This series features obsolete technology, endangered animals, and extinct businesses. Since the pandemic, there has been a major shift and significant loss in the small business community. With this work, I'm paying homage to some of the places I loved and now miss.
Age of Aquarius features Aquarius Records, the first record store we visited in San Francisco, and which no longer exists. This piece includes the endangered sumatran orangutan from Southeast Asia.
Curious Penny features the beloved and long lost children’s toy and science store, Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids. This piece includes the endangered Slow Loris from Southeast Asia.
Hemlock Tavern was the first place in SF my old band, Hot IQs ever played. I miss this place and playing drums. This piece also features Maki, the lemur who was kidnapped from the SF Zoo and thankfully returned.
Selective Amnesia features Amnesia, a beautiful bar that used to be located on Valencia in the Mission. Amnesia was one of the last places we visited before the pandemic started. The animal in this piece is the endangered proboscis monkey from Southeast Asia.
Mission Pie was one of the best pie places in the city. Their banana cream and cherry chess pies were amazing. The animal in this piece is the endangered emperor tamarin from the Amazon.
Cautionary Tales are works that were illustrated for the book “How to Raise an A**Hole,” by child psychologist Jaime Nicole Tucker.
Stolen Adventures by Elaina Acosta Ford and Tyler Ford
Cafe St Jorge
3438 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
May 11-June 8, 2017
In the summer of 1999, our standard issue grey and white striped Econoline van disappeared. Vanished. I had spent many summer hours bouncing around the backseat and devouring Babysitter’s Club and Encyclopedia Brown books. Somehow no matter where we were, classic Beach Boys songs were playing on the radio. That was the best part.
In my twenties, I toured the country playing drums in a rock and roll band called Hot IQs. We traveled in a prune colored van similar to my childhood one, but with better shocks. It was all a blur with shows at SXSW, CMJ, and Summerfest. We were fortunate enough to have shared the stage with Tegan and Sara, The Killers, The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, Blonde Redhead, Silver Sunpickups, The Thermals, Spoon, Built to Spill, Crooked Fingers, Cake, and so many more amazing bands.
Before they met, both of Tyler's parents drove orange VW Buses. There is a good chance he was conceived in one. Consequently, he developed a love for them at birth. He fantasizes of purchasing one someday.
Vans have played a prominent role in our lives-they have to come to represent freedom and self expression. They are an escape. Tyler's love of these vehicles and his instagram project #scuzzyvans (instagram.com/scuzzyvans and tylerjamesford.com) have inspired this show.
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In the autumn of 1999, our van was recovered. It was found on the streets of Dodge City, KS, thousands of miles from its Colorado home. Stolen Adventures is a collection of drawings, photographs, and collages of the people, places, and wonders the van may have experienced on its journey.
Colored pencil on wood
16 x 16
Colored pencil on wood
16 x 16
Colored pencil on wood
12 x 12
Colored pencil on wood
5 x 5
Colored pencil on wood
12 x 12
Colored pencil on wood
5 x 5
Colored pencil on wood
12 x 12
Colored pencil on wood
5 x 5
Colored pencil on wood
16 x 16
Colored pencil on wood
16 x 16
The Lady and the Rock is a collection of pastel paintings inspired by the subdued palettes and crumbling walls of Alcatraz, as well as my son’s fascination with ladybugs (and all other insects). In this series based in imperfect realism, I explore the possibility of hope and light within the confines of the haunting, geometric images of this iconic prison.
All:
Pastel on paper
18 x 24