Studio Note #77 : Then it was Neither.
Some things never change.
Early in my career, I was always going to Los Angeles.
When we were publishing Art Prostitute and had just opened the gallery, LA was a regular destination. There were artists to meet, exhibitions to see, relationships to build and a creative community that I was eager to be a part of.
Then after Art Prostitute, it was New York.
Different city, same ambitions. For a long time, those trips were a regular part of my life. They weren't vacations. They were opportunities to participate in a world that I loved being a part of.
And then, eventually, it was neither.
Last weekend, I returned to Los Angeles for the first time in many years. This time, I wasn't there for an exhibition, a meeting or anything remotely related to my career. I was there to spend a few days with Maritza and my daughter.
The funny thing is, I didn't visit a single old haunt.
Not one.
It wasn't a conscious decision to avoid revisiting the past. It genuinely never occurred to me. With the exception of Giant Robot, although I didn’t end up going. That place absolutely ruled then and still does now.
Instead, we did all the touristy stuff I would have never dreamed of doing back then. The kind of things I probably would have dismissed in favor of finding some obscure gallery, bookstore or restaurant that only the locals knew about.
I spent so many years traveling to Los Angeles with a purpose that I never really considered visiting without one.
There's something amusing about returning to a place that was once such an important part of your professional life and having absolutely no interest in retracing your steps.
I suppose that's what happens when enough time passes. The places stay where they are, but our reasons for going change.
Turns out I'd never really been to Los Angeles as a tourist.
It was pretty great. Photo dump coming soon.