Switch July 1999!

Vincent Gallo Special Edition.

Following the success of his official directorial debut, “Buffalo ’66”, in 1998, Vincent Gallo was debatably at the top of his career. Having gone on to direct many other films, “Buffalo ’66” is the most widely recognized and remains the fan favorite. In this Vincent Gallo special issue of Switch, Gallo takes us on a photographic roadtrip with his then wife Bethany Ritz.

Next up we have a handful of paintings done by Vincent Gallo. Who knows where any of these are or if they even still exist.

“I started painting in 1978 until around the 1980s, with the intention of decorating my own home. I painted with car paint on metal boards. My films are like paintings with people in them and my paintings are like ‘Buffalo ’66’ minus the people. They’re lonely but warm and you can see hope in them.”

And finally to wrap up the Vincent Gallo content we have a long form interview with him. I haven’t had the chance to translate this interview but I assume he’s just going into detail about “Buffalo ’66” and his inspirations, feel free to translate it yourself! The highlight of this interview however is the images in which Gallo can be seen hanging out at his Los Angeles, Mulholland Drive mansion, and not just any mansion either. Designed by John Lautner in 1962, the Garcia house was initially built for Jazz musician and composer Russell Garcia. I’m not sure when it changed hands to Gallo but he owned it until 2002 where it was sold for $1.2 million and renovated. The Garcia house made headlines again recently in 2022 when the house was listed for a whopping $16 million.

Of course Gallo was driving a late 80s early 90s Z car lol. Skipping forward a bunch we have a look at the CdG Aoyoma store after its renovation in 1999. Done in collaboration between Rei Kawakubo and Future Systems with the interior design being was done by Takao Kawasaki, art direction by Christian Astuguevieille and art by Sophie Smallhorn. Future Systems was created by Jan Kaplický and David Nixon in 1979, the group pioneered the “blobitechture” theme and has worked on many large scale projects including the Selfrides store in Birmingham or the media stand at the Lord’s Cricket Grounds, both in the UK.

Now I would love to hold your hand and walk you through the rest of the gems in this magazine, but someone has to keep scanning. Enjoy the full magazine scans for paid subscribers below!