SEPT 2015 ISSUE 13 THE INSIDER GUIDE TO DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES PAGE 4 MATTHEW BARNEY AT MOCA Avant-garde filmmaker and artist Matthew Barney brings his first ever major museum exhibit in Los Angeles with the epic River of Fundament. Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler, River of Fundament, 2014, production still, courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels, © Matthew Barney, photo by Hugo Glendinning Hugo by photo Barney, © Matthew and Brussels, York New Gallery, of Gladstone still, courtesy 2014, production of Fundament, River Bepler, and Jonathan Barney Matthew PEKING TAVERN DOWNTOWN MAP CHELSEA WOLFE The authentic, hole-in-the-wall Chinese tavern who are PAGE 12 The unearthly singer returns to DTLA for a letting you in on the secrets of traditional food and night of beauty, dreams, and devastation. liquor in Beijing, circa 1994. EVENT CALENDAR PAGE 8 PAGE 23 PAGE 14 WWW.LADOWNTOWNER.COM 2 3 IN THIS ISSUE LONG LIVE DOWNTOWN 4 MATTHEW BARNEY AT MOCA THE INSIDER’S VIEW OF DOWNTOWN CULTURE, FOOD, DRINKS, FASHION & THE PEOPLE WHO SHAPE IT. 6 LA CITA A FERROCONCRETE PUBLICATION — ferroconcrete.com — 8 PEKING TAVERN THANK Editor-in-Chief & Creative Director: Yo Santosa Managing Editor: Scott Meisse PATTERN BAR Designer & Art Director: Mike Payne 10 Assistant Editor & Staff Writer: Janica de Guzman Writers: Stephen Day, Linda Hosmer, Rayna Jensen, Janet Sung MAP OF DOWNTOWN YOU 12 Photographers: Alyse Gilbert, Oriana Koren, Samantha Romero, Caleb Thal, Christian Thomas Videographers: Kort Havens & Logan Havens 14 AN INTERVIEW WITH CHELSEA WOLFE SUBSCRIBE CONTACT US 16 FACTORY KITCHEN For the latest finds & happenings: Got a cool tip to share?: LADowntowner.com/subscribe [email protected] 18 LIBRARY BAR Follow us on Twitter & Instagram: Feedback or just to say hello: @LADowntowner [email protected] 20 STREET STYLE Like us on Facebook: Looking to advertise? facebook.com/LADowntowner [email protected] 23 DOWNTOWN EVENT CALENDAR YOU’VE MADE OUR FIRST YEAR A TOUGH ONE TO TOP. HERE’S TO MANY MORE! CHEERS, LA DOWNTOWNER SEPTEMBER 2015 / ISSUE 13 — © 2015 LA Downtowner, Inc. WWW.LADOWNTOWNER.COM 4 5 FUNDAMENT at Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), 2014-15, photo by Rémi Chauvin/MONA Rémi Chauvin/MONA Art by (MONA), 2014-15, photo of Old and New Museum at FUNDAMENT RIVER OF Barney: of Matthew view installation and Brussels, York New of the artist Gallery, and Gladstone 144 x 120 180 in., courtesy 2014, cast brass, Shaduf, Barney, Matthew being created. This idea of working with brass MATTHEW and bronze, focusing on the narrative around these ancient materials and traditional casting. There’s a primeval sensibility.” BARNEY Matthew Barney garnered immense and deserved critical acclaim with The CREMASTER Cycle, and this dense, complicated, AT MOCA and otherworldly cinematic series has ties to River of Fundament too. Tattersall explains, RIVER OF FUNDAMENT “Matthew Barney has worked with interweaving of personal and historical mythologies. Here Written By Scott Meisse Videography By Kort Havens & Logan Havens he’s tapping into both Norman Mailer’s novel, and the ancient Egyptian text Book of the Dead, there’s this very broad scope of time.” Broad This month The Geffen Contemporary at indeed, as the large scale, sight specific, filmic MOCA will launch its most ambitious exhibit opera’s parallel narrative takes us from Detroit of the year with avant-garde filmmaker and to Los Angeles, capturing the protagonist’s Matthew Barney. Canopic Chest (detail), 2009–11, cast bronze, 73 1/2 × 165 × 243 in., installation view of Matthew Barney: RIVER OF FUNDAMENT at Haus der Kunst, 2014, courtesy of Haus der Kunst, 2014, courtesy at RIVER OF FUNDAMENT Barney: of Matthew view × 165 243 in., installation 73 1/2 2009–11, cast bronze, Canopic Chest (detail), Barney. Matthew Maximilian Geuter by photo and Brussels, York New the artist Gallery, and Gladstone Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler, River of Fundament, 2014, production still, courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels, © Matthew Barney, photo by Hugo Glendinning Hugo by photo Barney, © Matthew and Brussels, York New Gallery, of Gladstone still, courtesy 2014, production of Fundament, River Bepler, and Jonathan Barney Matthew artist, Matthew Barney’s River of Fundament. transformations (both physical and spiritual), It’s already been an impressive year for modern industrial processing in the auto MOCA in their post Deitch-era, but bringing industry, indigenous music and dance — all Matthew Barney to Downtown is especially while mirroring ancient Egyptian mythology, significant. This is Barney’s first ever major and of course, Norman Mailer himself. “It’s museum appearance in Los Angeles, and his also a cautionary tale,” says Tattersall, “about largest project since The CREMASTER Cycle, human’s relationship to nature, and a failure of his juggernaut series of films from 1994-2002. a will-to-power.” In his latest epic, River of Fundament, longtime It’s not shocking Mathew Barney hasn’t had collaborator, composer Jonathan Bepler a museum show in the land of Hollywood yet, returns as well as a few key elements and his work as a filmmaker’s work doesn’t quite Shop hand-picked art, furniture & decór at characters from CREMASTER 3. Again massive reach ‘the Hollywood tentacle’. That this new, wholesale prices. in scope, Barney’s latest project has been in the monumental work comes to LA now, is an works since ’06. The large scale exhibition of exciting landmark for all of LA. Tattersall feels NEXT SALE SEPTEMBER 18 - 20 sculptures, storyboards, and illustrations will it too, “It makes sense for Los Angeles, being a FRI - SAT - SUN Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler, River of Fundament, 2014, production still, courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels, © Matthew © Matthew and Brussels, York New Gallery, of Gladstone still, courtesy 2014, production of Fundament, River Bepler, and Jonathan Barney Matthew Glendinning Hugo by photo Barney, be accompanied by the film at MOCA. cinematic town. We’ll be building a cinema in Loosely based on Norman Mailer’s 1983 the Geffen itself, which will be a totally new epic, wildly crude, and phantasmagoric Ancient thing.” Expect to see the film while you’re here, Evenings, Barney weaves a multi-layered, but Tattersall explains it best, “The bulk of the Barney: RIVER OF FUNDAMENT at Haus der Kunst, 2014, courtesy Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager, Basel, photo by Maximilian Geuter Maximilian Geuter by photo Basel, Schaulager, Foundation, Laurenz Haus der Kunst, 2014, courtesy at RIVER OF FUNDAMENT Barney: of Matthew view × 600 288 in., installation 132 plating, and gold sand, steel, resin-bonded cast bronze, of Ra, 2014, wood, Boat Barney, Matthew surreal, and complex tale that, like his previous exhibition is sculpture, that will reward very films, incorporates the sculptural process of close looking. There’s expertly crafted pieces his work. “There are works that appear in the here . and a mystery about them and the film, and others that deal with the language film that’s quite wonderful. Matthew is a great of the materials, what Barney considers the storyteller, he raises questions that speak to narrative progression of materials”, Lanka basic, primal drives. He asks grand questions Tattersall, MOCA’s Assistant Curator explains. about what it is to be human.” The exhibition’s sculptures, “are not a literal translation, it’s not the set, but pieces from the film that are re-configured and transformed.” FIND OUT MORE: riveroffundament.net / moca.org The film includes the largest non-industrial metal pour ever. “You see that in the film, this AND WATCH THE FEATURETTE: incredible moment surrounded by musicians, ladowntowner.com/matthew-barney-at-moca the film’s characters, and you see the sculpture Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler, River of Fundament, 2014, production still, courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels, © Matthew Barney, photo by Hugo Glendinning Hugo by photo Barney, © Matthew and Brussels, York New Gallery, of Gladstone still, courtesy 2014, production of Fundament, River Bepler, and Jonathan Barney Matthew SEPTEMBER 2015 / ISSUE 13 — © 2015 LA Downtowner, Inc. WWW.LADOWNTOWNER.COM 6 7 La Cita is made up of two parts with two hearts. Grab a drink at the front bar and bear witness to live music as sauced up dancers scuff the floor LA CITA to the beats of Latin banda, DJs or punk rock. SWEAT, BLOOD, AND MARYS Relax in the back patio, notably known as ‘El Patio,’ where smokers hold quiet conversations Written By Janica de Guzman Photographed By Christian Thomas and dancers catch their breath. Staying true to its roots, Sundays are reserved for Doble Poder, a 7 hour homage to banda music where people At the landing of Angels Flight, stands the black stomp their boots off for a straight 45 minutes — sheep of Bunker Hill: La Cita, the dive bar above every hour. However, Sundays are not complete all dive bars. without nursing a hangover, El Patio hosts build Enter into eye shocking darkness, give it a your own bloody marys for all weekend brunch minute; you’ll slowly adjust to the red haze that enthusiasts. “We have a great appreciation for radiates off string lights and mariachi decor. differences in culture and we celebrate that. Cocktails, micheladas, and buckets of beer are We’re not trying to be anything other than what slung across the bar to patrons; some alone, we are, we let it evolve into what it is.” The days some rowdy, but mostly regulars. An older alternate with different vibes, varying between woman sat alone sipping a beer — she giggled weekly gay dance parties, pin-up rockabillies or at her phone and chatted with the bouncer in a punky reggae. This harmonious clash in cultures tender, motherly manner. She knows everyone is what makes La Cita, uniquely La Cita.