Events Posted Aug 07, 2025

UPCOMING EVENTS!

Please join us for these upcoming events at the store (and beyond it)!
All events are free, no purchase required, and open to all. No RSVP needed.
 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
TODD HIDO: INTIMATE DISTANCE
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION WITH MARINA LUZ

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23rd, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
ARTHUR JAFA: LIVE EVIL
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, 2:00 - 5:00 PM
SUSAN MEISELAS: NICARAGUA
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION 
**AT THE AERO THEATER IN SANTA MONICA**
IN CONJUNCTION WITH PAC-LA

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
DAVID ALEKHUOGIE: A REPRISE
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION WITH AWOL ERIZKU

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
LAURI GAFFIN: MOVING STILL
BOOK SIGNING

 

Book of the Day Posted Aug 06, 2025

Book of the Day: BRICK STOWELL'S ALM*ST FAMOU$ - PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES

Brick Stowell was the staff photographer and tour manager for Odd Future (OFWGKTA) from 2011 to 2016, capturing the collective's rise to fame. His work highlights a transformative period in the music industry, influencing contemporary music culture. Almost Famous: Planes, Trains & Automobiles is the small-format follow up to Stowell's 2024 massive - and now sold out - comprehensive look at Odd Future's history entitled Almost Famous:2011-2016 - The OFWGKTA Photographs. Book of the day! Purchase here.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 01, 2025

Book of the Day: Swamp Dogg's "If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It"

Book of the day! From the publisher: Before there was Snoop Dogg there was Swamp Dogg. The original was born Jerry Williams Jr. in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1942. He first won fame as a 12-year old soul singer called Little Jerry–before he later decided, at the end of the 1960s and after several hit records, to create a new identity for making music and mischief. Thus did Little Jerry become Swamp Dogg—a legendary singer, songwriter and record producer whose singular voice and ideas have shaped the history not merely of soul music, but of country and hip-hop and a dozen other genres. He also made history in the music business, early in his career, as the first Black A&R man at Atlantic Records, where he oversaw music by The Drifters and Gary US Bond–just two of the storied acts whose sounds he’s shaped. But if music is Swamp Dogg’s first love, this fabled man of taste has another one: food. In 1972, Swamp Dogg proclaimed that he would write a cookbook so transformative that the legacies of culinary giants like Julia Child, Betty Crocker, James Beard, and even Colonel Sanders would pale in comparison. He stated that 'It is the book that Hemingway wanted to write and that Agatha Christie couldn’t.' Now, more than 50 years later, that book is finally here. If You Can Kill It I Can Cook It is a book for those who appreciate recipes seasoned with personality and history, and stories to go with dinner. This is more than a cookbook: it is a biographical artifact and a journey into the mind of a chef who’ll teach you how to make “Baked Beans Bo Diddley”, “James Brown In Flight Chicken” and “Willie Nelson Potatoes Platter”. It is also a glimpse into the savory life of a musical genius, richly illustrated with tales and photos of family, food, music, and business. As Swamp Dogg says, “This is the book that Hemingway wanted to write, Agatha Christie couldn’t, and Alex Haley didn’t have enough soul for. Now get to cooking!” Presented alongside Magnolia Pictures’ feature length documentary Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, directed by Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson, and the album Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th Street from Oh Boy Records, If You Can Kill It, I Can Cook It resonates with the same fervor as his music, all while satisfying a different sensory palette: taste.
Events Posted Jul 12, 2025

Book Signing 7/26/25: RICHARD MISRACH: CARGO!

Please join us on Saturday, 7/26 (4:00-6:00 PM) for a book signing with Richard Misrach for his new Aperture book: CARGO!

 

If you can't join us, you can order a signed copy for shipping or pickup here.

 

 

Book of the Day Posted Jul 09, 2025

Book of the Day: Rick Owens - Temple of Love

From the publisher: "With his provocative and subversive approach to design, Rick Owens has been a transformative force in fashion since he founded his label in 1994. This essential volume is the first critical appraisal of Owens’s work, documenting the evolution of nearly three decades of the designer’s inimitable worldview." How could it not be our book of the day? (Rizzoli, 2025)
Book of the Day Posted Jun 26, 2025

Book of the Day: Afrosport

From the publisher: "Afrosport studies sport on the continent through the lens of design and by way of research, interviews, thought pieces, creative exploration, analysis, graphics and photography. The book explores the visual culture of African sport, its rich history and its global influence in the world: present and future. African design is reshaping the world’s cultural stage, sport shows us how." Book of the day! (Mami Wata, 2025)

Book of the Day Posted Jun 22, 2025

Book of the Day: Rodolfo Abularch

Rodolfo Abularach (1933-2020) is one of Latin America’s most distinguished yet underrecognized masters. Throughout his over six-decade long career, Abularach created a fascinating and spiritual world filled with images of planetary forms, mandalas, and earthly and psychological portals. His most iconic and repeated subject was the eye, which he saw as a window into the soul. His interest in the mysteries of the earth led him to depict volcanoes, emblems of the artist's homeland and ancient history. Abularach mastered and explored a variety of styles, from hyperrealistic to abstract, monochrome to multicolored, esoteric to surreal. This is our book of the day on June 6th, 2025!
Book of the Day Posted Jun 20, 2025

Book of the Day: Virgil Abloh - "Make It Ours"

From the publisher: "In 2018, shockwaves were sent around the fashion industry when Virgil Abloh was appointed the head of menswear for Louis Vuitton. Despite no formal training in pattern-making or tailoring, Abloh had become the first Black designer to serve as artistic director in the brand’s 164-year history. Make It Ours tells the story of how that moment came to be and how Abloh came to symbolise and embody the industry’s way forward. Using Abloh’s surprising path to the top of the luxury establishment, Givhan unfolds the larger story of how the cloistered, exclusive fashion world faced a revolution from below in the form of streetwear and designers unafraid to storm the gate, and how a simple t-shirt came to hold as much cultural power as a haute couture gown." This new biography of the late designer by author Robin Givhan is our book of the day.
Book of the Day Posted Jun 18, 2025

Book of the Day: Sexy Record Covers

From the publisher: "An album cover collection exploring 70 years of surprising, shocking and frankly hilarious nude and provocative art. Sexy covers sold all musical genres, from funk to punk, and the silly German schlager. Comedy albums range from mid-century 'stag party' pin-ups to the undeniably raunchy ’70s sensation, Blowfly. Steamy, seamy and adults only." Book of the day, from the esteemed people at Taschen.
Events Posted Jun 08, 2025

Upcoming Book Signings at Arcana!

SATURDAY, JUNE 14th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
BOB WAYNE: REEL TO REAL TALES... NOTES FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE RECORDING CONSOLE
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION
more