|
|
|
|
Each month we share five unmissable things
to see and
do in the Golden State. You heard
it here first. |
Words by KELSEY McKINNON |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cayucos |
A Charming 1950s Motel Revival |
|
A lowkey respite halfway between L.A. and San Francisco, Cayucos is often referred to as the last great California beach town thanks to its charming boardwalk, antique shops and beach cottages nestled around Estero Bay—not to mention world-class surfing. In that carefree California spirit, locals Ryan and Marisa Fortini have transformed one of the area’s first motels into The Pacific. Featuring six 1920s-era bungalows that were originally uprooted from Camp San Luis Obispo in the 1950s (they were previously used as military barracks there for the California National Guard) and 13 adjacent guest rooms, the property has been lovingly redesigned with local artworks, firepits and a ping pong table, plus Linus bikes for cruising the boardwalk. 399 S. Ocean Ave., Cayucos, 805-900-5224; thepacificmotel.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Venice |
David Hockney’s Digital Flowerscapes Bloom In Venice |
|
Artist David Hockney and L.A. Louver gallery have a long history together dating back to 1978 after the British-born artist moved to L.A. to accept a teaching position at UCLA. It has continued even after Hockney’s 1972 work Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at Christie’s for $90 million, making it the most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at auction (a title which was subsequently usurped by Jeff Koons). This month, the Venice-based gallery, in collaboration with five other major international galleries, presents the succinctly titled “David Hockney: 20 Flowers and Some Bigger Pictures,” which expands on a series of iPad paintings Hockney created in 2021 while quarantining in Normandy, France. The 85-year-old artist’s foray into the digital domain chronicles the changing seasons, the rolling countryside and still life botanicals, all with his signature sunny optimism. On view through January 7. 45 N. Venice Blvd., Venice, 310-822-4955; lalouver.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
San Francisco |
The Sugar Plum Fairies Pirouette into the Opera House |
|
If the West Coast has an equivalent to the holiday-commencing lights at Rockefeller Plaza, it may be the San Francisco Ballet’s annual Nutcracker performance. For the City by the Bay, the retelling of a young girl transported to an enchanted forest filled with Sugar Plum fairies, an army of mice and a handsome prince, also comes with a guaranteed chance of snow. Opening night this month at the War Memorial Opera House features Yuan Yuan Tan and Henry Sidford as the Queen and King of the Snow, Nikisha Fogo as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Misa Kuranaga and Joseph Walsh in the grand pas de deux. Tchaikovsky’s popular score will be played live by the Grammy award-winning San Francisco Orchestra with an extra date added for a kid-friendly performance. December 8 through 27. 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F., 415-865-2000; sfballet.org. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Los Angeles |
A New Event Space Welcomes Andy Warhol and Friends
|
|
For the opening of Sized Studio’s new Los Angeles exhibition/event space, founder and creative director Alexander May turned to longtime friend Jim Hedges, one of the most notable Andy Warhol collectors in the world, for a series of never-before-seen pieces to mark the occasion. May, who founded Sized in 2021 as a platform for art and design, has collaborated with the likes of Kelly Wearstler and Rick Owens (prior to Sized, he founded and provided creative direction for art nonprofit Fondazione Converso in Milan from 2017 to 2020). The new multi-use space, an industrial building in East Hollywood, is poised to be the backdrop for productions, exhibits, launches, pop-ups, dinners and performances. “In Motion: Andy Warhol 1974-1986”—which features more than forty photographs including images of Warhol’s daily life with friends and contemporaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, William S. Burroughs and Bianca Jagger—offers a glimpse of what’s to come. December 9 through 11. 526 N. Western Ave., L.A.; sized.studio.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|