2023 Surf Art Calendar
September
“MB Roundhouse”
By: OSO PORTO
STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
From the artist: In 2019, the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair contacted me about creating artwork for that year’s fair and merchandise. I later reworked and expanded that illustration to this wider view and added it to my series of South Bay inspired graphic art prints on OsoPorto. In all of my prints, I try to reduce familiar places to minimal geometric representations, often with some slight abstraction. All prints also share the same palette and some common elements like the clouds from one print to the next.
PERSONAL CONNECTION
The artwork and designs of Jon Berry aka Oso Porto are synonymous with the South Bay and as iconic as the Manhattan Beach Pier itself, so it is fitting that he’s created this illustration. His artwork can be found throughout our local community and although I don’t know him personally, I am a big fan of his perspective of the beach scene and grateful for his participation in the Surf Art Calendar.
In addition to his illustrations, I’d recommend checking out his Instagram page (@OsoPorto) where he captures candid photographs of everyday life in El Porto. He has a unique viewpoint of beach houses and bungalows, eclectic architecture, colorful personalities and the simple beauty of the beach city. I appreciate how he’s able to create meaning and texture through what may seem like a random photo, but by altering the camera angle or zeroing in on a certain element, it will give the subject a fresh look.
ARTIST BIO
Jon Berry is an award-winning broadcast designer/animator and creative director of television branding, promotion campaigns, show packaging and title design. In 2014, with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, he created OsoPorto as a side business. OsoPorto serves a dual purpose: as a creative outlet to freely make whatever inspires him, and to help keep the name of his El Porto neighborhood alive and save some of its history. You can find his prints and other goods online at OsoPorto.com and in person throughout the LA area at local festivals and popups.
