Literary Branch
This iconic 1963 photo by Paul Wasser shows the teenage Eve Babitz playing chess with the French artist Marcel Duchamp – him with clothes on, her without – in a gallery of what is now the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.
A day or two earlier, Duchamp had visited to Ojai to have lunch with his former lover and lifelong friend Beatrice Wood. “Beato,” as her friends called her, also was known as the Mama of Dada due to her previous romantic and artistic collaboration with Duchamp, the father of conceptual art.
Beato and Duchamp are long gone, but Eve Babitz is still with us, and currently enjoying an extended cultural moment: Adoring coverage in Vanity Fair, all her books back in print, and an upcoming Hulu TV series, “L.A. Woman,” inspired by her life.
What’s the connection between Beato and Eve? Hint: It has to do with the founding of the Ojai Music Festival. Other notables who figure in the narrative, in addition to Duchamp, include rock star Jim Morrison of the Doors and Pop Art legend Ed Ruscha. Oh, and Aldous Huxley.
How do they all fit into the story? Come to the Ojai Art Center at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 20, and find out. Our Literary Branch chair, Mark Lewis, will host “Beato and Babitz,” a conversation with Kevin Wallace, director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, and Mark and Kevin will reveal all. Or almost as much as Eve reveals in this photograph. Plus, we’ll have wine.
This will be an indoor event with no seating restrictions. Non-vaccinated attendees must wear face masks. For fully vaccinated folks, masks are optional. Admission is free, but voluntary $5 donations will be gratefully accepted.
Need more info? Contact Mark Lewis.
A day or two earlier, Duchamp had visited to Ojai to have lunch with his former lover and lifelong friend Beatrice Wood. “Beato,” as her friends called her, also was known as the Mama of Dada due to her previous romantic and artistic collaboration with Duchamp, the father of conceptual art.
Beato and Duchamp are long gone, but Eve Babitz is still with us, and currently enjoying an extended cultural moment: Adoring coverage in Vanity Fair, all her books back in print, and an upcoming Hulu TV series, “L.A. Woman,” inspired by her life.
What’s the connection between Beato and Eve? Hint: It has to do with the founding of the Ojai Music Festival. Other notables who figure in the narrative, in addition to Duchamp, include rock star Jim Morrison of the Doors and Pop Art legend Ed Ruscha. Oh, and Aldous Huxley.
How do they all fit into the story? Come to the Ojai Art Center at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 20, and find out. Our Literary Branch chair, Mark Lewis, will host “Beato and Babitz,” a conversation with Kevin Wallace, director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, and Mark and Kevin will reveal all. Or almost as much as Eve reveals in this photograph. Plus, we’ll have wine.
This will be an indoor event with no seating restrictions. Non-vaccinated attendees must wear face masks. For fully vaccinated folks, masks are optional. Admission is free, but voluntary $5 donations will be gratefully accepted.
Need more info? Contact Mark Lewis.