Wednesday, January 5, 2011

LAVA Sunday Salon Jan. 30

On Sunday, January 30, LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) presents an afternoon of free cultural exploration in Downtown L.A. with the monthly Sunday Salon gathering at Clifton's Cafeteria at 648 South Broadway(noon-2pm)

SALON INFO: http://lavatransforms.org/salon111

Launched last February by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper -- the proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and founding Director and Curator of the Downtown Art Walk non-profit -- the creative consortium LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) is fast establishing itself as one of the city's most intriguing arts collectives, with a calendar packed with compelling, offbeat urban events and a growing list of notable Visionary contributors. LAVA's Sunday Salon has become one of the hottest (free) tickets for urban explorers seeking intelligent conversation, connection and inspiration- not to mention Clifton's famous home cooking.

The Sunday Salon returns to Clifton's Cafeteria on Sunday, January 30 from noon-2pm, and all are welcometo dine together and socialize, or attend compelling presentations by LAVA Visionaries. Immediately following the Sunday Salon, LAVA decamps for Cal State Los Angeles for the return of Professor Donald Johnson's popular "The Science and Art of Forensic Investigations: Criminalistics from Test Tube toTestimony" tour/lecture series.

For crime lab info, visit http://lavatransforms.org/crimelabjan30

PRESENTERS AT THE JANUARY 30 SALON (all appearing between 12-2pm, with exact times/schedules to be announced at the event)

1) JOE OESTERLE, author of the just-released "Weird Hollywood" and the classic "Weird California" will be sharing wacky stories from his incredibly odd book tour, featuring a cameo from local cable access legend Skip E. Lowe. He also presents one of the characters from "Weird Hollywood," the incomparable COUNT SMOKULA, making his LAVA debut with accordion-driven song and a Q&A. The multi-talented Joe Oesterle is a former Senior Editor of "National Lampoon," a visual artist, musician and curator of the strange and marvelous. Joe will be signing copies of his new book, and Count Smokula will have CDs for sale. To learn more about Joe Oesterle and Count Smokula,visit the links below:
http://joeartistwriter.com/
http://www.countsmokula.com/

2) LAVA Visionary GENE SCULATTI, outsider artist and pop culture critic ("The Catalog of Cool") who appeared at the very first LAVA Salon now offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Salon attendees to "develop" the open spaces on his newest fantasy cityscape scroll, "Majestic Boulevard." Come live the Jet Age California dream when you stake out a virtual half-acre along Majestic Boulevard and plan the commercial development of your dreams. Maybe it's tiki-themed bowling alley... or a no-tell motel named after your secret crush... or the lone Victorian farmhouse left behind when progress came to town. Interested "developers" are invited to come view the scroll in progress and talk about the possibilities with the artist. Stake your claim, and then follow your development's progress on the LAVA blog between January and April, when Gene will return to the LAVA Salon to unveil the expanded scroll to the lucky "property owners."

ABOUT GENE SCULATTI'S SCROLLS: Since the age of 9, Sculatti, 63, has created imaginary horizontal cities packed with fascinating details that reflect his evolving obsessions: googie signage, soaring bridges, skyscrapers, suburbs, amusement parks and much more. Join us for a rare opportunity to get close to these beautiful and strange artworks, and to hear the artist discuss his inspirations, working methods, and how the scrolls have stayed with him for more than four decades. To learn more about Gene's cityscapes or see photos from the March 2010 Sunday Salon exhibit of Gene's scrolls, visit the links below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardschave/sets/72157623729484726/ http://lavatransforms.org/cityscapes http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardschave/5307230969/

To learn more about LAVA, please visit http://www.lavatransforms.org

2 comments:

Bobby Boy said...

Oh my! Count Smokula--I've seen him several times at the Elvis Birthday Bash, where he usually performs with two or more "Countesses" on backing vocals. I've never had a chance to chat with him; should he be addressed as "Your Highness"?

And regarding that imaginary city--if I was on the planning committee, it would have a railroad station and a light-rail line with modern and vintage cars. Right next to one of the car stops would be a live-music club.

Mickie said...

Count Smokula is also a Doo Dah Parade regular. He's actually a very nice man- smart and funny! I just call him THE Count.

In my imaginary city I would build a botanical garden similar to the one in Atlanta. It would have a huge domed area with tropical plants and lots of little frogs and lizards to discover looking at you.

Keep on rockin'
Mickie