Urban Cultural Playground (2 of 3)

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The Occupation
In a tone that is evocative of his white privilege and colonial sense of ownership, Roger Herman, co-owner of Black Dragon Society, describes his distaste for the growing popularity of the art scene. “I don’t think Chinatown is as interesting as it could be. It used to be kind of underground. Now these Saturday openings are just a mediocre club. A young artist’s Universal CityWalk.”³ His statement reveals the privilege mentality embedded in two significant realities that are unrecognized by his imperialist mindset. The first being the fact that he speaks of Chinatown in a sentimentality which yearns for the good old days in Chinatown where there was validity to the underground culture. This comment is riddled with a sense of rightful ownership and native belonging to the community, as if the community once belonged to him and the pioneer art gallerists who opened the first shops on Chung King Rd. Secondly, he frowns upon the yuppification of the area while failing to claim his responsibility in establishing L.A Chinatown’s popular art scene. By opening up a business and dealing to financially well off art collectors, Herman created a trend that would be emulated by others wanting to buy into the fashionably modern lifestyle. “Dean Valentine, president of UPN and a big art buyer, stops by. Earlier, Nick mentioned him because he bought Hannah’s [Greely] duck for $7,500…Dorothy Goldean, a well known art consultant, visits with her husband. They put a hold on the second framed work. She will be back in an hour to complete the deal.”⁴

It becomes self evident that the art galleries in Los Angeles Chinatown serve as a catalyst for the gentrification of the working class neighborhood. Their businesses cater to a specific privileged public who can afford the luxuries of owning original pieces of contemporary art. A couple of the gallerist have expanded their business ventures in Chinatown and opened the Mountain Bar nightclub, occupying the historic General Lee’s Restaurant in touristy Central Plaza. Business signs from General Lee’s are left on display in the front window and welcome the young, upwardly mobile customers trying to buy their way into the scene. The emerging nightlife in Chinatown draws the Hollywood crowd who come, just as they did decades ago, to flaunt their social and economic status by using the neighborhood as their personal entertainment venue. The neighborhood has become nothing more than an urban cultural playground in the eyes of European Americans who have come to utilize the space for their racial roughhousing.

Other business minded individuals have already caught onto the trendy appeal of the neighborhood and have begun to establish their settlements in Chinatown. Famed Hollywood producer/director and infamous orientalist Quentin Tarantino approached the Chinatown Business Improvement District about investing in the old King Hing Theater.⁵ Rumor has it that the theater will be home to an archive of classic Chinese kung-fu films, the epitome of Eurocentric images of Chinatown. Basketball legend Magic Johnson may be gearing for preparations to undertake a joint business venture with Bond Companies in the development of what is now the vacant Little Joe’s Restaurant on Broadway. “Plans are underway to develop new housing and retail space in Chinatown—in a possible collaboration with former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson.”⁶

The influence of the European American artists on the redevelopment and gentrification of the community is reiterated as a proposal for the purchase of Chinatown property is granted to make way for new artists’ lofts. “Steve Riboli, owner of San Antonio Winery just north of Chinatown, is preparing to convert the old Capital Mills site, once a grain mill and silo, into artists’ lofts and studios. At a cost of $2.5 million, Riboli said he will turn the 60,000-square foot building into a mixed-use complex, one-third lofts and two-thirds computer design firms.”⁷ The connection between the artist colonies and the migration of business capital into Chinatown cannot be more direct.

Conclusion & Footnotes