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.

Oh Shit! Now You Fucked Up!!

There are some walls you just don't touch--and especially when the owner wants the art on the building. The buffman fucked up by taking down this particular piece on Fairfax that featured some of the top graffiti and street artists in the world, especially since they took the fence down and broke an entering to get in. Click the jump for more

We have covered this piece many, many times and mentioned how it is hands down our favorite wall ever.

And today, a private company named Graffiti Control Systems came to this wall on Fairfax and forced an entering by taking the fence off its hinges, and then starting to paint over over the wall. People noticed and called the police and the building owner, who came over and chased the workers off the wall. Unfortunately, most of the wall was ruined by that time.

The wall featured amazing work from Retna, Revok, Saber, Os Gemeos, Rime, and Norm.

We really hope that there is a severe smack down in this case. Graffiti and street art are really being embraced in a new way by society, and in this situation here, the real criminals are the buff men.

Top picture sent into us by Kevin, and the rest of the pictures were taken from LA TACO. To read a more thorough and comprehensive coverage that raises some really good points, make sure to check out the articles on LA TACO and Revok.

Keep Smilin'

Dint Wooer Krsna smiling in front of the graffiti wall on Fairfax from Retna, Revok, Rime, Norm, Saber, Os Gemeos.

Framed So Well

New street art across from The Hundreds on Rosewood.

We love this spot because the graffiti wall in the background makes such a great frame for the shot.

New street art from Dint Wooer, Bankrupt Slut, Betso, Charlie Sheen, Tiger Blood, and hand drawn sticker from unknown artist.

The graffiti mural features work from Revok, Saber, Rime, Norm, Retna, and Os Gemeos.

JR Comes to Melrose~ Action Shots!

JR came through our neck of the woods yesterday and put up a beautiful piece of street art, replacing the Obey/Saber mural at De La Barracuda.

It is a real honor having JR right in the hood. Love it~ Click the jump for more exclusive first jump action shots from MELROSEandFAIRFAX.

We snapped most of these shots ourselves (big thanks to John Wellington Ennis for the beautiful nighttime shot), but we couldn't have done such comprehensive coverage without the readers of the blog helping out in such a huge way.

So swing by Melrose to see this beautiful new piece from JR. Keep sending us those pics!

The Things Lindsey Lohan Will Do For Money

Now that she has hit rock bottom, Lindsey Lohan will do anything for money--even pose with a banana in her face!

Lol, no doubt this is a photoshop mock-up. Dig the colors and presentation on this new piece of street art from 2wenty.

Also, great placement, just off Fairfax in front of this amazing graffiti mural from Retna, Saber, Rime, Norm, Revok, Os Gemeos.

Beautify Your Form

ASVP and Bankrupt Slut add some society girls to the street art mix on Fairfax.

Placed in front of arguably our favorite graffiti wall ever with a back ground from Retna and pieces from Saber, Norm, Revok, Rime, Os Gemeos.

Love the lighting in these shots, as well.

Most definitely beautifying the streets~

XXX

The hits just keep rollin~

We are gonna have to start calling X 'Triple XXX' - cause this shit is graphic!

Thank You Andy Warhol and a new rendition of this new piece of street art get posted up in front of the incredible graffiti mural on Fairfax, with pieces from Retna, Saber, Norm, Rime, Revok, Os Gemeos across from The Hundreds.

The streets at their finest.

Cali Killa

^Cali Killa in front of Obey mural on Melrose

^Cali Killa, Eddie, D Young V, in front of mural by Retna, Rime, Norm, Saber, Revok, Os Gemeos, on Fairfax

^Cali Killa with hand drawn sticker that says "I kind of like you. ThankU"

Some fresh new work from Cali Killa.

It features a bear, like the California state flag, but this one is standing and brandishing a machine gun.

Crazy~

Eddie and D Young V

Eddie and D Young V paste up on this box.

Great spot in front of the awesome mural on Fairfax from Retna, Saber, Norm, Rime, and Os Gemeos.

From Andy Warhol to Van Gogh

A couple of wheat pastes. Andy Warhol from artist 'X' and Uncle Sam from Zombie.

This is set across the street from The Hundreds store in Los Angeles, and have been adorned with some Hundreds stickers.

And the cool thing is these stickers from The Hundreds are done in the theme of Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Fine Art meets Street Art.

With all of this staged in front of one of our favorite graffiti walls of all time (consisting of work from Retna, Revok, Rime, Saber, Norm, Os Gemeos). Well, its arguable whether this street art is not indeed fine art?

TheCrazyQtip

TheCrazyQtip is Qtips username on Youtube because she pulls crazy stunts like this--jumping a full 6 feet off the top of this box on Melrose.

In front of Alec Monopoly, Free Humanity, Obey, Saber

Alec Monopoly Man - State of the Economy

Superb placement by Alec with his Monopoly Man out front of the Obey/Saber American Flag installation at De La Barracuda.

This particular piece seems to suggest a commentary on the economy, more specifically the bailout. Everyone's got a hand in the hat.

De La Barracuda Gets a New Mural

Love how the artwork is always fresh at De La Barracuda.

There is a new Mickey Mouse mural going up on the side wall. We think this is the same character as one downtown with a skull for a head.

Will post finished pics once its complete.

(This is next to the Obey/Saber mural, which is still riding out front.)


***Thanks Biz***

Thank You

No, thank you~

^discovered these new Andy Warhol pastes on Melrose and Fairfax from street artist 'X'.

Great timing on the introduction of this piece. Not to turn this into a cheesy hallmark moment, but we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

We truly feel incredibly thankful for all the art on the streets of LA. We love finding it, documenting it, and sharing it with the rest of the world. We are thankful that Los Angeles Street art is finally getting the credit it deserves. We are thankful to all the fans everywhere, whose support has launched this blog to the #1 sticker blog in the world, and one of the top 10 street art blogs (and pushing the top 5, baby!!).

And we are thankful to this area of Melrose and Fairfax. It provides such an outstanding canvas. The area this blog focuses on between Los Angeles and Hollywood, is a place where every artist from all parts of LA will visit and leave some art. And every big name artist in the world, from Space Invader to Banksy, will make sure to leave their mark.

MELROSEandFAIRFAX is the most 'street' of any street art blogs. We capture everything from beginner's pieces to massive installations, and try to do it in a way that shares the conversation that is happening on the street.

To all the artists and fans, Thank You~

Obey/Saber Wall Repaired

Caught this traffic free shot of the Obey/Saber wall, after being repaired from a tag, on De La Barracuda.

Barracuda also added their name to the panels up top. (It had run for years with a Skullphone piece, then got pieced over before this)

Mickey Avalon's My Dick B-Side

^New version


^Micky Avalon's version


^Mar's Original Girl

Apparently the stencil campaign posted yesterday was done by Mickey Avalon. We dig his 'My Dick' song, but not being a dick on the streets.

Someone wasn't pleased the placement of an Avalon stencil over Mar's girl in front of De La Barracuda, and decided to reclaim the spot with a B-side version to Mickey's with a new stencil.

We like the new version a little better.

Love it or hate it, all this action is a great example of the conversation between artists on the streets of Melrose and Fairfax.

In less than a week, Mar's girl was cloaked by Free Humanity, freed from that, stenciled over by Mickey Avalon (or someone doing his stencils), and then stenciled over again. Melrose and Fairfax is so unique because of the sheer amount of street art taking shape daily.

We will keep an eye on the spot for any further developments~

Obey/Saber Wall Hit Up

We heard from a good source that Obey added Saber to the De La Barracuda wall to try and earn some respect from graffiti artists to try and keep them off the wall.

Not sure what the letters are (7BC? or PBC?), but this hits up right in the middle of both pieces. Apparently, this bomber didn't get the memo.

This piece has already been cleaned up back to its original form. Not sure if it was fixed by Saber, but we assume so as it looks whole again (not just a patch job)