This Friday, May 11th 2012, the band Devo will be performing at the Hollywood Park Racetrack. They are a band that is quite nostalgic to me on a couple of levels. I mean, they are the true trailblazers and weirdo genius of the new wave/punk scene of the 1970′s. I learned about them in my early teens and loved them when I myself was getting into new wave and punk but later found their commercial success annoying when I would go to high school and kids would laugh at my pink colored hair, Black Flag t-shirt and thrift store garb and say, “Are you Devo?”

According to Wikipedia, The name “Devo” comes from their concept of ‘de-evolution’ – the idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind has actually begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. I guess defined here … we are all a bit Devo?

When I was 16, my best friend’s father was working on Toni Basil’s album, “Word of Mouth” with the famous song “Mickey“. The guys from Devo were her back up band and they were at my friends house all the time. Toni’s boyfriend was Spazz Attack. He is the spiky haired guy doing spastic flips in Devo’s video “Satisfaction”. Spazz was around a lot, too. We were fascinated by his flips and the stories that he would entertain us with. Once he had gotten pulled over by the cops and did his famous forward flip for them (landing flat on his back), and they let him go. He later went on to “Spazz” out on David Bowie’s 1987 Glass Spider Tour. A show I got to see with with Siouxsie And The Banshees as the opening act. Check out the videos they are very nostalgic for me and give a good glimpse of 80′s fashion and style. For better or worse!

Their song  “Mongoloid” (the first single) is still one of my favorite songs to dance to! You can’t beat the edgy driving build up on the guitar in the beginning of the track. Genius! Dorky Genius for sure!

One of our favorite artists, and a great gal to have a cocktail with, Bonni Reid, is having an opening this Friday at our favorite gallery, La Luz de Jesus. If you haven’t been to one of their openings, they are well attended and lots of fun. La Luz is also located inside another gem, probably the best gift store in LA, (in my humble opinion) WACKO Soap Plant–it’s called a lot of names but we just call it fantastic fun! They sell everything from art books to jewelry (including Classic Hardware- ahem) to toys to amazing tchotchkes you won’t find anywhere else. The best place to buy a gift for yourself or someone special.
Click here to see Bonni’s work with Classic Hardware.
A few of my favorite pieces from her upcoming show:

FROM LA LUZ’S  SITE:

“Cartes de Visite”
February 3 – 26, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, February 3rd; 8-11 PM

Cartes de Visite: Noun, French. 1. Small photographs, traditionally mounted on card stock, for mailing and trading purposes.
Used during the Victorian era.

“Having a professional career in creating Saturday morning cartoons, I wanted to break from this candy-coated world in order to depict another side of childhood, one that is much darker, haunting or just plain weird — to evoke a time before we child-proofed everything. By utilizing old photographs of family, friends and found images, this collection portrays the alter ego that resides in all of us –
the real inner child which isn’t always what we as adults want it to be.” – Bonni Reid

Bonni Reid lives in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia. Her work has appeared in various galleries throughout North America. Aside from brewing her own visual concoctions, she is an illustrator, graphic designer and an animation colour designer.

Contact the Gallery Director for availability and purchase info: (323) 666-7667