In This Cottage-Turned–Art Space, the Creative Juices Are Always Flowing
For almost two decades, artists Lari Pittman and Roy Dowell inhabited a house in Los Angeles that was itself a work of art. Designed in 1952 by the famed architect Richard Neutra, the residence was situated on a hilltop in La Crescenta, north of Pasadena. The couple later commissioned the architect Michael Maltzan to design a second home on the property. “There was an ethos of potential and projection into the future,” says Pittman of living among great works of architecture.
A few years ago, however, as they neared their 70th birthdays, the artists decided to move back to the center of Los Angeles, near their studios. “We wanted a shorter commute and more exposure to the humanity of a denser population,” Pittman says. There were other reasons, too: “Though mostly enjoyable, two houses and six acres created a tremendous amount of work,” Dowell says. They were also retiring from their careers as visual-arts professors (Pittman at UCLA; Dowell at the Otis College of Art and Design) and wanted to devote more time to their art.
The pair have been art-world luminaries in Los Angeles for decades, and their acclaimed work draws from the multicultural energy of the metropolis. Pittman, a native Angeleno, creates paintings that interweave historical, sexual, and political imagery with intricate decorative motifs. A 40-year retrospective of his work recently traveled from the city’s Hammer Museum to Museo Jumex in Mexico City, and an exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York later this year will feature nine paintings, including one that is 33 feet long. New York–born Dowell also shows his paintings internationally, employing a vocabulary of signs, folk motifs, and pattern that suggest elusive narratives. “There are many layers, physically and conceptually,” says Dowell.
Their new home—a three-story 1930s cottage in Los Feliz—is the antithesis of the Neutra and Maltzan houses. “We’re near restaurants, markets, and friends,” Dowell says. “And it has distinct rooms. We realized that we missed the idea of rooms, not for their assigned purposes as much as for the individual environments they provide.” Adds Pittman: “It was in great condition—and it had a swimming pool!”
Each space is accented by the artists’ collections of African art, Mexican folk art and textiles, pre-Columbian pieces, contemporary art and ceramics, and their own work. They have been collecting since they met in graduate school at the California Institute of the Arts. “Roy has a great eye and does his research,” Pittman says. “I like scale, drama, and a conceptual underpinning. We usually agree, but I put my foot down on anything with human hair or teeth!”
In the early years, Pittman worked in the Los Angeles office of designer Angelo Donghia, where he learned about “people, money, and the politics, perception, and laughable gendering of colors.” He also learned about decorating. For his own homes, and in collaboration with Dowell, he begins by choosing a muted palette for paint and furnishings as a counterpoint to their collections. “Lari thinks in terms of the space and the cohesive appearance,” Dowell says. “I think about accessories and functionality. I tend to be more reserved, while Lari is more verbal. Those aspects of our personalities are reflected in our environments.”
The artists’ home and nearby studio building, which they bought in 2001, are inextricably linked. “Being Latino—my maternal family line starts in Colombia in the late 19th century, from Catalonian and Italian descent—I’m not intellectually or emotionally suspicious of decoration and cultural decorative impulses either in my work or in the making of a home,” says Pittman. Dowell echoes the thought: “Many of the pieces in our collections have found their way into my paintings.”
The artists see each other’s work in process every day. “We have different ways of working and thinking about it, but we have enormous respect for each other,” says Dowell. “I’ve learned a tremendous amount from Lari. He often seems to understand what I’m doing far better than I do.”
For Pittman, living just a short drive from his studio allows for both immersion and, paradoxically, a reality check. “I love going to my studio, but I don’t drink my own Kool-Aid,” he says. “I start at that point every day and hope for the best.”
This story originally appeared in the March 2023 issue of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE
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