SOUNDS OF TWO EYES OPENING: SOUTHERN CALI PUNK / SURF / SKATE CULTURE 69-82. PHOTOGRAPHS BY SPOT

SASHA EISENMAN: CALIFORNIA GIRLS

For American fashion photographer Sasha Eisenman, California connotes a state of mind and way of life. Conjuring not only golden light, blue skies, beaches, deserts, canyons and mountains, but also one particular image - the California Girl - he investigates this icon's representation through carefree nude and semi-nude portraits captured against local backdrops. Shooting entirely on medium-format film and dead stock Polaroid, Eisenman sought out a group of women who represented the unique vibrancy and personality of California and photographed them collaboratively, without styling, at backyard parties, surf trips, and music shows. The resulting images are presented here accompanied by an interview with each subject - allowing the viewer both a visual and textual entry into each woman's beauty, sensuality, and individuality. California Girls, published by Damiani Editore, is Sasha Eisenman's first book. His work has previously appeared in such magazines as Dazed and Confused, Teen Vogue, Glamour, InStyle, Elle, Interview, Jalouse, L’Officiel, iD, V Man, Playboy, Spin, and many others.

JIM GOLDBERG: RICH AND POOR

From 1977 to 1985, Jim Goldberg photographed both the wealthy and destitute of San Francisco, creating a powerful visual document that has been recognized as a landmark work. This poignant, unprecedented series of images of its participants accompanied by hand-lettered captions expressing their feelings about the portraits and their relationship to the American Dream was exhibited alongside Robert Adams and Joel Sternfeld in 1984's Three Americans exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and published the following year by Random House. That resulting book, Rich and Poor, has become a classic of post-war photographic literature, one that has been sadly out of print for over twenty-five years. Jim Goldberg has now redesigned and expanded Rich and Poor for Steidl to create a beautiful hardbound edition that has added a surplus of vintage material and contemporary images that have until now never been previously published or exhibited. Rich and Poor constitutes a gripping portrait of America during the seventies and eighties that remains just as relevant today as it was then.

COMMUNE: DESIGNED IN CALIFORNIA

Commune was established in Los Angeles in 2004 by four like-minded souls - Roman Alonso, Steven Johanknecht, Pamela Shamshiri, and Ramin Shamshiri - with a common mission: to enhance life through design, and to blur the lines between disciplines, eras, and styles. California is for those who refuse to conform and who live for freedom of expression, indoor / outdoor living, and that golden sunshine glinting off the waves of the Pacific. Hot off the Harry N. Abrams press, Commune: Designed in California perfectly captures this spirit and embodies a new California style that freely mixes old and new in its layered, highly personal interiors that embrace color, pattern, and texture. Housed in a graphically striking slipcase, this stylish publication celebrates the influential firm's ten years of designing hotels, commercial spaces, restaurants, and private residences, along with the decorative objects Commune has commissioned from a host of today's most inspiring contemporary California artisan craftspeople.

PLEASE JOIN US AT ARCANA: BOOKS ON THE ARTS FOR A BOOK SIGNING WITH KIM GOTTLIEB-WALKER

 

BOB MARLEY AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF REGGAE 1975-1976

During 1975 and 1976, renowned photo-journalist Kim Gottlieb and her husband, Island publicity head Jeff Walker documented what is now widely recognized as “The Golden Age of Reggae”. Over two years of historic trips to Jamaica and exclusive meetings in Los Angeles, Kim took iconic images of the artists who would go on to define the genre and captivate a generation.

Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae features candid and intimate photographs of all of the musicians, artists and producers who brought the reggae sound to the international stage, including Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Toots Hibbert, Burning Spear, Lee “Scratch” Perry and of course, Bob Marley and The Wailers. Kim’s photographs include never-before-seen performance shots, candid behind-the-scenes footage of Bob’s home in Jamaica, and exclusive records of key moments in reggae history.

Acclaimed rock journalist and director Cameron Crowe provides  a rousing foreword, and Reggae historian Roger Steffens writes lucidly about the significance of the pivotal moments documented here.

 

 

ON SET WITH JOHN CARPENTER: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF KIM GOTTLIEB-WALKER

John Carpenter’s producing partner Debra Hill hired photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker to be the unit photographer on Halloween, and Kim soon became part of Carpenter’s filmmaking family, going on to shoot stills on the sets of some of his most iconic films: Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, Halloween II , and Christine.

Collected together here for the first time is the best of that on-set photography, with iconic, rare, and previously unseen images accompanied by exclusive commentary from those involved - including John Carpenter himself along with other key crew and cast.

From scores of production stills, portrait shots of the actors who would eagerly pose for Kim, to candids of the stars between takes and the crew in action, this engaging new Titan book gives an unprecedented glimpse into the action on set with the legendary director.

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A BOOK SIGNING AS PART OF HELMS' WEEKEND-LONG APHROCHIC POP-UP EVENT!

Authors Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason will be signing Remix: Decorating With Culture, Objects, and Soul at Arcana as part of the AphroChic Show House and two day design festival at the Helms Bakery in Culver City.

Hays and Mason are the husband-and-wife team behind the lifestyle brand AphroChic. Their sumptuous recent tome takes you into homes where cultural, global décor breathes vibranct and beauty into contemporary interiors, and features soulful photography by Lonny co-founder Patrick Cline.

On October 11 + 12th, Helms Bakery District partners with Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason to bring you a “Remixed” Helms Pop-up Home. Located at 8723 Washington Boulevard - just 1/2 block west of Arcana - it will feature furnishings and décor drawn from Helms merchants Arcana: Books on the Arts, Room & Board, H.D. Buttercup, Rejuvenation, Vitra, Plummer's, Rug Warehouse, and more. This design-savvy couple’s fresh and modern aesthetic (including their new AphroChic artisan collection), will reveal the secrets to inject your own personality and culture into any space.

The Pop-up Home will be open to the public Saturday, October 11th from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and Sunday, October 12^th from 11:00 AM – 3:00PM. In addition, The Helms Bakery will present a full calendar of events next weekend including design and art panel discussions, designer Q & A, inspiration for your new home, and a book signing on Sunday at Arcana! Plus, you can enter to win Helms Bakery prizes with 100% of the proceeds from the raffle going to support AIDS Project L.A. Full details for all of the events can be found on the Helms Bakery website.

Francesca is represented globally by CloutierRemix.

GLEN E. FRIEDMAN: MY RULES

PAMELA LITTKY: VACANCY

Vacancy is a multifaceted portrait of two towns that are as much rural desert communities as they are states of mind. While driving between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Pamela Littky was exposed to the small towns at either edge of Death Valley - the legendary region of the Mojave Desert that hosts the hottest and driest climate in the US. Anyone who has ever been there can tell you that there is little else on either side except for long, empty stretches of straight-line desert highway. But the Mojave’s harshest conditions have not deterred all living things. The towns that both claim the title of "Gateway to Death Valley" - Baker, California and Beatty, Nevada - are tight-knit communities of people who remain settled where most merely pass through. Littky found an America that is far from "frozen in time," but entirely in its own cultural zone. Independent, hardy, and idiosyncratic, the people of these towns were ideal subjects for Littky to explore the heart of what seems like a big empty place, but may reflect back something important about the American experience today. From domestic scenes to colorful bars, trailers to bingo halls and the always beautiful-but-unrelenting landscape, Vacancy illuminates the everyday life of these two unique Desert communities.