The Van Nuys Drive-In

The Van Nuys Drive-In
(The car: a 1940 Ford Coupe)
It's hard to believe that almost every important example of America's first roadside architecture is gone. The beautiful fantasy structures like the Mother Goose Pantry ,Pup Cafe, and the Brown Derby. The last remaining and I think best example of the Modern Look went up in smoke with the torching of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. The Roberts Drive-In Restaurant is gone. Bob's Drive-In Restaurant In Van Nuys was demolished after the 1994 earth quake. Not to be exempt from the wrecking ball, the Victory Reseda, Elmonty, and Van Nuys Drive-In theatres met similar fates. No doubt the bean counter have been at work finding cheaper ways to use the same space. Filling the same grid with strip malls and hordes of pathetic unmemorable predigested cookie cutter cheese boxes. For me The Van Nuys Drive-In represents a time when America seemed less complicated, and a trip to the drive-In was an event shared by all who loved their cars and the curb service era of architecture (oil on canvas 1984)
Cruisin' Van Nuys ( from the L.A. Series, oil on canvas 1978 ) It's hard to think about cruising with out thinking about the city of Van Nuys. Imagine about seven miles of ultra wide boulevard joined with every conceivable kind of cool car imaginable parading back and forth. The parking spaces that lined the street, packed with hot rods, customs, street machines and muscle cars. Every conceivable parking space filled with kids and their cars. The neighborhoods adjacent to the boulevard were bound with the heavy traffic of kids circling around to rejoin the cruise. By the time the 1970's rolled around, the boulevard had reached it's zenith. Paralyzing the city's business district and neighborhoods with grid lock, vandalize, noise and kids.
This painting is less a car painting than a depiction of ritual. The Cruisin' Van Nuys painting is from a series that came about in the 1970's entitled The L.A. Series. The distorted proportions and twisted perspectives are thematic of this series. The series focus was a look at some of the peculiar aspects and rituals that make up the southern California dreamscape. Like with any painting there are things that go on when your doing them that sometimes influence or that you incorporate into the scenario. When I was beginning this painting, I received a call from M.G.M. I was informed that Martin Scorsese had seen some of my work and wanted to buy it, and to meet me. When I arrived on the set of New York, New York at M.G.M. They were filming a scene with Robert De Niro being drug down a hall of lights and thrown from a night club. After the meeting, I was leaving the set and heading back to one of my art cars. I was approached about putting my art car in the movie Corvette Summer. Many of the scenes in Corvette Summer were Filmed On Van Nuys Blvd.. Interesting timing or what?. Although any footage of my art car ended up on the cutting room floor, a likeness of the Corvette faired better in my painting along with one of Marty's Movie on the theatre marquee.