Laura Owens: Fruits and Nuts

Published by Ooga Booga, Fruits and Nuts is a handmade board book by Laura Owens that takes its title from a play on the joke about California being full of fruits and nuts. The pages of each book are hand-glued with actual newsprint from different Californian 1960s newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Berkeley Barb, and Los Angeles Times, and then silkscreened, making each book truly unique. Inside pages are screenprinted with an illustrated alphabet of fruits and nuts. Covers are hand-painted by the artist, and vary in color. Each copy is entirely handmade and features different original newsprint on each page.  Wednesday night, Feb 8th, 7-9pm, at the Ooga Booga store on Tu Bishvat (the Jewish holiday of fruits and nuts) will be a celebration of the  publication of Fruits & Nuts. Copies of the book will be available for viewing and purchase, the artist will be present, and refreshments (champagne, California-grown fruits and nuts, etc.) will be provided. Ooga Booga, 943 N. Broadway #203, Los Angeles CA 90012

LAST WEEK: WILLIAM E. JONES SHOW IN LOS ANGELES

From Ooga Booga in Los Angeles, where tonight William E. Jones will be signing some of his books: “William E. Jones is an artist and filmmaker who grew up in Ohio and now lives and works in Los Angeles. He has made several amazing films including the feature length documentary Is It Really So Strange? (2004, about L.A.’s Latino Morrissey fans); and many video installations. The blog Amber Waves of Brain is a collection of his writings. He has worked in the adult video industry under the name Hudson Wilcox, and he currently teaches film history at Art Center College of Design under his own name.” This is also the final week of his exhibition in culver city: www.davidkordanskigallery.com