Car culture - pinstriping, customising and cartooning - is nearly synonymous with Southern California culture. Kustom Kulture tells the story of the revved-up legends of the custom car cult of the 1950s, 60s and 70s in Los Angeles. Features art work by Robert Williams, Von Dutch and Ed |Big Daddy| Roth. Hot rod art at its best by three masters of the form.

George Barris is indisputably the King of the Kustomizers, the most phenomenal kustom car builder ever. This book collects the incredible photos of early hot rods and custom cars taken by George Barris in the 1950s to early '60s. As a sculptor of cars, George Barris knew well the angles and lighting that would bring out the beauty of these creations, both his own and those of others. A treasury of images, the photographs in this volume capture the early parts of the kustom culture movement, when people wanted to stylize their cars and make them look more sleek, different, powerful and personal. Early Hot Rod and Kustom Kulture features hundreds of photos including notable customizers from all over the country, in addition to Barris' own creations. Many of these unique photographs have never been seen before. Barris also photographed the people and personalities of this iconic time, capturing builders and owners, as well as pinups and models. George captured all the styles of the early era of customs and hot rods, both East Coast and West Coast, reflecting the wide range of trends and scenes. A beautiful collection seen through the lens of master customizer George Barris. Kustom Photography George Barris began making custom cars in the early 1940s with his brother Sam. George bought a German-made twin lens reflex Rolleiflex camera and began photographing cars as a way to promote his business. It then became a way to educate other kustomizers. George recorded and wrote how-to stories offering information and photos on kustomizing techniques, sharing his work as well as that of other builders from all over the country. George captured thousands upon thousands of moments in time when the beauty, style or sheer outrageousness of an automobile was visible only to a gathered crowd. George Barris' artful documentation of early car culture serves as an important chronicle of custom car history, capturing the best the best of burgeoning hot rod and kustom kulture. His first work to appear in print was virtually concurrent with the beginning of auto enthusiast magazines known as "little pages" such as Hot Rod, Car Craft, Custom Cars, Hop up, Rod & Custom, Motor Life, Spotlite and others. Although much of his fame surrounds the incredible kustom cars he built, George's endeavors as a photographer are just as important as any other facet of his life.

Have fun koloring these famous Barris Kustoms with illustrations by some of the top artists in the industry! A collection of 26 illustrations of select cars, the design styles range from lowbrow to semi-realistic. Each image reflects the Barris Kustoms style and honors what George, Sam and Barris Kustoms were all about. Add your own paint job to these unique vehicles: Kopper Kart - Sam's Merc - Emperor - Ala Kart - Silver Sapphire - Golden Sahara - Vox Mobile - Moonscope - Turbo Sonic - XPAC 400 - Beverly Hillbillies - Drag-u-la - Munster Koach - The CAR - Elvira Macabre Mobile - Red Foxx Wrecker - ZZR - Calico Surfer - Surf Hearse - Ice Cream Truck - Mail Truck - Alvin's Acorn - Hirohata Merc George Barris is undisputably the King of the Kustomizers, the most phenomenal kustom car builder ever. Barris created some of the best known and iconic cars of the 20th century, inlcuding the original TV Batmobile, the Munsters Koach, Hirohata Merc, Ala Kart and countless other made-to-order vehicles for movies, TV, and for the private use of his celebrity clients. Art by Vince Ray, Dennis McPhail, Jeff Allison, Johnny Ace, Mike Bell, Shawn Dickinson, and Stephen Sandoval!

Full color catalog of this ground breaking exhibition at Seattle's Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), marking the first time that flameworked borosilicate pipes have been shown as artwork in a legitimate gallery setting. Includes essays by Curator D.T. Francis, Juror Traci Kelly, Juror Reo Hornibrook, Curatorial Assistant Terasina Bonanino, and CoCA President Ray C. Freeman III. Features over fifty pipes plus related objects by 28 artist and their collaborators.

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (1932-2001) was a phenomenon. His body of work is still discussed in hot rodding, fine arts and pop culture circles and his cult following remains as devoted as it was during his career. His 1963 Mysterion show car--featuring two big-block Ford V8s--was his masterpiece and the story of its rise and brief existence is legendary. Though it was immortalized as a popular plastic model kit and is featured on several websites, little is known about Roth's magnum opus. There are a number of fanciful stories of its demise--mostly fiction. Combining history and shop class, this book provides a full investigation of Mysterion--both the legend and the machine itself. Drawing on interviews, magazine articles, photos, models and other (sometimes obscure) sources, the author pieces together the true story of the car, while documenting his own faithful bolt-by-bolt recreation of Mysterion.

Conceived as a challenge to long–standing conventional wisdom, Creating the Future is a work of social history/cultural criticism that examines the premise that the progress of art in Los Angeles ceased during the 1970s—after the decline of the Ferus Gallery, the scattering of its stable of artists (Robert Irwin, Ed Kienholz, Ed Moses, Ed Rusha and others), and the economic struggles throughout the decade—and didn't resume until sometime around 1984 when Mark Tansey, Alison Saar, Judy Fiskin, Carrie Mae Weems, David Salle, Manuel Ocampo, among others became stars in an exploding art market. However, this is far from the reality of the L.A. art scene in the 1970s. The passing of those fashionable 1960s–era icons, in fact, allowed the development of a chaotic array of outlandish and independent voices, marginalized communities, and energetic, sometimes bizarre visions that thrived during the stagnant 1970s. Fallon's narrative describes and celebrates, through twelve thematically arranged chapters, the wide range of intriguing artists and the world—not just the objects—they created. He reveals the deeper, more culturally dynamic truth about a significant moment in American art history, presenting an alternative story of stubborn creativity in the face of widespread ignorance and misapprehension among the art cognoscenti, who dismissed the 1970s in Los Angeles as a time of dissipation and decline. Coming into being right before their eyes was an ardent local feminist art movement, which had lasting influence on the direction of art across the nation; an emerging Chicano Art movement, spreading Chicano murals across Los Angeles and to other major cities; a new and more modern vision for the role and look of public art; a slow consolidation of local street sensibilities, car fetishism, gang and punk aesthetics into the earliest version of what would later become the "Lowbrow" art movement; the subversive co–opting, in full view of Pop Art, of the values, aesthetics, and imagery of Tinseltown by a number of young and innovative local artists who would go on to greater national renown; and a number of independent voices who, lacking the support structures of an art movement or artist cohort, pursued their brilliant artistic visions in near–isolation. Despite the lack of attention, these artists would later reemerge as visionary signposts to many later trends in art. Their work would prove more interesting, more lastingly influential, and vastly more important than ever imagined or expected by those who saw it or even by those who created it in 1970's Los Angeles. Creating the Future is a visionary work that seeks to recapture this important decade and its influence on today's generation of artists.

Volume 1 of the Cole Coonce drag strip reader. Churned out between races while sitting in a trackside porta-potty, Coonce's collection of incendiary drag strip journalism was written during his days at Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, Full Throttle News and Nitronic Research, between his stints as a guitar player in Braindead Soundmachine and his return to show business as Angelyne's fluffer in Studio City, California. Its 256 pages of ack-ack includes "Viva La Nitro " and "Who's Afraid of Arley Langlo?"

"Toys from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s capture the joy of play and the pure fun of being a kid. But beneath those iconic names are rich veins of nostalgia, memory, and history. These toys--and the stories of the kids, parents, child-rearing experts, inventors, manufacturers, and advertisers they affected--reflect the dynamism of American life"--

Tracing developments in toy making and marketing across the evolving landscape of the 20th century, this encyclopedia is a comprehensive reference guide to America's most popular playthings and the culture to which they belong. From the origins of favorite playthings to their associations with events and activities, the study of a nation's toys reveals the hopes, goals, values, and priorities of its people. Toys have influenced the science, art, and religion of the United States, and have contributed to the development of business, politics, and medicine. Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia documents America's shifting cultural values as they are embedded within and transmitted by the nation's favorite playthings. Alphabetically arranged entries trace developments in toy making and toy marketing across the evolving landscape of 20th-century America. In addition to discussing the history of America's most influential toys, the book contains specific entries on the individuals, organizations, companies, and publications that gave shape to America's culture of play from 1900 to 2000. Toys from the two decades that frame the 20th century are also included, as bridges to the fascinating past—and the inspiring future—of American toys.