Los Angeles graffiti hits Bristol, UK for "See No Evil" graffiti Olympics

As Los Angeles boils under a 100°F / 37°C sun some LA artists have decamped to cooler climes of England in pursuit of graffiti walls.

Man One (Crewest, Couple of Indians,) Mear (CBS, WCA) and Vyal (Couple of Indians) are making the 5,600 mile journey from LA to Bristol to participate in the UK's largest street art permanent exhibition. The second annual "See No Evil" event will be held again in Bristol, UK, infamous for its slave trade history and for being Banksy's hometown.

"See No Evil" postcard set (credit: Mark Chilvers)  

The UK connection  Both Man One and Mear competed against "See No Evil" organizer, Inkie, and Ben Eine in the BritWeek art event in May 2012 as reported on this blog. So it was only right to extend an invite to paint in Bristol. The painting starts tomorrow, but the official public opening of the finished walls is on Thursday 16th, August.

Check out the videos below for a sampler of the Bristol music (drum and bass) and the Bristol accent (West country) :). I'm proud to call it my hometown...5,600 miles from Los Angeles.

Graffiti Olympics  There are 72 confirmed artists selected by an art steering group, including Conor Harrington, L’atlas, Nychos, Flying Fortress, Seize, M-City, Pixel Pancho, Mark Bode, CanTwo, Chu, Satone, Lyken, Mr Jago, China Mike, Sick Boy, TCF crew, KTF Crew, Limited Press, Lucy McLauchlan, Kashink, Kuildoosh and Nick Walker.

Last Chance If you're quick you can see last year's phenomenal paintings from U.S. household names like El Mac and Tats Cru alongside the Brit posse: Nick Walker, Inkie, Soker, Jago, MauMau, China Mike amongst others. A full map can be found here.

To fully appreciate the scale of this event you only have to look at the supporters: the Arts Council England, London 2012 Festival, Bristol City Council, Watershed and the prestigious, University of Bristol. There are six events: Mail, Maps and Motion, the free all-day Block Party, the Longplaya art event and a trio of club parties. For street art lovers, there is the main event: a three-day street art event, plus the See No Evil gallery show featuring 50 artists and over 100 artworks available for sale. Check out more here on the official website.

Now that's Love  The city has closed down a section of central Bristol for the weekend so visitors can enjoy "See No Evil" as a walking experience.

See No Evil Official Schedule - all times are BST.

• Thursday 16th - Saturday 18th August - See No Evil Nelson Street art walls, free
• Thursday 16th August - Resident Advisor a taste of Bristol with Livity Sound, Eats Everything, Young Echo and Outboxx, tickets £5 (10pm-4am)
• Friday 17th August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)
• Friday 17th August - FutureBoogie Recordings presents Eric Duncan, Behling & Simpson, Christophe & Lukas, tickets £5 (10pm-4am)
• Saturday  18th August - See No Evil Block Party, free (12-9pm)
• Saturday 18th August - See No Evil: Sound Clash with Smith & Mighty, DJ Krust , tickets £5  (10pm-4am)
• Monday 21th August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)
• Tues 22nd August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)

BritWeek: Eine and Inkie fly the Union Jack in LA (May 2012)

It took place last month, but it's still worth sharing these images of the painting action between LA and UK graffiti artists.

Mear One painting (credit: WeAreLovelyCreative)

 The "paint off" in downtown LA's at the Continental Gallery was part of the on-going British culture push to raise awareness of the Olympic Games this summer in London (and the recent HRH The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.) But what was special was this was PR event were the artists taking part: in the red corner was LA's Mear One and Man One (of Crewest Gallery) were painting live; and in the blue corner were UK's Eine (the man with the store shutter lettering and "Art in the Streets" credit) and man about town, Inkie, flexing their skills.

Inkie (UK) tags a fan's shirt

Eine (UK) paints a version of his "Worth More Than a Scion"

Mear One, Man One, Eine and Inkie painted on Jaguar carhoods (one of the sponsors) and recycled furniture pieces designed by Christopher Guy. I didn't stay for the judges winning votes, but the live painting experience from Mear One would've had my unanimous vote. Sorry UK! :)

Man One painting

Mear One live brush action

Check out more photos of the night here....

B-Boy vs. World Cup

Is it wise to clash with the U.S.A. vs. England football match? I'd think not, but Miracle Mile ArtWalk has got a whole day of activities planned from 10am.

If you rush after the match to LACMA you might catch some of Justin Bua's (USC Fight On!) Urban Art Studio conversations with some of hip hop's leading lights!

Join us in the Plaza Level of the Art of the Americas Building, where BUA's Urban Art Studio will feature original paintings and drawings as the artist himself hosts conversations with leading artists, musicians, dancers, and more:

1–2pm: Mear One and Camille Rose Garcia
2:30–3:30pm: Mr. Wiggles [Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Nation]

4–5pm: Flea and Mixmaster Mike
5pm: BUA Poster Signing
6-8pm: Special Performances by Mr. Wiggles, Mixmaster Mike, The Beat Freaks, and more.

*Free tickets for each interview session will be available at the LACMA Box Office one hour before the program.

LACMA
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 857-6010

Mid-City Arts: Painting "On a Sunday afternoon"

A slew of West Coast (LA, SD) and East Coast (Miami) graffiti writers are congregating at Mid-City Arts this weekend for "On A Sunday Afternoon."

Some of the artists were due to paint as early as Friday with a live mural installation by Retna and a closing reception on Sunday March 7 from 2pm-8pm.

Not sure how those plans will work out since as I write it's raining cats and dogs in LA.

Axis (Los Angeles)
BooksIIII (Miami)
Dabs & Myla (Australia)
Jim Darling (Los Angeles)
Kofie (Los Angeles)
Kopye (Los Angeles)
Mear (Los Angeles)
Retna (Los Angeles)
Risk (Los Angeles)
Skem (Miami)

Slow (Miami)
Surge (San Diego)
Thelus (Los Angeles)
Typoe (Miami)

Location:
Mid-City Arts
5111 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles Ca. 90019
(310) 694-3460

"Street Legal" - Catch LA's finest before the show closes!

The rain and general dreariness kept me away from the LA Art Show even though LA's most talented street artists 'come art gallery converts were painting live as part of FADA's (Fine Art Dealers Association) "VOX HUMANA.". Lame I know! So instead of sharing my pics, I've found some great ones from Mr. Satoe.

Redemption But, to represent I'm planning to head downtown to see the closing show entitled, "Street Legal", featuring Mear One, Kofie, Retna and El Mac this coming Weds 3rd March. May be see you at the Rivera & Rivera gallery. If not check back for photos.

LA Art Show reprise Until this year, the LA Art Show had never shown any street art! Surprising, when you consider the number of Californian graffiti and street artists (yes, I'm going to lump them together ;) ) who have become household names locally and internationally. In my own random order (with credibility or verification given): Obey, Seventh Letter/AWR/MSK ( Revok, Retna, Saber, Push, Rime, Zes and many, many more), El Mac, Buff Monster, Mr. Brainwash, Shark Toof etc.

Bryson Strauss, curator of VOX HUMANA, compares Mear One, Kofie, Retna and El Mac timeliness to art world celebrities. “Shepard Fairey and Banksy show at art fairs like Art Basel, but they’ve already been validated and vindicated and selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s easy to hang [their work] on your wall and say, ‘Now, I’m cool and I’m hip.’”

Kim Martindale, producer of the Los Angeles Art Show, added that VOX HUMANA offers street artists credibility and takes the illegal tarnish off of street art. “Graffiti art is part of that latest movement,” says Martindale. “It’s kind of gone through a transition from where people had pushed it aside and said, ‘Let’s not even look at it. That’s an evil thing for our society.’”

For some fans of street art, VOX HUMANA might be the beginning of the end. This fear seemed best expressed by LA Art Show visitor Marta Avellaneda from Galeria del Paseo in Montevideo, Uruguay, "...They’re muralists, but muralists on canvas. To me,...the fact that...a street performer...becomes part of an art collection -- it loses its feeling.”

I'm sure that the artists disagree. I heard that the exposure from VOX HUMANA got Mear One, Retna, El Mac and Kofie representation to go to Art Basel in Europe. One irony that wasn't lost on me was LA
Convention Center prohibits the use of aerosol paint. That meant Mear One painted with a brush and El Mac’s - the middle-aged woman - was painted in advance of Retna's live letter painting.

The Human Voice I discovered that VOX HUMANA is Latin for “the human voice” and came from David Bayles and Ted Orland's 2001 book, Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. It's gained a cult-following as an artist's survival guide exploring the way art gets made, the reasons it doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

"To all viewers but yourself, what matters is the product: the finished artwork. To you, and you along, what matters is the process."

LA Art Show showcases graffiti art talent

This year, the LA Art Show will have live art by some of Los Angeles' legendary street artists, including Kofie, Retna, El Mac, and Mear One. The event is called Vox Humana and it will run from January 20-24, at the LA Convention Center.

“This is a coup for us because while there is a lot of heat around street art right now, this is the first time I can remember that a top-tier Art Fair has actually sanctioned, promoted, and made happen a big live art performance like this,” says Bryson Strauss, Director of L.A. Art Machine. “And it's FADA, which is just crazy-cool.”

The artists will be set up during the art show at the main entrance facing Figueroa. El Mac and Retna will collaborate on a 12 x 24 foot canvas, while Mear One and Kofie will work independently on 12 x 12 foot canvases.

(All the spray paint is sponsored by 33third and canvases are underwritten by Lucius Hudson.) More info can be found here. Let's hope the torrential rain in LA won't keep folks away...

To coincide with the LA Art Show Rivera & Rivera gallery downtown is exhibiting "Street Legal," a show featuring other works by El Mac, Kofie, Mear One and Retna. Opens on January 22nd, 2010.

T-Kid rocks the spot

The graff and music store 33Third is a hotspot for writers in LA. In the past it's brought old skool legend Cope2 to town and this Memorial Weekend T-Kid flew in from New York.

For the occasion, I took my photo canvas of a 1982 T-Kid mural painted on a #1 train (Broadway & 7Av Local) to get signed. There were some dope canvases for sale which got me excited, but I left the markers and fat caps alone ;)

Graffiti Love The LA graff scene was in full effect this weekend: there were guys, girls, young and old. And, as as it's LA, well rep'd by Latinos. The love for the artform is clear and local artists like LA's Mear One take graffiti to another level where it's hard, even for graffiti haters, not to give him a nod of respect!



Is it a bird? Is it a plane? There were some interesting characters at the event too. The caped crusader told me he was a 'character'. That didn't really tell me anything :) but I knew he and his mate freestyled (see video). I also met Tracy Wares, one of the producers on a film called Bomb It. It's a global look at graffiti and was premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival this past spring.