Beef

Ritual Coffee Owner Not a Fan of Art That’s Sad

Ritual.
Ritual. Photo: About.com

A collection of photographs by artist Varese Layzer was recently removed from the walls of Ritual Roasters on Valencia because the owner of the popular coffee shop deemed the work “too serious for the café.” Layzer proceeded to post the letter she received from owner Eileen Hassi to her Flickr page, along with her work, which is mostly just pictures of furniture that belonged to her late mother. As SFist reports, Hassi first removed Layzer’s artist statement from the wall (the text of which mentions that the work sprang out of the death of her mother), and then asked the artist to come take down her work immediately. Furthermore, she says she fired the curator who found Layzer in the first place, and declares, “The art that belongs in a café is fluffier stuff, stuff that doesn’t make people think about the tough questions in life: pictures of telephone poles, birds sitting on the wires, tapestries of heavy metal lyrics. Whimsical stuff.” So, basically, don’t take somber photographs of furniture. But put a bird on it, and you’re in.

Deemed ‘Too Serious,’ Ritual Coffee Bans Artist’s Work [SFist via Snapandgo]

Ritual Coffee Owner Not a Fan of Art That’s Sad