a store visit with Reform, Los Angeles

....
"There are your good friends and I like them fine.
'Cause they are your past and your present time.
But would you even be the same if you left them behind?"

- Kathleeen Edwards

all photographs by Marco Annunziata

Gerard O'Brien's store Reform on Melrose in the heart of Los Angeles tells a specific story of craft & design. It is here in this store that I have been firsthand introduced to the works of J.B. Blunk, Howard Werner, David Cressey's ceramics, Gerald McCabe's sculptural furniture, Tanya Aguiniga's felted works, John Kapel, only to name a few.

For collectors or design geeks like myself, Reform is what I might call a "temple of the hands." A place where the lines are blurred between craft + art + design. Gerard's enormous collection of books in the back room is the best public archive of this sort that I know about here in L.A. I've spent many hours of the afternoon speaking with Gerard about the current state of craft in America , as well as attending the store's events. Last year he hosted Leslie Williamson for her book, Handcrafted Modern, and spoke recently at LACMA on The Legacy of California Design. Designers such as myself are extremely grateful for Gerard's dedication to telling the story of Southern California's design, and encouraging a new generation to work with their hands. Please take time to visit Reform. - David John