Multiplayer, the inaugural art show at Gallery 1988 in Venice, took poster submissions from some 30 artists inspired by the video games of now and yore. Aided by curators OMG Posters! 1988 turned their new home base into a gamers Louvre. The talent within spanned from seasoned artists like Eric Tan, a PIXAR collaborator and Mike Mitchell, who designed the “I’m with Coco” poster, to freelancers Adam Hanson and Markku Metso.
You know you are in for a crazy night when you make your evening destination Venice Beach. It’s a place where anything goes. It’s also the home of Abbott Kinney’s First Fridays, a magical evening that takes place on the first Friday of every month where shops stay open past operating hours, galleries reveal museum-worthy art, and food trucks take over the streets. From 6:00-10:00pm, crowds flock to Abbot Kinney Boulevard to socialize, drink, and mingle with eclectic boutique owners and art-minded individuals. November 5th was my first experience with this street festival, Venice-style, and it was definitely an adventure!
Venice Beach has a reputation for being an outstanding location for people watching, but if you’d like to venture beyond the world of crazy tourists, eclectic beach vendors, Muscle Beach, and tattooed passerbys, walk through the doors of the Venice Beach Freakshow. It’s usually hard to miss. Todd Ray, who runs the operation with his son Phoenix, is often outside trying to lure people in with a sneak peak at one of his two-headed turtles. Once inside, you’ll find a world of wonders. The Venice Beach Freak Show currently houses an impressive array of two-headed and very much alive animals, over sixty strange creatures, and a continuously running live show with extraordinary acts such as sword swallowers, the Rubber Girl, fire eaters, the Electric Lady, and Larry the Wolf Boy.
Venice Beach is still one of those quintessential California playgrounds, built on old tobacco money, complete with giant sandbox. Walking down Ocean Front Walk on a scorching afternoon, you can expect to be greeted by a cavalcade of street performers, colorful vagrants, fragrant proponents of legalized marijuana and, of course, shiny tanned bodies on display. Venice wouldn’t be Venice without Muscle Beach – an open air fitness arena where the buff and the beautiful can tone to perfection, while the hordes of tourists look on, thoughtfully chewing away at $1 pizza slices [sold nearby].