By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Pali Life Editor
Driving up PCH to surf in Malibu, Venice artist Drew Heitzler looked up at Pacific Palisades and began to wonder about those mysterious beacons of affluent humanity perched high on those hills.
“The houses in the Palisades piqued my interest,” Heitzler told the Palisadian-Post.
So in his latest work, “Pacific Palisades,” the 43-year-old multi-media artist chose to represent five key local edifices: the Getty Villa; Villa Aurora; Charles Eames’ Case Study House No. 8; the former residence of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson; and the infamous Murphy Ranch.
Now at Blum & Poe gallery in Culver City, “Pacific Palisades” explores “the parts of American history that sort of bubble between the surface and leak out through popular culture,” Heitzler continued.
A past Heitzler exhibit explored the dark history of long-ago oil sites in Venice, Baldwin Hills and La Brea Tar Pits.
Understand that Heitzler does not profess to be a historian or anthropologist.
“It’s not strong research, it’s a fictionalized research,” he said. “Once I find the place that interests me, it’s late nights on the computer and library visits.”
And not all of the Palisades residences fascinating Heitzler are from real life. Example: the West Coast Avengers’ headquarters from a popular ’80s run of Marvel Comics.
“I grew up reading comic books and they often make their way into whatever I’m doing,” said the fan of the TV show “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Heitzler’s art, after all, “is a lot like comic books. It’s a historical fiction. Comic books always have anti-heroes. I like this idea, this American history.”
With its Nazi-sympathizing history, the old Murphy Ranch seemed like some kind of Fourth Reich plot straight out of an “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” story arc.
“After the Feds raided it, it sat dormant for years,” Heitzler explained, “before A&P Supermarket heir Huntington Hartford purchased it and turned it into an artist colony.”
Or how about Cal Tech physicist Francis Clauser, part of Operation Paper Clip, which during the Cold War transported German scientists (including Werner Von Braun) to the Palisades that the U.S. Government didn’t want the Russians to intercept. This motley crew of World War II leftovers somehow wound up on TV expounding about the cosmos in episodes of “The Wonderful World of Disney.”
“It’s amusing to me how these ex-Nazis became the experts to sell Americans on space travel,” Heitzler said.
Last September, the artist riffed on “Paradise America,” a 1920s German-authored travel book.
In short, what intrigues Heitzler is an Americana shaped by outsiders.
“That’s the dichotomy that really interests me,” he said.
Originally from a town outside Charleston, South Carolina, Heitzler studied art in New York before relocating out West. He’s currently working with DreamWorks Animation to line up a Felix the Cat-related video piece projected onto the old CBS Radio building in Hollywood this September.
But for now, Heitzler’s all about “Pacific Palisades,” which he promises to be an upbeat experience for any Palisadian willing to fight cross-town traffic to reach the exhibit. The show also includes a clip that mashes up Gumby, Schubert and the thrash metal group Slayer.
“I like to explore the dark underbelly, but I try not to be too dire about it,” Heitzler said.
“Pacific Palisades” shows through Aug. 22 at Blum & Poe, 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City. (310) 836-2062; blumandpoe.com
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