Gary Baseman

TODAY IS BLACK CAT APPRECIATION DAY!!!! 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛ Well, everyday is #blackcatappreciationday !!!! See how magical these BLACK CATS are in one’s life! Come adopt or foster a kitten or cat!!!🖤🔥 Show some love at @luxepaws @kittybungalow & @herehaveakitten or your local shelter!!🖤🖤🖤

🎥: @garybaseman We love LA 💕 #discoverLA #WeLoveLA

Toby gets a Matty Mattel makeover. This signed Gary Baseman plush is limited to just 500 — don’t miss out. Available March 20 at 9am PT on MattelCreations.com.

EEEEEATSCON ‘26 APPEARANCE TODAY!!!!💥💥💥 Come get a FREE LIMITED EDITION PRINT and say HI at @eeeeeatscon today at 1pm at the Santa Monica Barker Hanger!! We created two special prints! One celebrating @sqirlla which I created during one of my Dining & Drawing sessions having a delicious breakfast, and one celebrating @littlefish_melrosehill where I love their fish sandwiches!!! Come explore all the delicious food options at this wonderful food fair!! Open Saturday & Sunday May 16-17 11-6p!!! See you soon!!!

Pt. 2 of 2: Chew on this: a diner that no longer serves food filled with menus functioning as canvases for works of art inspired by the nosh, environment and repartee. That is OFF THE MENU, an exhibition at defunct Johnnie’s Coffee Shop, showcasing 40 works, mostly menus from adored restaurants throughout #LA, covered with the kooky characters served up by @garybaseman with the colored pencils he brings to dine out. It’s an approach Gary dubs “action drawing”: full engagement with the meal, the moment, his fellow diners—and each work, be it on a menu or in one of his prized journals, completed before the meal ends. The everyday ritual of dining as communal, creative experience. It’s also very much a love letter to our hometown. El Coyote, Musso and Frank, The Formosa and Dominik’s are among the favorite eateries represented. Canter’s takes an especially prized place as it’s where Gary’s late mom worked behind the counter for 35 years. Gary attended storied Fairfax High down the avenue, as did one of the members of the family that took over Johhnie’s in 1994. It hasn’t operated as a diner since 2000. No matter. The Fairfax-Wilshire location, in the heart of a ‘hood filled with museums and galleries, makes it ideal as an art space. The place itself is as much a thing of art. The Armét & Davis-designed Googie building is, thankfully, a designated cultural monument. A relief in a city challenged in preserving its architectural landmarks. It’s also a fave location, with The Big Lebowski, Reservoir Dogs, City of Angeles and other films, music vids and endless productions among its starry credits. The space and Gary’s artwork needs to be savored in person. So go. The show is only through June 14, and only open Thurs-Sun. In this post, the second half of scenes from the preview night May 7. Don’t skip the previous post with more on the show and the evening. 🐈‍⬛🍕 📸 3,6,9,10,11,17,20 @demonicaphoto ; rest by me. #lavieenrose

THE DAY THESE 5 BLACK KITTENS RULED MY WORLD!!! Happy “Quince de Mayo Cinco de Gato!” Today is the anniversary when we started fostering these special black kittens from the amazing folks at @luxepaws ! I was still so wounded from losing Bosko, my heart shattered, but @lulasphinx agreed to foster these 5 babies for just a couple days, that turned into a couple months! We decided to keep two, who became Beverly & Fairfax, and found homes for the other three with friends @vera_duffy & @pizzabagelheart So today is a special day, celebrating my stint as a JUNGLE GYM!

Pt. 1 of 2: Congrats on an opening week as exuberantly vibrant as you, the star of this show @garybaseman ! Inside the defunct-albeit-happening #JohnniesCoffeeShop in mid-town, our talented pal (finally!) brought together about 40 of the colorful drawings he’s been penciling over chow mein and steak for the last several years at many of LA’s landmark restaurants: Musso & Frank’s, Little Dom’s, Genghis Cohen, Saddleback Lodge… Yes, he draws and he dines. He also chats with fellow table guests and passersby. There’s more than one menu featuring @canters_deli , a hop skip from where Gary grew up and where his late, beloved mother worked behind the pastry counter for 35 years. I’m partial to @theformosa work; not only because it’s a fave iconic place I frequent. I’d like to imagine I’m the brunette in the black and red, seated at the bar, considering her iced martini (pic 3). As I do. 🍸 For this fête, it was less Mandarin and more Cha Cha with my banana-themed look. 🍌 Some of the drawings appear in one of Gary’s countless sketchbooks (he has hundreds). He color-copied and laminated a few of those pages as dinner mats and placed them on the tables. It was almost weird eating atop of them at last Thursday’s preview, the eve before the official opening. Gary and his 🖤 @lulasphinx welcomed friends and family with a few special surprises aside from the delicious art work. We devoured spicy @lasorteds pizza. We danced to DJ @frankichan . We stayed way longer than I promised Nina, and she did not mind. It was a hoot! Johnnies recently underwent a restoration to celebrate the new Wilshire subway extension. The owners then invited this hometown son to present his menus in what is his first solo how in (gulp) 13 years. Yowza. Whether you take the D or your own wheels to get there, do see it before it ends June 14. The fun runs Thursdays thru Sundays. It’s free! Then chew it all over at one of the restaurants featured on the walls and counters. Stay tuned for one more post…. 📸1,5,6, @tyliner , 4,10,13-17,20 @demonicaphoto , rest by me. #lavieenrose

@garybaseman ’s new exhibition is currently open at #JohniesCoffeeShop. Check it out today! And read about it at the link in bio. #garybaseman #wilshirefairfax #wilshirefairfaxstation #laart

I’ve driven by Johnie’s Coffee Shop for years and always admired this classic LA relic hoping to have a moment with it and maybe a shoot:) Being closed for years as one big prop I was delighted to hear my friend @garybaseman was having his new Art Show of drawings on Menus of classic LA restaurants at this magical place. Had such a great time taking pictures of Gary and friends, checking out the art and just sitting at the counter of this magical place. The whole experience felt like a Movie. ☕️🍿❤️🥳✨

THANK YOU to everyone who came out to OPENING WEEKEND of our exhibition of OFF THE MENU!!!🎉⭐️💥 This week’s hours are Friday to Sunday, Noon-7pm. Come on out to Johnie’s Coffee Shop on the corner of WILSHIRE & FAIRFAX! See you there!!!!

LINK IN BIO! @garybaseman ’s Off the Menu: Dining and Drawing in LA is officially up and running at @johniescoffeeshop (6101 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048). Marking his first solo show in Los Angeles since his 2013 mid-career survey, The Door is Always Open, the exhibition is a love letter to LA’s iconic restaurants and features over 40 of Baseman’s original drawings, created directly on menus from beloved dining spots, including @mussoandfrankgrill , @genghiscohenla , @canters_deli , @langersdeli and @maxandhelens . Look closely and you’ll find some Dine LA menus as well! The exhibit is free and open Thursday through Sunday, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. (subject to change). 🖼️ 🍽️🐈‍⬛ #dineLA #discoverLA #WeLoveLA

DINER MUGS!!!!☕️♨️🩵 Really get OFF THE MENU with these brand spanking NEW coffee mugs celebrating our exhibition at Johnie’s Coffee Shop!!! Get ‘em while they are HOT! Featuring art of my BFF cats BEVERLY and FAIRFAX. On one side is Fairfax as our Burger Boy & on the flip side is Beverly as our Frie Gal! Order online garybaseman.com or purchase them at our exhibition on the corner of WILSHIRE & FAIRFAX!!