Ace Hotel London Shoreditch — it’s alive and kicking. Open fall 2013.

Krista Charles draws Google Street Views inside matchbooks with graphite and everybody knows it.

SWOON, godmother of the Swimming Cities, stewarded by our pal Jeffrey Deitch. SWOON is hard at work creating artists’ hives in neglected metropoli like Pittsburgh, Detroit and New Orleans — stay tuned for more from the artist, and Jeffrey, here.

A genderless society, political intrigue and a journey across 800 miles of ice… Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness was (and is) a groundbreaking, gender-bending 1969 novel that tracks Genly Ai on a trek across the cold, isolated planet of Gethen — a place where human beings are neither female nor male, and society is (in theory) not defined by gender. This weekend is your last chance to see the world premiere of a stage adaptation by Portland Playhouse and Hand2Mouth, with director Jonathan Walters and playwright John Schmor — get tickets at Portland Playhouse.

Portland Playhouse hangs its shingle at a petite, converted chapel in Northeast Portland. Their mission is to continually reinvent the means by which plays are heard and spoken.  We’ll keep you updated on Season Six which includes Detroit by Lisa D’Amour, The Other Place by Sharr White and Jitney by August Wilson among others.

You can also catch our interview with Ursula K. Le Guin from October, 2011.

Stalley shows our new Ace x Converse Pro Leather High Top Sneakers around town.

Sneak peek: our Thinking Cap series launches June 24. Slightly altered Ellen Gallagher work as our North Star. Stay tuned.

To kickoff our LGBTQ pride celebrations this June, we’re exhibiting Current Issues: The Gay Blade Vol. 1, No. 1-6, 1969 in the gallery space at Ace Hotel New York. First published in October of 1969 as a single-sheet, hand-distributed newsletter appearing in gay bars around D.C., it’s the longest-running LGBTQ paper in the United States, still running as The Washington Blade and named by the Times as “one of the most influential publications written for a gay audience.” In its early issues, we find reports on civil rights issues and police harassment, roommate and job referral services, invitations to community dinners, legal advice and classifieds ads. Grown from the vitality and perseverance of queer culture and community, The Gay Blade helped citizens organize in their struggle for equality, while both supporting and documenting the mundanities of everyday life and survival.

To see the full selection of early issues, and read more about the Blade (unrelated to Zorro), stop by the gallery and pick up your own copy of our handmade zine featuring some of our favorite issues.

Stay tuned for more on pride this month here.

Photographs by Rush Varela are featured in the Art Walk Lounge during today’s Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk.  

Long-lost Polaroids shot by Andy Warhol from 1970 onward — initial reference points for his coveted silk prints. These shots of Tina, Liza Minnelli, Diane and Diana, Yoko and John, Dolly, Debbie and Andy himself are only a handful of over 150 found in neglected archives.

Flashcards and studio shots from Erin Garcia’s mural at Ace Palm Springs with JUNK Magazine.

Photos by Chris Stewart and Aaron Farley.