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Podcasts Take Two
LA mural draws on international trend to mix art, cuisine
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Sep 22, 2015
Listen • 9:57
LA mural draws on international trend to mix art, cuisine
LA-based artist Carlos Nieto teamed up with a downtown LA restaurant owner for a mural combining the best of LA street art and innovative cuisine.
LA-based artist Carlos Nieto, also known as CN-3, helped organize the outside mural, The Skull Project, at Restaurant Mercado on Cahuenga.
LA-based artist Carlos Nieto, also known as CN-3, helped organize the outside mural, The Skull Project, at Mercado on Cahuenga.
(
Dorian Merina / KPCC
)
A mural by Carlos Nieto inside Mercado Restaurant uses two walls to create a "3D" effect for diners.
A mural by Carlos Nieto inside Mercado uses two walls to create a "3D" effect for diners.
(
ELIZABETH DANIELS PHOTOGRAPHY, Courtesy of Mercado Restaurant
)
A skull with roses high on the wall inside Mercado restaurant is part of a series of murals by artist Carlos Nieto.
A skull with roses high on the wall inside Mercado is part of a series of murals by artist Carlos Nieto.
(
ELIZABETH DANIELS PHOTOGRAPHY, Courtesy of Mercado Restaurant
)
Both the art and cuisine at Mercado Restaurant draw from diverse influences.
Both the art and cuisine at Mercado draw from diverse influences.
(
ELIZABETH DANIELS PHOTOGRAPHY, Courtesy of Mercado Restaurant
)

LA-based artist Carlos Nieto teamed up with a downtown LA restaurant owner for a mural combining the best of LA street art and innovative cuisine.

L.A.-based artist Carlos Nieto teamed up with restaurant owner Jesse Gomez to cover one side of the Mercado restaurant with colorful images of skulls, roses and an ashen landscape of downtown Los Angeles.

The result is a collaborative artwork that combines the best of L.A. street art with innovative cuisine – even making a nod to the latest trend in Mexico City's art scene, called art chilango. It features the work of more than a dozen L.A. artists.

"People all over the world are starting to take this idea, this notion of tagging and graffiti art and taking it to the next level," said Nieto, also known as CN3. "It's more illustrative, it's more descriptive and it's more personal to the artist."




What: The Skull Project art mural



Where: Restaurant Mercado, Hollywood



3413 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Los Angeles, California 90068