Plush art gets fresh start
We’re not just talking kitschy velvet Elvises, although you’ll find the King well represented here. Velveteria is a museum dedicated to the art of velvet paintings, 420 of which you’ll find on the gallery walls, created by artists from all over the world. It’s a respectful and deeply fun curation of a medium that is often derided as the epitome of poor taste.
When cofounder Carl Baldwin was a boy, he would spend weekends visiting his Uncle Charlie in Fullerton. Prior to World War II, Uncle Charlie ended up working with British Petroleum blowing up oil wells in Burma as a tactic to keep the oil out of the hands of the Japanese. During Baldwin’s visits, Uncle Charlie, who lost one eye in a Fourth of July firecracker mishap that kept him out of the war, would share tales of his time in Polynesia. Baldwin made his own discovery about his uncle’s time abroad when he and his brother found a trove of velvet paintings of naked Polynesian ladies stacked against the back of a closet wall behind Uncle Charlie’s Hawaiian shirts.
Info
Address 711 New High Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, +1 503.309.9299, www.velveteria.com, velveteriala@gmail.com | Public Transport .4-mile-walk from Union Station | Getting there Metered street parking | Hours Wed–Mon 11am–6pm, closed Tue; admission $10| Tip Eastside Market (1013 Alpine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012) is a true Italian deli dating back to 1929, known for its supremely delicious sandwiches, a local favorite being the hot roast beef and pastrami.
But Baldwin’s passion for velvet paintings truly blossomed when he reunited with a former high-school classmate, Caren Anderson, 30 years after graduating. Together on a trip through Arizona, they acquired a velvet painting of an African-American woman with a blue Afro. This humble purchase begat the legacy that is Velveteria, and a globe-crossing quest to acquire velvet paintings by a range of artists, from the velvet masters like lascivious Edgar Leetag and CeCe Rodriguez to the less recognized painters behind such gems as a Sammy Davis Jesus, velvet unicorns, and the like. Today, Anderson and Baldwin’s personal collection includes more than 3,000 pieces.
But the best part of Velveteria, with all due respect to the plush paintings, is engaging with the proprietors. Do not leave the gallery without meeting these skilled raconteurs. Ask about a Leetag, and let it unfold from there.
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