Photo by Eleanor Stills

Graham Nash

"I'm just a fucking hippie trying to get on with his life and to have a good time, trying to make sure other people have a good time and trying to speak my mind," says musician Graham Nash sitting in the Santa Monica office of Gallery 169, host to Nash's new photography exhibit "This Could Be You," running through mid-October.

The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum inductee (with both The Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash), first tried photography back in his native England at 10 years old. However he settled upon music as a profession because, "You know, I don't think you can get girls with a camera," he laughs. "I think most of my friends would admit that they got into music to meet ladies."

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Steve Craig

Matjames Metson

"I consider myself a survival artist," said Matjames Metson as he explained "Method Attic," his new assemblage art show, "because I'm looking for any kind of material I can use to make something work, whether it's salvaged or refurbished. ... And one of my main materials is the past itself."

In Chinatown this past Saturday, July 28, Metson stood in the middle of his first L.A. solo show, at Coagula Curatorial, chomping on the end of what appeared to be a cigar. People poured into the gallery from the street, where children banged on drums and danced underneath dragon costumes. And as if on cue, Metson turned and looked at his pieces hanging on the walls and said: "This is how I rebuilt my life."

Seven years ago, Matjames Metson moved to Los Angeles from a New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina with only his dogs, the clothes on his back and a case of PTSD. Metson had refused to evacuate the Big Easy during the storm in the summer of 2005, and he survived for eight days, though many of his friends weren't as lucky. So he found himself in Los Angeles, pining for a city that had gone underwater; his work was what kept him going.

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Courtesy of Rick Denman

A view of the Great Wall of Topanga in its glory days

Is there anything in L.A. that someone hasn't thought of converting into a drive-through? Art galleries are a rare exception, but on Topanga Canyon, that's about to change, too.

Commuters through the canyon might have noticed a change in the past months: a wall that forms the border of a private property and runs along Topanga Canyon Blvd. near Froggy's restaurant is now covered in art, proclaiming itself the "Great Wall of Topanga." This wall is the brainchild of Rick Denman -- professional bike racer, rigger, and longtime Topanga resident -- who one day got fed up with scrubbing graffiti off his wall and decided to give it a makeover.

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K.C. Ortiz

One of Revok's 3-D collages

This week in our arts section, Shelley Leopold interviews the street artist Jason Williams, a.k.a. Revok, who served 44 days in jail earlier this year for unpaid property restitution and then left town to work from Detroit, to get away from cops and various legal issues. His work is back in L.A. for a new show "Perseverance" at Known Gallery (though he is not).

One story in Revok's eventful year: though he was part of MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibit, he wasn't able to fully revel in the show until he left jail:

Fortunately, MOCA is just a few walkable blocks from the detention center and when Williams was released, he walked right over. "It was pretty embarrassing. 'Yeah, I'm one of the artists that's in the show. I just got out of jail. I don't have my wallet or my cellphone. Can I use your phone to have somebody come and pick me up?' " he laughs.

Read the full story here: Jason Williams (aka Revok) Sends Regards from Detroit With New Show "Perseverance" at Known Gallery

Sophie Duvernoy

George Herms: Xenophilia, 2011

George Herms: beat legend, assemblage artist, free jazz enthusiast, Mexican marijuana fan. At a sprightly 75, he's still producing vast amounts of work in his Topanga Canyon studio. He's also the focus of a new show that opened last Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art in the Pacific Design Center, entitled "Xenophilia (Love of the Unknown)."

Xenophilia is a group show organized by star curator and beat history enthusiast Neville Wakefield, who met George Herms in Florence in 2008 through menswear designer Adam Kimmel. Wakefield introduced Herms to a flock of young New York artists, many of whom are featured in the show. Artists including Rita Ackermann, Kathryn Andrews, Lizzi Bougatsos, Dan Colen, Nate Lowman, Ari Marcopoulos, Ryan McGinley, and Jack Pierson, all participated and often produced works that responded to the free play and open spirit of Herms' art.

On Friday, L.A. Weekly tracked down Wakefield and Herms, who had long left the gallery for the bar next door. The sound of Brian Eno rippled through the speakers and over the plaza -- we hadn't fully left the land of pink seersucker suits and horn-rimmed glasses yet. All the same, Wakefield and Herms were at ease, joking with each other over their glasses of wine. We sat down and talked.

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