An Artist Who Sees Holiness in Wonder Bread

Corita Kent, a Los Angeles Printmaker and Nun, May Finally Be Getting Her Due

The retrospective exhibition “Someday is Now,” currently on view at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, has brought a lot of attention back to the Southern Californian artist Corita Kent. It’s a focus that hasn’t existed in the nearly three decades since her death. While many of her contemporaries have become household names—including friends and influences John Cage and Charles and Ray Eames—Corita Kent hasn’t reached a posthumous level of fame on par with her artistic achievements.

By the late 1960s, Corita had exhibited work in over 230 shows across …

By Ray Smith | August 27, 2015

Why the Iconic ‘Great Wave’ Swept the World

For Decades, Katsushika Hokusai's Famous Woodblock Print Has Been Used as an Emblem of Tsunamis, Hurricanes, and Plane Crashes Into the Sea

By Christine Guth | August 6, 2015

In the aftermath of the horrific 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Tōhoku, Japan, a well-known image of a single cresting wave popped up everywhere, from relief fundraising appeals to the …

The Seedy, Funky, and Fabulous Hollywood Boulevard of the 1970s

From Hippies to Hookers, One Photographer's Unearthed Photos From a Not-So-Golden Era

July 17, 2015

In the 1970s, photographer Ave Pildas roamed Hollywood Boulevard, snapping thousands of shots of its many characters in patchwork denim bell-bottoms and floppy hats. There was the group of transvestites …

The Mythology and Art of the American Road Trip

Ten Artists Designed 100 Billboards Along the I-10 From Florida to California

June 25, 2015

An art exhibition usually takes place in a gallery, where you go to see work that’s been installed there for a few months. But what if you could see an …

The Greatest Muralist You’ve Never Heard Of

The Work of One of L.A.’s Best Chicano Folk Artists Has Largely Been Forgotten

by Camilo José Vergara | June 22, 2015

Manuel G. Cruz has produced the best folk art I have encountered in Los Angeles. Through his religious and historical murals, he proves himself a good storyteller and colorist, with …

Saving the Magic Portals to L.A.’s Past

In a City That’s Constantly Changing, Angelenos Share Their Affection for Ray Bradbury’s House, Rustic Beach Towns, and the First McMansion

by Joe Mathews | June 2, 2015

To better preserve its past, Los Angeles needs a better sense of its history—and the places that define that history, said panelists at a Zócalo/Getty “Open Art” event at the …

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