A Threefold 'Thank You' to Los Angeles
Canter's & Ice Cream Sandwich Could Live in Perfect Harmony
Dear Los Angeles: I'm Thankful For...
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A Photo Gallery of the Things I am Grateful for This Year
7 Reasons to Love L.A.
All photos © / Pesky Humans
I drive the 101, 110, and 10 freeways on a daily basis. Since a lot of my freeway time is, thus, spent in heavy traffic, I have had ample time to check out the vast spectrum of graffiti decorating the otherwise bleak domain of beige, gray, and black that is the hallmark of LA's freeway system, river basins, bridges and streets.
I have come to respect and admire the work of these artists, who risk arrest and mortal danger in a quest to become famous on a local, regional, and sometimes international level. Surrounded by the film, TV, and music industries, graffiti artists in Los Angeles have got to be some of the most honest and inspired entertainers currently practicing their craft.
Sure, there are a lot of toys getting up, but there is some seriously amazing shit out there. Los Angeles is awash with throw-ups, and tags.
This is the first of an ongoing series of graffiti photographs that I will be posting on LAist. Click here for the whole gallery, featuring 38 photos. Here are some favorites.
Enjoy! ©
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I agree, Graffiti Rules!
My favorite is on the side of the 405, it is in giant pink letters and it used to say FART, but the last time i drove past there someone had changed it to PHART... which I thought was pretty hilarious. And not to far down from that wonderful graffiti is some more, there's a pretty awesome anteater that's totally bad ass!
are you a fucking idiot?
this shit is degrades the aesthetics of the community and is worse than the fucking cigarette buds that litter the sidewalks and roads.
"graffiti artists in Los Angeles have got to be some of the most honest and inspired entertainers currently practicing their craft"
you have forgotten to mention that this is not the graffiti maggots property they are destroying? the cost of this clean-up comes directly from my pocket (and yours assuming you have a job).
and I REALLY love waking up in the morning to find some maggot has sprawled their name all over my alley - now that is true art. too bad they can't spell check on their spray paint as it is obvious they haven't graduated grade school.
Please, just try to avoid the gangster tags.
Those are like needles in my eyes.
Graffiti would be great if it wasn't just anybody who could tag. Like many of them in the pictures you posted, it is apparent that there are "artists" who are less artistic and more high schooler on the verge of dropping out making a statement.
There are some amazing pieces of graffiti art but most of the ones you posted are just their names, nothing crazy.
is this supposed to be sarcastic? how is that last picture not an eyesore...
I find it disgusting that LAist would take the time to reward the scumbags that spray paint LA. There is nothing beautiful or even artistic about what they do. If their art is so inspiring, then why do they feel the need to put up on everyone else's property? I've never seen a tagger spray his own stuff.
There is no reason to applaud these delinquents. Why not post pictures of all the city workers and volunteers who spend countless hours everyday scrubbing that urban blight away? Living in the city, there are countless outlets for people to express their artistic needs.
It's ridiculous and appalling that you would run a story like this. Let's celebrate stupidity, gang membership, and everything else that's wrong with the world.
Graffiti is dumb, irresponsible, and should not be appreciated or praised. Street art on the other hand, is an entirely different world. When talented artists use spray paint or other tools to make statements that have nothing to do with territory or gangs, it's inspiring.
Check out this website: www.woostercollective.com This is real art.
Mike, dont you think that graffiti and street art have some sort of mutual bond? didnt the one come from the other? dont those who start in graffiti often times graduate to street art once they begin to master their skills and mature as people?
im not a huge fan of pop music but i appreciate its relationship to the more edgier music that i prefer, likewise sometimes i hear the cheesiest pop song that i cant stop but enjoy the same way id probably laugh if i saw a huge, inartistic tag that said Fart edited to say Phart.
as for gangs, they made some of the best hip hop back in the day, it wouldnt surprise me that from that culture would come better graffiti and great street art.
or am i crazy?
Graffiti sucks, and 99% of those who make it, suck at it too. "Honest and inspired"? Not exactly the adjectives I would use to describe the graffiti "artist" who tags "KUNT" all over the 405, 110, and 105 overpasses. Please...
Friends of mine love going graffiti-spotting in SF and they were totally blown away by the abundance and quality of some of the (non-tagging-related) works in the Echo Park Silver Lake area.
flickr has some great graffiti photo groups:
www.flickr.com/search/groups/?q=graffiti
Art, as someone said, is life.
Thus, everything can be rationalized as Art, eventually. The trash thrown in the gutter, the abandoned shopping carts are a grand social statement, the gang tags spray-painted all over the place, religious icons, illegal immigrants milling around Home Depot, stolen cars smashed on side streets, and on and on. Using that process, our government has a hell of a canvas in the Middle East, praise be.
Maybe I just don't get the joke, that you're trying to be contrarian to stir things up, getting more hits, so you can get more Single&Pathetic.com ads, or some such.
That must be what it is, as your follow-up defends gangs as having produced so much great HipHop. Yes, gangs are like the new Big Brothers/Sisters- such a supportive, creative arena. Did you really believe those press releases? Really? There are always exceptions, to any rule, that make debating such fun, but come on. Most of those bands were no more 'gangs,' than these graffiti-ists are 'artists.'
Do you see graffiti as the first internship that leads to LucasArts?
Some of the laws/propaghanda being foisted on us are complete crap, but some things are for the betterment of all. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Gap ads lining the river any more than I want this 'art' all over the place.
People will roll over as their personal freedoms are obliterated, but you're going to get up in arms about this shit?
I love that this has sparked a discussion about art and graffiti.
I am willing to put up with the scribbles and weak shit that toys bring in order to see a ridiculous throwie in a place that would require either tethering of helicopters to access. Branded has one of his bunnies on top of a huge building where the 10 and 110 intersect. It is massive, instantly recognizable, and at the top of a 12 story fire escape. That's dope.
urretarded - No, I am not an idiot. Graffiti is not your thing, but it's part of urban life, so get used to it.
William - I see your point, but writing a name is the most primal kind of art on can do. Some do it bigger and better than others, and that's what separates the men from the boys. It is also the basis for every type of graffiti, from the streak scribble to the most intricate piece.
Kiran - This is not sarcastic, but thanks for asking.
Donna - When was the last time you hung out with a tagger? That would probably account for your not having seen anyone tag his or her own property before. Before any tagger goes to the street, he or she has destroyed every blank piece of paper in the house, and has written a name hundreds, if not thousands of times. It is a craft like anything else. Some people get it and some don't. Imagine all the money that would be saved if we didn't buff / paint over graffiti on public property. The city could hire graffiti crews to do amazing murals for the cost of the materials, which would prevent a lot of the common tagging that goes on and save the city a ton of money. Give the graffiti cover-up guys jobs that will be more gratifying for them and more beneficial for the city and you have a win-win. Graffiti isn't going anywhere. It is the oldest form of art, and if you think that it is one of the greatest examples of what is wrong with the world, then you aren't paying attention to Iraq, AIDS in Africa, the state of public education in the US, or about a million other things that should disgust you a lot more than some guy writing his name on a freeway overpass.
Mike - I read Wooster Collective daily. Thanks for bringing it up. I don't make the same value judgment that you do about street art vs. graffiti. If you are painting on a public wall, I don't see the difference, other than the level of craftsmanship.
Tony - Well put.
Scott - this is not a ploy to get hits. I could have posted this as a simple photo essay, but I feel strongly enough about street art that I felt it imperative to discuss my thoughts on it. There is a spectrum of skill in the graffiti world. A lot of what you are going to see is going to be crap, but some day you will see something so cool that it will make it all worth it. Name a modern art form that isn't 98% mediocre and I will start collecting and investing in it. It doesn't exist. First and foremost, I am a music head, and I will be the first one to admit that almost all music that is released sucks. It isn't just weak. It actively sucks. That doesn't change the fact that I spend about 8 hours a day trying to find music that doesn't suck, and I find that my search is rewarded with amazing music. This isn't about rationalizing the throwing of feces at a canvas as art. This is about creative people coming up in a very real an visceral manner. Graffiti might not get you to LucasArts, but it might get you a very profitable clothing line or design firm. Like it or not, graffiti art is a major driving force behind a LOT of design that you consume on a daily basis. So...
Enjoy! ©
For LA graffiti and street art there is www.lataco.com for worldwide/nyc checkout streetsy.com or woostercollective.com
Great article on Banksy in this week's New Yorker:
www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/14/070514fa_fact_collins
Geez, there's so many people passionately commenting their hate of graf! That's like publicly shouting "I'm a Republican!" Graffiti is awesome and there should be more of it in L.A. Beige walls are boring and I think graffiti removal is mostly a waste of money. I do agree that gang writing is horrible, though. No care is put into it and the only purpose is for pissing. Most writers are trying to get people to think, interpret letterforms, composition, or even be humorus. Graf is more wholesome than the cookie-cutter movie posters that litter this city. I get the urge to trash all the uninspired gloss that promotes and glorifies violence, etc. By the way check this link for an anti-graff organization.
4tagla.com
They use graffiti letter writing in their logo! Isn't that ironic or just stupid?
Hey Kids, who wants an anti-graffiti shirt written in graffiti! AND THEY ARE CALLED TAG! You can read about their, what's the difference between art and graffiti- so study up. I have been up the LA river recently and I must say that graf is getting better and more popular. The issue of graffiti is very complicated. Here is my one suggestion. If you don't want it in the streets. Give people a place to do it. Take skate parks for example. Most kids only skate at skate parks now.