Tag Archives: Tiki Art

Oregano’s Pizza Bistro Menu – Tiki Deja Vu

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with , , ,

IMG_6693On our last visit to Mesa, Arizona, we caught a geographically convenient lunch at Oregano’s Pizza Bistro. (Tiki types in the Valley of the Sun should check out Hula’s Modern Tiki in Phoenix or pay their respects to Trader Vic’s Scottsdale, which closed in July 2011. The decor is being sold off piece by piece but the space is pretty much intact and being used for private events hosted by the Hotel Valley Ho.)

IMG_6703Anyway, Oregano’s serves up decent pizza and a heaping helping of nostalgia. Mark Russell founded the restaurant a decade ago to pay tribute to his father Lawrence Gibbilini, whose flair for cooking Italian food earned him the nickname “Lawrence of Oregano.”

IMG_6704Each of the dozen Arizona locations tries to evoke the feeling of a neighborhood Italian restaurant in Chicago from decades past. The dining rooms are filled with random kitsch like neon clocks, old wooden skis and surf boards covered with Christmas lights.

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I was a bit surprised to see a mug shot for a young Frank Sinatra framed up on the wall. His crime? Seduction.

IMG_6672But the most interesting thing about Oregano’s is the menus, which graphic artist Jon Arvizu designed to look like retro album covers. There are several different styles but “Polynesian Paradise” features a hula girl pin-up and a tiki that looked rather familiar…

DB383075Design Toscano turns out resin tables with a similar tiki that they’ve dubbed The Lono (Tongue). (I ought to recognize it as we have one in the tiki room.)

IMG_7568But then I remembered how that catalog has been “inspired” by photos in “The Book of Tiki,” and there it was when I flipped through my copy. The image illustrated author Sven Kirsten’s discovery that tikis from the original Luau in Beverly Hills somehow ended up at the Hanalei Hotel (now a Crowne Plaza) in San Diego. Double déjà vu!

Modernism Week – The Contemporary Idol Art Show

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with , , , , ,

IMG_7142Last month, M Modern gallery in Palm Springs celebrated Modernism Week with openings for two new art exhibitions. The Contemporary Idol featured work from “20 artists interpret(ing) primitive art in the modern habitat.”

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A tiki art show at M Modern just wouldn’t be complete without a contribution from Shag. Naturally it had a little red “sold” dot next to it.

IMG_7040Derek Yaniger and Doug Horne were more familiar faces from The Book of Tiki 10th Anniversary exhibition at M Modern from awhile back, which is not surprising since author Sven Kirsten also curated this show.

IMG_7043The home decor aspect of the exhibition’s theme was emphasized by these tiki lamps courtesy of Jim “Polynesiac” DePompei. I especially liked the Andres Bumatay-style one on the left.

IMG_7058This “Twin Tangaroa Trio” is by Lake Surfer, whose carvings have appeared in Trader Vic’s Chicago and the Foundation Tiki Bar in Milwaukee. As there’s a lack of palm trees in his present homeland Wisconsin, he uses hardwoods like oak and maple, which give his work a distinctive look.

IMG_7054The pièces de résistance were undoubtedly the two intricate wood collages (“Face to Face” on left) from Leroy Schmaltz, “godfather of all tiki carvers” and co-founder of Oceanic Arts. It was also very appropriate for Ken Pleasant to be represented (“Irony” on right) since he carries on the aesthetic of Witco, the company that popularized primitive-style furniture in the 1960s. (See: Tiki Modern)

IMG_7076Dawn Frasier‘s paintings have such a beautiful, ethereal quality to them. “The Mystical Order of Mu” was part of this group show, but she also had a few other pieces on display.

IMG_7125The other new exhibition was called Modern Moods, a solo show from Bosko Hrnjak. I already dig his straightforward mid-century modern settings, but this one (“Sector 9”) gave it a fun sci-fi twist with a crash-landed spaceship and the sly suggestion of a future government cover-up.

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Animal Kingdom by Shag – Corey Helford Gallery

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Shag and tagged with , , , ,

IMG_6811On February 11, the Corey Helford gallery in Culver City hosted an opening party for Shag’s latest exhibition of paintings entitled Animal Kingdom. His previous show here was the doom and gloom fest Autumn’s Come Undone in late 2009, but now Shag’s sophisticates are once again carelessly swilling martinis in brightly colored swank pads.

IMG_6801The place was packed from the get-go as folks lined up to get free commemorative posters (for the first 500 guests). More than half of the 15 new paintings had already been sold by the time we walked in. Shag himself (Josh Agle) was there posing for photos and signing things — you couldn’t miss him since he had donned a pair of antlers just like some of his art subjects.

IMG_6821The press release for this show notes that Shag found inspiration from a vintage costume pattern that simply modified the ears and tails to portray different animals. However, he also points out a more modern muse: “I’ve noticed a lot of teenagers and hipsters recently wearing hoodies and beanies with animal ears, antlers or horns. Maybe there is a subconscious urge to return to our animalistic natures.”

IMG_6806 Wolves, bulls, birds, monkeys, and cats especially have frequently appeared alongside people in his works, often in an anthropomorphic manner. Here the theme is being turned around with the humans expressing their wild sides sartorially.

IMG_6812The centerpiece of the show was the eight-foot-long painting “Predators and Prey,” which was also my favorite for its nearly neon colors. Now if only I had $40,000 burning a hole in my pocket.

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I did also dig some of the smaller pieces like the Catwoman-esque “Black Kitten in Purple,” which had two other complementary versions in green and orange.

IMG_6826 In a neat tech-savvy twist, there was a little QR Code next to each painting. When you scanned each barcode with the camera on your smartphone, it took you to a special web page. I thought it might tell you the painting’s name or price, but instead it displayed a sentence or two to set the scene.

IMG_6829The best ones showed a wicked sense of humor, like this one for “Wayward Cub”…”She didn’t have a problem with Stevie’s drinking until the first drop of his Purple Rain hit the snowy white fur of her ex-husband.”

IMG_6815You can see the paintings on Shag’s site and read all those vignettes by clicking on the dots towards the bottom of the page. Animal Kingdom by Shag will be on display at the gallery through March 3, 2012.

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Corey Helford Gallery
522 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-287-2340