A Taste of Honey: Still Sweet

Posted on by Diversions LA

 

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A Taste of Honey, now at the Odyssey Theatre through November 27th is a deeply felt revival of a 1958 classic. Directed by Kim Rubenstein, the once shocking Shelagh Delaney play is in firm hands, with innovative staging and a terrific cast.

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On paper the play sound like a sad but pulpy tale. Teenage Jo (Kestrel Leah) is left by her mother Helen (Sarah Underwood) when the latter runs off with her latest paramour,  uncouth but moneyed Peter (Eric Hunicutt). Left unattended, Jo has an affair with a handsome black sailor Jimmie (Gerard Joseph), becomes pregnant, and with both mother and lover MIA, invites a tender, caring gay friend, Geoff (Leland Montgomery) to live with her. He’s ready to help her raise her baby until mama, rejected by her lover, decides to move back in.

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That Geoff’s character even existed as a serious and admirable member of the cast was shocking in 1958, now it hardly stands out. What does remain vigorous and noteworthy is the sharp and pointed dialog,  and the show’s equally-groundbreaking-at-the-time breaking of the 4th wall, as characters address the audience, and here interact with a live trio on set.

The music and the lighting here adds a quality of hip, slightly surreal, and intrinsically contemporary gravitas to the production, which is very much rooted to it’s setting in the U.K., and it’s time period.

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Yes, the story is the stuff of melodrama and neither the sexual orientation nor race of the characters are cutting edge today. All the same, this is a story of tragedy, loss, birth, death, and the potential, perhaps lost, for redemption. That makes it classic, rather than dated; and the Odyssey’s production is a fine showcase for the play. Directing and performances are both top rate, adding new lustre to an old jewel.

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The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. on the west side. Performances run 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (also 8 p.m. some Wednesdays and Thursdays) through Nov. 27th.

 

 

 

Deborah Brown: Careful What You Wish For – The Sexual Tension is Palpable

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Now at the Jason Vass Gallery, Deborah Brown’s Careful What You Wish For is a sensual experience that’s both tactile and emotionally connective.

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Above, “Our Little Secret.”

Gallerist Vass says of Brown “She was someone I’ve admired for a long time. I knew I would be showing her when I first opened. I knew she would be an artist that I would have here.”

As a side note, due to the demolition of the 6th Street Bridge, the Jason Vass Gallery recently reopened – this is just the show to get crowds to see that 6th Street, up to the river, is driveable again.

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Above, “My Man”

“I’ve always been interested in identity,”  the artist says. “I used to work with things concerning culture, plastic, the facade, the veneer of things.”

Today she goes deeper, taking viewers straight to the skin.

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“I finally gave myself permission to explore my body as a battle ground in a way, an attraction and a repulsive quality,” Brown attests.

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Above, left, “Bat Out of Heaven,” right, “You Might Get Burned”

“The work embraced sexuality. It is about female desire and the struggle…how I reconcile my desire, am I okay with that, is a woman attractive if she is sexually powerful,” Brown explains.

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“The stereotype for women is being submissive,” Brown muses.

There is nothing submissive here. This is bold, seductive work that is as powerful in the materials chosen, the forms, the rigorous intent, as it is in subject matter. Above, “Do I Fulfill Your Expectations.”

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Below, the artist and her work.

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“It’s playful and it’s painful, too,” she says of the exhibition. “It’s not just trying to be clever. There’s a sadness. It glorifies and it breaks down at the same time.”

UK-based but American born, Brown’s work is universal, not so much of a specific location, but bred of an intense desire to create images that excite intellectually, spiritually, and physically.

Gone is the idea of a patriarchal sexuality. In it’s place is a female appropriation of male-driven images that through that appropriation changes the meaning of these forms.

This exhibition is Brown’s first stateside since 1996, and follows her recent inclusion in an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London.

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Above, “I Only Wanted a Little”

While there are photographs in the show, including her oldest work in this subject area, a sensual and frightening image of a beautifully naked woman with bees as her garment,  Brown is first and foremost a sculptor. “I was always a sculptor. The photography started with the the bees piece, and it has become more important because I can do things with it as a medium that I can’t do with sculpture.”

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Above,  “Where Do We Go from Here?”

“Anything is game for me at this point. If it’s going to say what I meant it to say, I feel like that is what is consistent, not the medium that I use.”

Brown’s expression thematically, is, in short, powerful enough to carry a wide range of mediums.

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“It isn’t the material which is important,” Brown stresses. “Not whether or not it is polymer, clay, wood, a photograph, resin, leather, or aluminum. I work in all of those.”

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Above: “Bat Out of Heaven,” below, “Wanna Ride?”

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Regardless of the medium Brown employs there is a palpable, excuse the phrasing, even throbbing, sensuality to her work here. You can touch it, sense it, visualize it. Viewers will long to caress, to absorb, to get the same type of sensation one gets from static electricity simply by studying this work.

“I’m tapping into a raw place. It is not political work. It’s deeply personal. That’s where I believe the energy came from, from that experience, that personal experience.”

This is work that is kinetic, absorbing, magnetic, and above all stimulating. It turns on the mind more than the body. And that’s just the way Brown likes it.

The Jason Vass Gallery is located at 1452 E 6th St, Los Angeles. Brown will be exhibiting into December.

  • Genie Davis; Photos: Jack Burke

 

Sausal – El Segundo’s Exciting Mexican Dining Experience

Posted on by Diversions LA

 

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Sausal offers a quintessentially Mexican menu, one that uses stylish recipes and exceptional incredients to create a nuevo rancho cuisine that stands out – in the South Bay and in the Los Angeles dining scene.

Named for the Spanish ranch that its El Segundo location was once a part of – back in the days when California was still a part of Mexico – the restaurant offers a superior blend of Mexican and Spanish culture and cuisine. It also ties in a classic American taste, making dinner there a unique and memorable experience.

We’ve dined there twice: in March and late this summer, both times experiencing a pulsating fusion of flavors in a relaxed, yet beautifully burnished restaurant with an outdoor patio and glass fronted kitchen. A fireplace that is open from both sides dominates the center of the room.

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Chef Anne Conness describes her menu as one that “celebrates the bold flavors of Mexican cuisine in combination with the elemental flavors of Spain” while it “revels in contemporary bounty.” Translation: traditional flavors and recipes are updated with flare.

That flare begins with the craft cocktail menu – and a strong beer and wine selection, too. Upcoming November 16th, there will be a 4-beer/4-course pairing courtesy of the cutting edge brewery, The Breuery, out of Placentia. Having recently tasted their raspberry sour, this is an evening to put on the calendar.

 

But back to those cocktails. The Future Fix made with Rittenhouse Rye, has a range of flavors going for it, from spicy to sweet, salty to sour. It’s a perfect fusion of all-American rye with chili, agave nectar, salt, and citrus, fusion cuisine in a glass.

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Equally potent and a fine mix of flavors is the light and delicious house margarita. House made Sangria is also a stand out. Interestingly, consulting pastry chef Natasha MacAller is behind the creation of some of these cocktails.

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Of course the star here is the food itself, which does not disappoint. Traditional house-made guacamole is fresh and flavorful, accented with tomatillo salsa.

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The Fresh Ceviche Mixto is revelatory, from the spicy yellow habanero salsa to the crisp celery and sweet corn that add heft to flavors of cumin, lime, cilantro and citrus. The fish itself: perfectly prepared shrimp, calamari, lingcod, and ahi.

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One of the keys to dining here is the way in which Conness takes traditional recipes and renders her version of them with extra layers of flavor – the Arroz con Pollo is served with chicken thighs and rice cooked with achiote, a bright red fruit that grows in Latin America. Added in are tomatoes, scallions and mushrooms.

Slow cooked on the hearth, the Smoked Pork Tamale Pie is topped with a dark mole, jack cheese, pico de gallo, and green onions. It’s the ideal blend of a comforting, home-cooked meal and cutting edge cuisine, a marriage that’s smooth and sultry.

We loved the small — you’ll want more than one — Calabasitas Vegan Taco, crafted from guajillo-roasted pattypan squash and carrots, topped with a fragrant and heady mix of avocado, cilantro, cashew crema, habanero yellow salsa, and chia seeds.

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We topped off our meals with dessert and one last drink. The Spanish Sticky Date Cake with Pecans is topped with vanilla ice cream, and once again it is the mix of flavors and textures that makes this sweet treat a standout. Naturally, our favorite was a chocolate-lovers choice, the Chocolate & Piloncillo Caramel Pudding. Textures are again key here, and go hand in hand with the two powerful but well matched flavors. Served along side is a chocolate chip cookie.

That last drink? Make it a Prickly Pear Caipirinha, a near perfect take on the Brazillian cocktail made with Cachaca rum. Prickly pear, lime cubes, grenadine, and mint are a sophisticated adult dessert in themselves.

At lunch, it’s easy to take in a variety of tastes with a choice of one taco, small soup of the day or chicken pozole (a signature of the restaurant), and choice of small salad. Other salads and specials abound, and the patio in particular gets busy on pleasant SoCal days.

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El Segundo may no longer be known as “Sausal,” but it may very well become known for it’s restaurant namesake. Another winner from Conness, who is also behind Tin Roof Bistro and Simmzy’s in Manhattan Beach.

Jill Joy is Back

Posted on by Diversions LA

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After a rough start in a gallery space on Wilshire that had scores of structural problems, gallerist and artist Jill Joy is back on La Brea, in a second iteration that is sure to bring “joy” to fans of her art and the curated shows she’s planned featuring other artists.

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Upcoming, Aline Mare (above) and Michael Giancristiano will be presenting Organic Integration, opening November 5th; continuing is Joy’s inaugural show in her new space, Emotion, on display through December 3rd. The gallery both Joy’s art and that of other artists whose work includes elements of, to quote Joy, “spiritual healing and the evolution of consciousness.”

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Joy’s own show here is visually very dramatic. “It’s me processing an emotional experience. Calm isn’t a part of this work,” the artist attests. “It’s very raw. A lot of people respond to this, but personally I like calmer stuff.”

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The artist “barely used a brush” to create this body of work, saying “I scraped with trowels. It’s very thick paint. It took a long time to dry.”  Joy creates only a few pieces a year, the most recent in this exhibition is from 2015, with others dating to 2010.

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The power – and often the darkness – of Emotion is in both Joy’s color palette and in the slashing, even angry paint strokes. It’s work that exhumes and compels, that serves as a release and is the fulcrum in a storm of feeling. In short, it’s like touching lightening in a bottle, or perhaps more to the point, like watching visual thunder.

Emotion is one part of a three-part series including Joy’s Consciousness and Illumination. The goal of all of the artist’s work is to expand consciousness itself.

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Check out Joy’s work and in November, that of Mare and Giancristiano – (Mare left, Giancristiano right, above) whose exciting new exhibition includes natural elements – at 456 S. La Brea Ave.

  • Genie Davis; Photos: Jack Burke, and upcoming exhibition courtesy Aline Mare and Jill Joy Gallery.