THE BUREAU of ARTS and CULTURE : Joshua TRILIEGI
Joshua A. TRILIEGI is a third generation Artist, Writer and Film Maker working and Living in Los Angeles California. Mr. Triliegi has curated Art exhibitions for over twenty years and has created/ exhibited art, photographs, sculpture & films with personalities such as: Spike Jonze, Ron Riehel, Don Harger, Ernesto Potdevin, Henry Duarte, Christina Habberstock, Heather Van Haaften, Lorna Stovall, James Gabbard, Karl Jussen, Greg Falk, Lyda Cort, Keith Greco, Seth Kaufman, Alex McDowell, Martin Durazo, Steve Wong, Madeleine Hoffman, Chris Hammerlein, Enzia Farrel, Simon Miller, Terry Phillips, Richard Rancier, Stephen
Walker, Bob Millings, Lucas Reiner, James Intveld, John Matkowsky, Jeffrey Cunningham, Daniel Glass, Anthony Scarpa, George Clayton Johnson, Jim Freeman, Skip Engblom, Mark Mahoney, Jonathan Schell
& other emerging and established artists whose work has influenced and developed his own .
Mr Triliegi' s Sculpture, Furniture and Paintings have been employed in various media. Clients & Sponsors Include : Mercedes Benz, Pepsi, Warner Brothers, FOX, Radical Media, Ced Moses, Lexus, Honda, Volvo, Pantene, Oceans 12, Art School Confidential, Catwoman, Fat Albert , Be Cool, America' s Sweethearts, Nicole Miller's Showroom.
Mr Triliegi' s Photographs have been showcased , printed and exhibited in The Los Angeles
Times, Angeleno Magazine, East Side Studios, Ghetto Gloss Art Gallery & other publications.
Subjects and locations: Mexico, Rome, Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Hollywood, Barcelona.
The Los Angeles Riots , Los Angeles Artists, Lucha Libre Wrestling, The Back Lot Series,
Downtown LA Series : black & white 1990 - 2000, Urban Hollywood SQ format color collage.
Recent Works include multi image collages which incorporate thousands of Photo Prints
Joshua has taken over the past five years on extensive walks through Southern California' s
Deserts, Mountains, Beaches and Urban areas as diverse as : South Central, Joshua Tree,
Palos Verdes, Chinatown, East LA, Griffith Park, Century City, Beverly Hills, Downtown LA,
Malibu, Little Tokyo, Korea town, Westwood, Echo Park, West Hollywood, Miracle Mile & More.
Mr Triliegi has been on the design team of Designers & Art Directors such as Ricki Kline,
Scott Oster, Marcos Lutyens & Ron Meyers. His Furniture & Lighting elements have been
displayed, exhibited & sold at Blakman Cruz, Linder Design, North , Daddy' s, Cava, Lava
Lounge, Atlas Bar & Grill, Cha Cha Cha in the LA Valley , HARARI Beverly Hills & graced
the cover of esteemed publications, catalogues & books such as " Restaurants in California ".
Mr Triliegi is the Founder of The Bureau of Arts and Culture in Los Angeles CA USA
1 . 213 .975 .0067 JohnnyMilwaukee@earthlink.net
www.BureauofArtsandculture.com
The Art of Simplicity: LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLE 1999
When artist Joshua Triliegi sculpted the interior of the Atlas Bar & Grill in Los Angeles for
designer Ron Meyers in 1989, it wasn't about the money."It was never a business for me,"
Triliegi says. "It was a love and a desire." This love and desire were crafted in an antiquated
metal shop equipped with handmade tools and an old stamper from World War II. There,
two Cuban metal smiths taught Triliegi the basics of blacksmithing.
"I learned to do things with a hammer, an anvil and a piece of metal. That's it. No frills. It's a
great way to start," Triliegi says. Fast-forward 10 years: Triliegi still sculpts in the same shop,
still shuns machinery and still strives for simplicity. His original furniture, sculpture and design
concepts have spread through Los Angeles more publicly than his name. His metalwork adorns
properties in the Hollywood Hills. His furniture has been snatched up by celebrities like Demi
Moore. And his commercial projects range from a stairwell inspired by Salvador Dali's mustache
in Cava restaurant on 3rd Street in Los Angeles, to organic, tree-like tables, chairs and leaf-
detailed doorknobs for the Nicole Miller showroom downtown. Not the self-promoting type,
the 33-year-old Triliegi has let the work speak for itself."I've been sort of a secret in Los
Angeles," he says.
Rebecca Lee of San Diego, possibly his greatest fan, has been collecting Triliegi's work since
she first laid eyes on it seven years ago. She's acquired several of his paintings–including a
self-portrait he did in Vienna–sculpture and ironworks. When not collecting, Lee is busy
turning her friends and daughter into collectors. Three of his 6-foot trellises stand in her
garden."I can't describe them, they are so beautiful. They literally stop traffic," Lee says.
"His work is outstanding from every angle, no matter where you stand." Over the years
she's noted a slow progression in his work. "There's more maturity, more depth now," .
For Milwaukee-born Triliegi, his earliest interests in art and design sprang from childhood.
From a family of artists–his father was a potter, a grandfather made cardboard reliefs–he
continues to evolve and to explore a variety of media, including wood and glass. Last summer
he designed his first glass-and-spun-metal chandelier for the restaurant North on Sunset
Boulevard. "It's rare to find a guy like that," says North owner Marc Smith. "He gets right
into the groove. He had a great feel for what we wanted to accomplish. Some designers think
it's all me or nothing. Not only is Joshua a good solo designer, he can work in a group."
Most recently, Triliegi has launched his first noncustom piece–the Vulcan occasional table,
fusing aerospace tooling and '30s Deco shapes. "I really became exclusive and got off on this
whole exclusive edge. That's why I wanted to come up with the Vulcan objects–to get more
into the public," he explains. He's working on expanding the line. The table, which retails for
$450, is on sale for $299 at Linder Design on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood. In comparison,
the price tags on his original works range from $1,000 and up for a bed, $2,000 to $3,000 for
sculptures and $8,000 to $10,000 for handcrafted ironwork gates. Current commercial projects
include light fixtures for two of designer Ricki Kline's nightspots, the recently opened Playroom
and the venue formerly known as Hollywood Moguls. Culling inspiration from Paris to Vienna to
the jungles of Bali, both the artist and his work have metamorphosed over the last decade. And
what started with sculpting classical realist objects in clay has led to furniture design. How?
"Curiosity," Triliegi explains. One day he decided to make a chair. So he did. And the second
time around he made a comfortable one. "But I don't want to make a chair every year for the
next 50 years. I like to mix it up–including different materials." In Pursuit of Balance and
Simplicity After seven years of working with metal, Triliegi needed new material. "When working
with metal," he says, "you take this base material, and you're responsible for shaping it, and
you're responsible for banging it. You have to hit it very hard. I became a hammer–even in my
personal relations. I was shaping the whole world around me. "That's fine when you're in your
20s, but as you get into your 30s, if you want stable relationships,
you can't force things."
In 1996, he set off to Indonesia to search for something more Zen-like. Turning to wood
sculpting, he developed skills opposite of those he had applied to metal work. After shaping
and controlling, it was about taking away. He studied with a master carver of Hindu icons,
who told him: "In every tree there is a man, and you must remove [the negative] to find
the positive image of the man." Triliegi explains: "With the wood, you just take away what
you don't like; take away the bad things and what you have left is the beauty. And in a
way that's what I needed to do in my own life. Subtract things."
The philosophy gained in the jungles of Bali is manifested in his furniture design. Even
with its space-age spin, the Vulcan table is simple and balanced. Triliegi is the first to admit
he's not in the same place he was 10 years ago, nor does he wish to be. But one theme has
remained constant. "I have always had simplicity."
