Tag Archives: Tiki Art

Tiki Bob Art Show at the Tonga Hut

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Last Sunday, the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood hosted an art show that paid tribute to Tiki Bob, which is considered to be the first mass-produced tiki mug. It was the signature logo for Tiki Bob’s in San Francisco, which was infamous for boosting lunchtime business with lingerie fashion shows. (Photo by third-i-photo)

Kelly Reilly created three special cocktails for the occasion. Pictured is the Tiki Bob, which seemed to be quite popular, especially when people started noticing that it was finished off with a rum float…

Tiki Bob’s smiley visage inspired a slew of new ceramics, including OceaOtica‘s Zombie Bobs (upper left) and Ernie’s Blue Bob and Cutesy Bob (middle) and my personal favorite, Minimalist Bob (upper right).

Eric October made this diorama of the exterior of the restaurant, with a detachable mug serving as the Tiki Bob column that still stands at that location today. (It’s less than a mile away from the Tonga Room.)

I’d been impressed by MP‘s pirate-themed art at the Halloween Tonga Hut show, and he did it again with this “Suffering Bob” painted clay clasting in an awesome vintage frame.

This time the skull and crossbones — which is sort of a second cousin to tiki style, what with all the rum and tropical environs associated with it — was represented in this piece from Jake.

And Taboo Island was offering these vintage-style Tiki Bob signs. Most of the art sold very quickly, but there are still some pieces available for purchase in this Tiki Central thread.

Book of Tiki Art Exhibition at M Modern Gallery

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Back in October, the M Modern gallery in Palm Springs hosted an exhibition of art inspired by Sven Kirsten’s “The Book of Tiki” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the tome’s release.

If there were a textbook for Tiki 101, this would be it. It’s a serious (though still tongue-in-cheek) look at the history of the “tiki” phenomenon and how it permeated American culture in the 20th century. It’s now out of print, but Taschen also published a condensed version called “Tiki Style” that’s still available, though with fewer glorious vintage photos. Pictured is Moritz R.’s original artwork for the cover.

One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was this diagram showing how images from the book made their way onto fabrics and Aloha shirts as the recent “tiki revival” grew in popularity.

It’s fitting that Shag (Josh Agle) would show a painting, considering it was his art that got many of us interested in tiki in the first place. We were some of the first folks to walk through, and we saw that the $6,500 piece had already been marked “sold” with a red dot.

It was basically a round-up of all my favorite tiki artists, including Heather Watts with one of her fabulous black velvet paintings.

This Witco-esque work from Bosko depicted the Royal Hawaiian Estates, a Polynesian-themed condominium community built in Palm Springs in the early 1960s. The buildings are still there and being restored. See more information about them here.

Hepcat artist extraordinaire Derek Yaniger‘s plywood piece drew inspiration from the very content castaway on page 75 of “The Book of Tiki.”

Dale Sizer‘s sparkly “The Heartbreak of Cricket Blake” paid tribute to “Hawaiian Eye,” a 1960s television show guest-starring Connie Stevens. It was about a Honolulu-based detective agency with a tiki as its logo.

There were many more amazing art pieces besides the ones pictured—these were just a few. I’ll leave with you with this other-worldly drawing from Doug Horne.

Halloween Art Show at the Tonga Hut

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

I started off my Halloween festivities over the weekend with a theme-appropriate cocktail at the Tonga Hut: The Zombie (recipe circa 1934), garnished for the occasion with a gummy eyeball and fake finger.

It was the perfect potion to sip while browsing the art that had been brought in for this special Halloween show. Here’s a peek at some of what was on display. (From left: Painting by Kirby and Stephen Sandoval‘s “The Best Candy” & “Rebirth”)

I was blown away by these black velvets by Thor. Although the subject of shrunken heads might not normally be my cup of tea, it’s hard to look away from the golden glow of these paintings.

Eric October has a knack for making tikis look cute, like this happy Ku toasting a Dia de Los Muertos figure. And I love how the scrap wood frame looks with Kirby’s “Skully Brains Cocktail” on the right.

MP found inspiration for this very cool “Keep to the Code” piece from the movie “Treasure Island” and a hot buttered rum. (I could go for one of those right now, if it wasn’t 88 degrees outside!)

Speaking of salty old pirates, I’ve always admired this Cap’n Sqully mug by Squid, so I snapped one up from the Taboo Island tent that was set up in the vending area in the parking lot.

Coming up at the Hut are a Gilligan’s Island-inspired gig on November 21, and the Christmas-themed Tiki Wonderland on December 11. I’ll be there with bells on! (Quite possibly literally.)