Happening tonight, James Gulliver Hancock will be at Poketo to sign his new book All the Buildings in New York and showing a bunch of new prints and even some super rad, handmade wooden buildings! Come by and meet the artist. Friends from Sqirl Kitchen will be there with some awesome desserts!

For those purchasing the book tonight you’ll be put in a raffle to win a couple original drawings and prints from James. Even this one here is part of the raffle… we are honored that James put the Poketo store on the map. If ever an All the Buildings in LA… one can dream right?

All the Buildings in New York Book party, art show, and book signing
with James Gulliver Hancock
May 23, 7-10pm
Poketo Store
820 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, 90013

The “All the Buildings in New York” book launch party is just a day away – have you marked your calenders yet? It brings a bit of NY to LA, but James has specially created LA tote bags for the raffle during the party. In today’s interview with James Gulliver Hancock, we find out more about the time he spent in LA, and his pal Jessica Koslow of Sqirl who will be bringing her treats to the event!

1. LA is clearly a stark contrast from NY, but how do you see it through your own eyes, in comparison to NY?
They are both amazing, and I would find it hard to choose again, they really are like chalk and cheese. They both have some amazing nature outside of the city, one desert, one quite lush and green. I think what I find interesting about LA is that it’s a bit hard to access on the surface. NY is very easy to enjoy as everything falls out onto the street. But in LA you have to be a bit of a detective. The best sushi might be behind a doorless slab of concrete on a deserted street, you just never now. Hence it’s much more about knowing a local and seeking stuff out, it’s harder than NY. Does that make it a touch more rewarding?

2. Like New York, you’ve spent a fair amount of time in LA too…what first brought you to LA?
My wife is a musician and she started her solo career in LA. We had a great time in LA for about 4 years. It’s such a great city to get things going people can be up for trying new things and getting stuff happening. In contrast to Australians who can be a bit too laid back sometimes.

3. Can you share with us some of your favorite spots in LA?
Spirl, obviously, because I can go there, eat great food and probably run into a friend. Forage in Sunset Junction is pretty awesome too, I love places you can eat like you would at home. I love hiking the canyons up to the observatory too.

4. You’ve done some work for Jessica of Sqirl…what do you enjoy about her jams and food?
Jessica’s work is amazing, she seems to of carved herself such an amazing culinary path. She symbolises what I love about America, how she’s started her own business from a small thing such as jams and built it into a full brand. I love that she mixes very local flavours and isn’t afraid to try different things together. She plays with food like I play with pens and pencils!

5. Describe Jessica in 3 words.
Awesome, focussed, determined.

6. What was your inspiration for the designs you’ve created for Sqirl Kitchen?
Together we’ve made a stop motion film, a tote bag and a mural in her space. All three elements have a concept of magical preserves. That the things inside the jars are extra special, are stardust mixings of amazingness.

7. What do you want people to carry in your LA Tote Bag?
Some Sqirl jam of course. A signed copy of my book some cheese from the Silver Lake Cheese Store along with a baguette, some fruit from the Silver Lake Farmer’s Market, a picnic rug, your best friend, and directions to the canyons.

All the Buildings in New York Launch Party
Date: Thursday May 23rd 2013
Time: 7-10pm
Location: Poketo Store
820 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-537-0751

Find out more details about the event and RSVP here.

There is not one person in LA that is “in the know” that does not know SQIRL. Did Jonathan Gold say it’s his favorite place… or your favorite place? No matter, Jessica Koslow, proprietor of cafe-kitchen-confitures-the best place ever (whatever you want to label it) will be at Poketo on May 23rd to deliver fresh treats for our event, All the Buildings in New York art show and books signing with artist, James Gulliver Hancock.

SQIRL is “off the beaten path” in Silverlake, but, people flock to it because there is no place like it— it’s no wonder SQIRL has been chosen by Food & Wine Magazine as one of ten New American Artisans! We are so excited to have SQIRL come to Poketo this Thursday to be the sweetness on top of James’ awesome art show here at the Poketo Store. The event info and Facebook event is below… come and join us, look forward to seeing you!

By the way, do you know that mural at SQIRL Cafe? To connect the dots, that is none other than James Guliver Hancock. Meet James at our show, he’ll be signing his new book!

All the Buildings in New York Event
with James Gulliver Hancock
Treats by SQIRL
Date: May 23rd, 2013
Time: 7-10pm
Location:
Poketo Store LA
820 East 3rd Street
LA, CA 90013

Join the event on Facebook and get all of the info!

Our launch party to celebrate the new book ‘All the Buildings in New York’ is just days away on Thursday 5/23! By artist and illustrator James Gulliver Hancock, the book is an artist ode to New York City as rendered in his signature colorful and whimsical style. We spoke to James to find out more about his prolific and mammoth project to draw all the buildings in the Big Apple, his love for the city and notions of home.

1. What is the premise behind ‘All the Buildings in New York’?

I’ve been doing these obsessive collections of different cities as I’ve travelled. I’ve done prints for ‘All the Cars in Los Angeles’, ‘All the Rain in London’, ‘All the Bicycles in Berlin’. But when I moved to New York, this project became more intense, as I used the building drawings to get to know the city. By drawing my new surroundings I made myself a kind of map of the places I liked. I love this idea of really getting to know something by drawing all of one thing, of focusing, but at the same time having a massive, almost unrealisable focus.

2. What do you look out for in a building before deciding to draw it?

I started by drawing all the interesting buildings I saw in my close proximity, all the great brownstones I’d seen in movies, television etc. Now the project has taken on a different turn, where a lot of people order commissions of certain buildings. So this takes me to very different parts of the city, and as an outsider it’s been a great way to see parts that the tourists don’t see, and also really get a feel for how people live in New York, the reality of which I was pretty unfamiliar with having grown up in Australia.

3. What originally brought you to New York, and how long did you live there for?

My wife and I lived in Los Angeles and thought we would like to move to Europe, but for both our careers thought the USA was better for us. It’s such an inspiring, encouraging place! So we compromised and moved to New York, maybe the most European city in the US.

4. What was your home in Brooklyn like and do you have a drawing of it?

I do indeed, our first place was in Carroll Gardens, above a shop. A very cute little flat with wainscoting in the hallway. It was our first experience of tiny New York apartments and how you can make such small spaces work really well. I’ve actually drawn all the places I’ve lived. Though I just moved and am in a new place now, but here it is anyway. Our first Brooklyn place is on the bottom in the middle:

5. What is New York City like, as seen through your eyes? What do you like/dislike about it?

I love that it is so dense, that you can pretty much walk down any street and there will be something interesting, there will usually always be people on the street and interactions with strangers are commonplace. I love that. Being from such a naturally beautiful place as Australia though it’s hard to come to terms with the grittiness. I miss the beach and walking around bare-foot, and fruit trees on the street like there are in Sydney.

6. Are you partial to a certain neighborhood in New York and why?

I love Brooklyn, my friends are there, people are just trying things all the time, so many little start up shops and businesses, so many studios of people making stuff happen. You can feel this walking around. It’s like a very professional DIY.

7. Having lived in a few different places, do you experience culture shock when you’re settling into a new city? Are there any instances that come to mind?

I think culture shock was way more in my face when I was travelling much faster. I travel mostly for work now, so it’s usually for a reason and is all set up. When I was younger I would just show up in a city and figure it out, that became quite a thrill, working out the culture, where to stay, what to eat. It’s such an intense jump in the deep end.

8. What is the next thing that you plan to draw everything of?

I do this project in a number of cities, I’m sure something will grab me the next time I’m in a new place. That’s really the fun of travelling and getting into new places and finding what sticks out for me.

9. You will be offering a raffle to draw people’s childhood home at the event. Why the childhood home?

I think there will always be something special about our childhood homes. It’s maybe where we learnt to walk, where we first felt the earth beneath our feet, and it is usually filled with cloudy 1/2 formed memories of times passed. It’s nostalgia that makes architecture really stand out.

10. What can people expect at the book signing?

It’s going to be fun! we’ve got a few giveaways, Sqirl is going to drop something awesome to nibble on, we’ll have plenty of books on hand as well as a little installation of some of my prints and original drawings from the all the buildings series. A good change to get a behind the scenes on me and my work.

All the Buildings in New York Launch Party
Date: Thursday May 23rd 2013
Time: 7-10pm
Location: Poketo Store
820 E. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-537-0751

Find out more details about the event and RSVP here.