"Party in Venice" Satirical Drawing by Michael Dormer

This panoramic original drawing by artist Michael Dormer is a tender and nostalgic portrait of California surf and counterculture in the 1960s, capturing the unique personalities that populated the scene. Known for creating “Hot Curl,” a six-foot, potbellied surfer statue that became a fixture on Windansea Beach in La Jolla, Dormer established a visual icon for the “Kustom Kulture” movement and Lowbrow Art. Hot Curl, with his distinctive nose, rope belt holding up his baggies, and laid-back posture, embodied the irreverent spirit of California surf culture alongside other icons like Rick Griffin’s Murphy and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat Fink. In this work, Dormer uses a continuous format like an unfolding story to present a beach fresco filled with a humorous cast of eclectic characters. From left to right, we see a man raising his glass with a shark thrown over his shoulder as if he was casually holding a sack of potatoes, a curvy woman with her back turned to us, a couple engaged in a “