Viva LA Foodies was invited by Foodbuzz to attend the “Art In the Streets” and “Food x Film” presentation of the all new Levi’s film Workshop at the MOCA satellite museum at the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo in LA this past Thursday.
Guest photographer, friend and local street artist Seth “Meex” Wilder from “The Love Alone” came along with us and our partner in crime, fellow foodbuzz blogger Rico Mandel from “The Culinary Image” to explore a taste of something that speaks to us all; street culture, street art, street life and food related filmography. The combination of all stimuli made for a perfect pairing.
A Tour Through the eyes of a Street Artist:
Our personal walking tour with Seth “MeexOne” Wilder started outside upon arrival and it was like touring the museum through the eyes of a street artist. Meex dropped quite a bit of history and knowledge for us and made us feel like we were a part of the the movement as it was happening.
Being from LA we can all relate to the colorful imagery and not fall prey to the stigmas that graffiti is vandalism. It is self expression and artistry of the temporary kind because before you know it paint will cover it up and the canvas artists will rotate but the theme of street art will remain. Meex explained that a vast majority of the artists on display at the show are his mentors and colleagues ever since he began his art career.
Street Artist’s on the outside:
Os Gêmeos, or simply translated from its Portuguese origins means “The Twins.” The cubic face outside the museum’s entrance sets the tone for what is to come inside. Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, hail from São Paulo, Brazil and have been doing street art since the 1980’s and have created a defining style of street art in a folklore tone putting Brazil on the street art map.
“Risk” from the 1st & 2nd wave of early 80’s Graffiti movement pays homage to LA’s public transportation in an artistic version of classic“bomb style” Graffiti art with his piece on old LA City Bus in the center courtyard. At the time the transit system in LA was known by the slang term “Richard T. Davis” or R-T-D for short. “Risk” represents AWR, 7th Letter and WC Crew’s.
Space Invader also known as Invader is a French mixed media graphic artist who plasters up tiled versions of video game characters from the 1980’s “Space Invaders” game in a mosaic style. Each invader is different and they can be found all over the world. Look online for a map to all of his latest “Invasion’s”
Food x Film, Foodbuzz and Future Farmers:
Foodbuzz, a food and lifestyle online community invited us and fellow blogger’s to learn about the collaborative Food x Film projects that are happening all summer at the MOCA Museum at the Geffen Contemporary in conjunction with Levi’s Film Workshops and the historical “Art in the Streets” exhibit that is one of LA’s hottest tickets this summer. Food, Music, Art, Lifestyle and Sustainable farm culture all converge at once, stimulating all of our senses.
Food X Film Project:
According to documentary filmmaker Aaron Rose from “Beautiful Losers”(2004) acclaim and one of the “Art in the Streets” co-curators, “farming and food go hand in hand and there is a sense of community around the passion for food.” It is his enjoyment and enthusiasm for all facets of culture ranging from food to art that has led him to collaborate on the food related programing that is running in conjunction with the exhibit.
The film screenings and upcoming documentaries:
Are as easy as 1, 2, 3, at least for filmmakers Aaron Rose, Lorenzo Fonda and Ace Norton:
1: Growing: Wild Goodness(Aaron Rose; Featuring Futurefarmers & Silver Lake Farms)
This documentary film is a collaboration between music supervisor and food enthusiast Randall Poster and acclaimed documentary film director and “Art in the Streets” co-curator Aaron Rose along with creative director Gelya Robb. The film will chronicle the new Farm that is to be built outside the Levis Film Workshop exhibit at MOCA. The farm will be dedicated to the great street artist pioneer Margaret Kilgallen and will serve as an edible garden that was designed by the San Francisco art coalition Futurefarmers. Once constructed the garden will be maintained by Tara Kolla from Silver Lake Farms. The film will contain clips of the garden and the crops including “micro-greens” and other herbs will be grown and passed onto the Silver Lake Collective to be sold to their members Wild goodness is unlike like food Inc.; it’s about educating the public about the fun of growing your own food in a socially conscious manner. The Film will be made primarily on-site mostly during the workshops and at the end of the project it is estimated that 2,000-3,000 people will have participated in its production.
2: Preparing: Ludo Lefebvre(Lorenzo Fonda)
This film chronicles the French Chef Ludo Lefebvre preparing food on site at various venues. He has been named in the top 50 of the “World’s Greatest Chefs” and is widely known for his traveling “pop-up” style restaurants under the name “LudoBites” and his LA mobile restaurant the “Ludo Truck.” He is also one of LA’s great chefs with a history that goes back to L’Orangerie and Bastide, two of Los Angeles’ fine dining institutions. The film is a joint venture between Lorenzo Fonda(Director & Animator) and Chef Ludo who will demonstrate his artistry of mashing up unique and delicious flavor combination’s.
3: Serving: Kogi BBQ(Ace Norton)
Filmmaker Ace Norton brings his artistry to a collaborative action film with Los Angeles’s Kogi BBQ truck in the theme of Kung Foo Hustle meets Kill Bill with a Korean/Mexican Fusion Street Taco Truck cruising the streets of LA.
*All of these Films will also be screened in Los Angeles at various theaters around town and also shared online all over the world. Look for them on Facebook, Twitter, Vmeo and at Levi’s Workshops.
Inside the Levi’s Workshop:
Meex took a moment to design his own cardboard vinyl record with a Viva LA Foodies logo along a “Meex” graphic at the Levis light table on display in the workshops lounge. After the design was done the record was placed on the turntable and the images of the record spinning were projected onto wall mounted monitors serving as its own form of live mixed media video art.
Levi’s also provides film and studio equipment for the public to make their own films. Guest celebrity chefs will also be introducing movies as part of the programing. “Italian American” will be presented by Animal and “Two Dudes Catering” chef’s Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo and will feature Martin Scorsese’s mom’s meatballs at “The Cinefamily” on Fairfax where the “Silent Movie Theater” is located.
A look inside: “The Art in the Streets” Show:
According to Curator Aaron Rose, the show only took 6 months to put on and once the momentum kept going it could not stop.
Main Showcase:
Margret Kilgallon aka “kOOk” was a sign painter from northern California that was a pioneer of street art. She was not a spray artist, rather her-“hobo Graf style” was done on freight trains w chalk in large scale on tankers. Her piece titled “Main Drag” is on display and is the galleries focal point. She sadly passed away during the time of the art installation and this is the last of her work. She was an avid surfer and is one of few street artists with serious ties to the California surf culture. Futurefarmers will be naming their garden in her honor and upon completion it will be known as the Margaret Kilgallen Memorial Farm. Her hand lettering is also being worked into the new garden as well as reclaimed wood in Margaret’s spirit. Bike culture is also evident in the theme of the futurefarmers master-plan as part of the summertime project.
Some of our FAVE street artists:
RISK
The Seventh Letter Crew
Some sayings included “Mad Society”, “Survival of the Fittest” and many others..
Mr. Cartoon’s “Eye Candy” with an “Ice Cream Paint Job”
Ice cream truck(above) & Lowrider car hood(below)
Estevan Oriol displayed an expanded collection including some photographs from his “LA Woman” series some of which were related to some of the images on display from our participation in the mixed media Food & Art collaborative event, “Taking it to the Streets” Art Show last-year at Meltdown Comics. We are huge fans of his work and all of the work that comes out of SA Studios and the “Mr. Cartoon” family.
Freedom(New wave NYC graffer)
Reminisce’s horses along with crew-mate “Twist’s” (Barry McGee) Bus bench poster in padlocked frame
Swoon’s mixed media “xacto cut out paper” sculpture “The Ice Queen(2011) blew us away with its large scale. According to Meex it is in a craftsman style with tribal elements.
Banksy from the acclaimed film: “Exit Through The Gift Shop” pulled out all stops with his “Altered state of the world” theme and political satire made quite an impression in the gallery space. If only there was more time to take it all in.
A tribute to Rammellizee(who recently passed) was provided in the form of a replica of his “Tron-like” apartment. Sculptures represent all letters of the alphabet. He also created his own folklore and manifesto complete with glowing robot suits for performance art that he used during the 70s and 80s. His work can also be seen in the film “Style Wars”
Blade or Jersey Joe also writes “RIME” and is from the “Seventh Letter Crew” and his mural outside captures the essence of collaborative street art muralism
Grand Closing:
We ran out of time and wrapped things up in the “Fun Gallery” from the NYC. Meex shared with us that the gallery captured the 1st wave of graffiti that hit the mass media. Some of our favorite images from the gallery included a Keith Haring canvas along with the Fun Gallery tagged refrigerator. We are so glad that we had a chance to see the convergence of Food, Film, NYC/LA street art and mixed media art in our beautiful city of Angels. Thanks Foodbuzz, Levi’s Film Workshop, Federated Media, MeexOne, Rico Mandel and everyone else who made our private guided tour possible. We will always have an appreciation for all things street!
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