tiles seem larger than SI's usual stuff. Perhaps it was an earlier piece. Eloise and I will have to revisit the I [invade] L.A. book to confirm its authenticity. Either way, it's quite nice.

There were no wine, cheese, or poseurs dressed in black during our art walk because it started at 8:30 a.m., but the inaugural event was a success because Eloise had passed out by the end of it. Where will we go tomorrow? Let us know if you want to come along.