A new art exhibition is breathing life into the mid-century, Googie architecture of Johnie’s Coffee Shop at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.
Artist Gary Baseman is known for his iconic cat illustrations and whimsical characters that have shown up in the New York Times, Disney animation and plenty of toys.
His L.A. food institution roots go deep: he grew up in the Fairfax district and his mom worked in the bakery at the legendary Canter’s Deli for 35 years.
“Off the Menu: Dining and Drawing in LA” features work drawn directly on menus from 40 different local staples, including Musso and Frank’s and Genghis Cohen, and of course, Canter’s.
Gary Baseman’s drawing on a Canter’s Deli menu.
Courtesy Gary Baseman Studio
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“There’s a sense of community and comfort by being in these places,” Baseman told LAist. “This show is all about my love and celebration of L.A. dining culture.”
Baseman said the idea for the exhibition can be traced back to his time traveling around the world. At many of his dining stops around the globe, he would… borrow… menus and begin sketching scenes in his cartoon-like style.
“Let’s just say I wouldn’t give them back to the waiter and I would actually start drawing on the menu itself… It was a way of giving them immortality through the body of work,” Baseman said.
Baseman said he loved the idea of opening Johnie’s up again for people to see. He called the location the perfect place for a show like this, which takes visitors on what he calls a “dream reality” tour of L.A.’s food institutions through sketches and drawings.
Designed by the firm Armet and Davis, Johnie’s Coffee Shop occupied the building from 1966 to 2000, when it closed down, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. Johnie’s has also been used for filming locations and shows up in The Big Lebowski, Reservoir Dogs and more.
Johnie’s hasn’t been completely dormant over the past decade though. Under the guidance of the Community Solidarity Project, a mutual aid nonprofit with a longstanding footprint in Mid-Wilshire, the building served as a campaign center for Bernie Sanders, a mutual aid distribution hub, a filming location with student filmmakers and more.
Gary Baseman’s menu drawing of Musso and Frank’s.
Courtesy Gary Baseman Studio
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Now it’ll house Baseman’s first solo show in L.A. since 2013’s “The Door is Always Open” at the Skirball Center. The launch of “Off the Menu” was purposefully timed to coincide with the opening of the first phase of the Metro D Line extension, which includes a Wilshire/Fairfax stop.
“Off the Menu” kicks off at Johnie’s on Friday, May 8, with a Metro D Line celebration from 3 to 6 p.m.
A public opening reception will take place: 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, May 9
Then, the exhibition will be open noon to 7 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday, until June 14.
