Beverly Hills Pimps, Ho's, and Sluts

Bankrupt Slut gets up next to a wall by Retna and El Mac that is entitled 'Beverly Hills Pimps & Ho's'. And sluts~

This is an older piece from Retna and El Mac, and really shows a different style from their more recent murals.

Dig it.

Buffing in Reverse - Action Shots

Action shots of the buff being removed from the wall on Fairfax earlier today.

Great action shots of the buffman in action, but this time he is not spraying paint on the wall, but removing it with an applied solvent and a pressure washer.

Also notice another pic of the toxic sludge as it pools up and then gets washed down the drain.

And, via LA TACO who have been right on top of this story, they just issued an update and a great synopsis saying that

Dennis Romero of the LA Weekly has the following statement from GM Jeff Woods:

It was a mistake. We did not do it maliciously. It turned out to be misinformation. There was no intent whatsoever to destroy a mural. We were informed by people in the neighborhood that it was an illegal mural and was to come down. As soon as we were informed on site that it was there with permission we ceased removal.

It’s unfortunate that a priceless artwork could be damaged because of “people in the neighborhood”. There should be much more oversight, but there isn’t because despite recent advances (such as the upcoming MOCA show), ‘graffiti’ is still not an approved art form and it’s vulnerable to this kind of action. We’re also trying to figure out why someone would spend money on paint and labor to just buff any old mural– does the city pay after the fact? If so, who decides what gets buffed? They just ask around the neighborhood and go on people’s word? The whole thing doesn’t make much sense and there are still a lot of questions to be answered.




***Big thanks to Hershy for sending us these pics. Stay up!***

UPDATE: Pictures of the Unbuffed Buff

Eh, it worked a little better than we thought, but it is nowhere near what it was. The wall will never be what it once was.

The buff paint did come off, but it has left a remaining tan tint on the once white wall.

Its surprising how well the one layer of paint was removed without taking out the underlying art--on most of the wall. At the top left you can see how the wall is stripped well under Retna's lettering.

The wall will never be what it once was.

But the Graffiti Control Systems seems to be making one problem after another. They are powerwashing the stuff off the wall, all the paint and all the chemicals used to remove it, and then washing this toxic sludge down the drain. This is awful for the environment (all the drains have 'Drains Straight To Ocean' signs next to them), and there have got to be all kinds of city ordinances against this. We get the feeling that the legal troubles are not over for this company by any stretch.

And wonder if the wall will remain like this? or if it will get repainted?

Buffman Buffing Himself (pt 1/2)

It looks like the shit hit the fan, and in an unprecedented move, the Graffiti Removal Buff Squad returned to the spot that they buffed yesterday on Fairfax, and tried to remove their buff paint from the mural.

After the buff squad had broken through a locked gate and painted over a mural without the owner's permission, people were outraged.

The workers told M&F that they had got a call from the city to remove the wall. Don't know if that's true or not, but this wasn't just any graffiti mural. This was a mural with some of the biggest names in the world--Retna, Rime, Revok, Saber, Norm, Os Gemeos. And we are skeptical that about this paint removal plan, and doubt that the wall will look anywhere near as nice as it did before.

A few years ago, a private artist won $30,000 from the city after the city had illegally buffed the outdoor mural. We'd love to see something like this happen here for a couple of reasons. One, to score a victory for the outlaw good guys, the artists. And even more importantly, so that private buff companies, and buildings with murals on them will think carefully before having art removed.

Meanwhile, online the backlash has been so severe that Graffiti Removal Squad removed their Facebook page last night after an onslaught of negative comments.

Interested to see how this paint removal turns out, and stay tuned to MELROSEandFAIRFAX to see how it continues to play out.

The Art Wall At Venice Beach

This wall in front of an abandoned building at Venice Beach serves as a constant, ever changing canvas for street art. This time there is is a new huge portrait of a girl, and some 3d street art

A huge piece that was in the middle of this wall got ripped down, and only the half torn face remains from that. But the mural of the girls face shown below is brand new.

And interesting piece of 3d street art from Vinny V 3d .com.

New Flower Gun Mural from Cyrcle

Cyrcle goes big with this amazing hand painted mural. Click the jump for more

Cyrcle has been working on this piece for the past couple days, and the results appear to be well worth it as this is a very impressive mural.

It features a big gun, but the entire image is composed of beautiful hand painted flowers.

And the piece is also clever. The piece is continued on the wood pillar in front of the piece, so that when you take a picture, the gun is continuous without the view being obstructed. And the move also adds another element. Painting off the wall itself causes the people view the piece differently, thereby making them think about things in a new way, and we think its brilliant~

Cool stuff.

This mural can be found at the corner of Santa Monica and Madison.

***Big thanks to the 2Bad/Refresh Gallery for sending in the pics!***

Gregory Siff Paints The Standard LA

Street artist Gregory Siff was bestowed a great honor when he was commissioned to paint the billboard managed by The Standard LA. Gregory finished the painting last week, and here are some pics of the mural. Click the jump for more

The Standard LA billboard is one of the biggest honors and brings in the biggest names in the street game. Love Me did it the month before Gregory, and graffiti legend Haze is coming to paint it in April.

It is really awesome that Gregory got this opportunity and we think the finished piece looks amazing.

For those who want to see this in person, its located at 6th street and ? in downtown Los Angeles.

***Thanks to Gregory and Yero Brown for the pics***

JR Gets Painted

Defaced? or collab?

We aren't familiar with JR doing a collaboration before, so we are skeptical that is what happened.

This does look exactly like David Flores' signature style, and we do know that he has done previous pieces at De La Barracuda.

Not sure what exactly this is about, but it definitely changes the flavor of the piece. In our opinion, it was a much more powerful piece of art before the addition.

ORANGE GRAFFITi MURAL - GRAFFITI MURAL GRAPHIC DESIGN

Orange Graffiti Mural Graphic Design

Graffiti Mural designed by graphic design is no less cool with other graffiti, graffiti mural graffiti mural is called orange graphic design.

ORANGE GRAFFITi MURAL - GRAFFITI MURAL GRAPHIC DESIGN

Orange Graffiti Mural Graphic Design

Graffiti Mural designed by graphic design is no less cool with other graffiti, graffiti mural graffiti mural is called orange graphic design.

Nomade Goes Big in Downtown Los Angeles

Street art collective Nomade goes big with a massive installation in downtown Los Angeles.

We heard through the rumor mill that Nomade is making some celebrity contacts of their own and recently took Ashton Kutcher out on a mission.

Click the jump for more

Really dig the aesthetic from Nomade, and how all the art is organic, from taking the photos that are used, to the computer work, to putting up the street art.

This is arguably one of favorite street art pieces in LA.

Stay up~

Wild Stuff

Some really interesting artistic stuff on this wall.

Click the jump below for more

Wild stuff in these murals. Its kind of like watching a dream.

Unknown artist(s).

Girl At Venice Beach, California

A hand painted girl at Venice Beach.

Really dig the movement in the white swipes.

Unknown artist.

Tagged over by Yoshi.

Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison street art with this hand painted mural in Venice Beach.

STYLE CHICANO MURAL GRAFFITI ALLEY IN LAMONT

Chicano Mural Graffiti

STYLE CHICANO MURAL GRAFFITI ALLEY IN LAMONT

Chicano Mural Graffiti

Hooked Up - Atlas

We met up with graffiti heavyweight Atlas CBS at Starbucks last weekend.

This guy is a straight legend in the game. We have been enjoying his images for years in magazines and online. Few cats have developed their own recognizable style or 'font' and Atlas has a handful to his name that are instantly recognizable.

Atlas made the mainstream news in 2010 when he got busted for the beautiful cats that he put all over the city. He talked about how crazy it was when the police raided his house with full riot gear and a helicopter. But the good news is he says he's doing better than ever since getting busted. In our opinion, the major crime in this whole story is not seeing Atlas' art on the streets anymore.

It was really awesome meeting up with Atlas in person. Thanks for the stickers and sketch!

Stay up~

Roost Above The Rest

Septerhed, Destroy All Design and Koffinz got together to throw down on a massive mural in Glendale entitled 'Roost Above The Rest'
We don't see a central theme-it looks like its from the streets and got bombed, and clearly that's what they were going for.

And amongst all these pieces are some new, and in our opinion, new favorite pieces that we've seen from each artist including a dope graffiti painted Koffinz character, a new raven logo from Destoyer, and a rat on a leash from Septerhed.

We haven't been out to Glendale to see this mural in person yet. Big thanks to Sept for sending over the pics~

Wild Life Graffiti

Wild animals and wild style graffiti come together on this wall by CBS/Lords.

Love the animals on each side, and particularly love this first shot with the Quake tag in front of the Quake burner.

A lot of people like the colorful pieces, but not the tags. This shot shows that they are not exclusive of one another. In fact, they go hand in hand.

Click the jump below for more


Work on this mural from Haste CBS DCT, Quake LORDS, Style LORDS, Vows LORDS, and Wesk LORDS.

Power to the People - El Mac & Retna Mural

Yet another incredible mural from El Mac and Retna, this one with a theme of empowerment and located just off skid row in downtown Los Angeles.

Click the jump below for more