"Minutes before the opening of his latest show, artist Gary Baseman, dressed as a retro diner cook, in a red-orange jumpsuit, white apron and hat, paced around Johnie's Coffee Shop, moving art frames from one counter to another and adjusting the position of a cartoon cat plush toy."
"Featuring about 40 colored pencil drawings - mostly on real menus from L.A. restaurants - the whimsical show is a love letter to his Fairfax neighborhood. It launched Friday in conjunction with the opening of the Wilshire and Fairfax subway station and is set to run through June 14."
"The show, a celebration of L.A.'s dining culture, features drawings in Baseman's signature "dream reality" style that blends real-life surroundings - his dining companions included - with mythical creatures from his universe and fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White."
"The lion's share of his menu drawings were completed in the two to three hours that he spent enjoying his meal and conversing with his dining companions. He occasionally challenges himself by limiting his color palette. Restricting his color choices speeds up the drawing process and pushes him to create something new, he said."
Gary Baseman prepared for his first hometown solo show in more than a decade inside the long-shuttered Johnie’s Coffee Shop at Wilshire and Fairfax. The exhibition, “Off the Menu,” opened alongside the Wilshire and Fairfax subway station and runs through June 14. It features about 40 colored pencil drawings, mostly created on actual menus from Los Angeles restaurants, presented as a love letter to the Fairfax neighborhood. The drawings blend real dining experiences and companions with mythical creatures and fairy-tale elements in Baseman’s dream-reality style. Restaurants represented range from long-standing favorites to newer spots. Many drawings were made during short bursts while eating and talking, sometimes with limited color palettes to speed up work and encourage new ideas.
#los-angeles-dining-culture #fairfax-district #colored-pencil-drawings #dream-reality-art #public-art-exhibitions
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