No. 48: Yours Truly

LA hotspots in the 90s & early 2000s, Frank Lloyd Wright's forward for New Dimensions, a Charvet receipt, Camille Claudel and a couple of slow summer albums.

Aug 01, 2024

Frank Lloyd Wright said introductions are unnecessary (see below), so I’ll honor that for today —

I. an introduction

I was at Formative Modern over the weekend, and I picked up New Dimensions by Paul T Frankl. It was published in 1928 with this foreword from Frank Lloyd Wright —

II. a restaurant

When my mom and I drove through Hollywood the other day, we passed by what was once Michèlle Lamy’s Les Deux Cafe. I love when my mom reminisces on her 20s in LA — my parents are both lifelong Angelinos with a love for the classics. Don’t worry, they also tell me about the good times they had hanging out in Westwood Village as kids, which had a short-lived resurgence when I was in my early teens, too. The classics are where some of the best times have taken place — partying at Geisha House in high school, my mom’s 40th birthday at Buffalo Club, prom after party at Dukes, my birthday this year at Chateau (thank you Grace for documenting)… and many more. I have a special place in my heart for these slightly touristy, but hopefully forever classic LA establishments – Sunset Tower, the Ivy (these transport me), La Poubelle, Jones, Musso and Franks, The Little Door, The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Grill, Jar, Chateau Marmont, Pace, Dan Tana’s, etc. There are plenty of hole-in-the-wall LA gems too, but I’ll save those for another time.

While my mom and her girlfriends have some good stories from Les Deux and these other LA hotspots, they said I’d have to get a drink with them to hear more —

I can only imagine what it was like to go as a guest (if you could get in), let alone work at these spots. This piece in the Paris Review by Chris Wallace about working at Les Deux is gold —

This era was the sweet spot for a long-running Monday-night party frequented by much of young Hollywood—and a thousand of their closest friends. At ten o’clock sharp, the doorman Andrew and hosts Apple and Audrey would arrive, and soon two hundred people would be ashing in the plants, begging, threatening, and then screaming at me for a table. “I love chaos,” Michèle would say, and then vanish for the night.

God I wish I could have gone to Les Deux to see Rick Owens’ first leather jackets, the cast of people who ran the place and all the wannabe stars (and actual stars) who gave it a pulse and kept everyone coming back night after night like a drug (ha). They weren’t coming back for the food because apparently it was bad. Not surprising. It’d be fun to go there tonight. Maybe I’d run into you there? Or perhaps something like this just couldn’t exist today… it’d just be another version of SVB. Boring.

III. a receipt

Receipts were once a piece of art. How can you call it “doing damage” when the proof of purchase is this beautiful? Charvet has been doing everything right since the beginning of time.

IV. an exhibition

A few months ago, my friend Liv and I went to the Getty to see the Camille Claudel exhibition. Sharing a few of my favorite pieces, but I encourage you to read more about her. My summer has been 50% the bottom left, 50% the top two and 0% bottom right. There’s no chance I’m sitting by a fireplace.

V. an album (or three)

Summer is slow and easy in LA. Enjoying Going Steady by North Americans and 1992-2001 by Acetone.

~ bulletin ~

los angeles

On view: Group show The Miraculous Arms at François Ghebaly. Izzy Barber’s There is No Time at James Fuentes. Andrew Cranston’s One Day This Will be a Long Time Ago at Karma. Antone Könst’s Singles at Castle Gallery. March Avery’s Quiet Inside at Blum. Elana Bowsher at Hannah Hoffman Gallery. Gordon Parks at Pace Gallery. Ed Ruscha’s Now Then at LACMA.

new york

On view: Group show Meet Me at The Lake opens tomorrow at CLEARING. Richard Kern’s New York Girls at Management. James Hong’s The Odd Couple at Super House. Cassandra Mayela Allen’s Desahogando: Undrowning at Olympia. Demetrius Wilson’s Bam! at Half Gallery. Vivian Maier: Unseen Work at Fotografiska. Matinee: Dike Blair at the Edward Hopper House. Travis Fish’s That Dog In Me at Jupiter Gallery. Maja Ruznic’s The World Doesn’t End at Karma. Group show Social Practice including works from Paul Cooley, Dan Flanigan, Cristina de Miguel and more at Amanita. Jenny Holzer’s Light Line at Guggenheim. Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion and The Real Thing: Unpackaging Product Photography at the Met.

Affection Archives is a weekly look into the archives of yours truly (Arielle Eshel) and people I admire. If you’d like to add an event to the bulletin, DM on Instagram or reply to this email.