meeting the artist

this past friday we took the baby out on a walk and ended up hanging out at Angel City Brewery for a bit. we had a beer, and walked around to look at some new art pieces that were in the gallery space. i saw a guy on top of a scissor lift painting this cool script that looked like a cross between sanskrit and thai. (well, at least to me)

i struck up a conversation with him and found out his name is Bill and he's part of something called the Cryptik Movement. i looked around and next to him was this picture of Ghandi and in the background, the same script he was currently painting!

so i'm like, holy crap! are you the guy that does the Ghandis and the Buddhas i keep seeing around town??? and he says, yeah that's me, you've seen them? and i say of course, i love them! we had a nice little chit chat and he gave us some cool stickers with his logo, his usual iconography and also the one with the Buddha hand. it was a real treat to meet him, i love being able to put a name and face to the art i see on the street.
here the art is again for your viewing pleasure.

here's one that i found out is also done by Cryptik, i saw it on the website.
check out his stuff on the website: http://www.cryptik.com/about/
he also has a cool philosophy on there.

i was walking with my friend Kristy around the neighborhood with our babies and i saw a guy up on a ladder with cans of spray paint in front of that big JR piece. i freaked out and thought he was about to ruin the work, like that one jerk who has been drawing penises on people's faces and other dumb stuff in Bloom Square. i walked up and said, "what are you DOING???? nooo, that's a JR!"

little did i know that the guy up on the ladder is the artist David Flores from L.A. and he was doing a collaboration with JR. he showed me pictures of the pieces he worked on over on Melrose Avenue and a few others. i breathed a huge sigh of relief, and came back the next day to check out the finished piece. i like his use of color and how his additions look like a cross between a Mexican Luchador mask and clown makeup.
i've had this picture since last friday, sorry it took so long to upload it here but i have been on mommy duty.

here's a link to David's website: http://www.davidfloresart.com/


nearby, this has cropped up. (isn't this guy dead or what????)

a few more familiar faces...

this artist that did the Ghandi has some pieces in the Angel City Brewery that just opened up.
if you haven't been there yet i suggest you check it out. it's a great space with good beers on tap, food trucks and an art gallery.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/18/entertainment/la-et-night-angel18-20110318-1


wow, TWO plugs in one entry! i'm the Arts District pimp!

animals

seems that some artists are really into animals for making a statement!

it's not just Phil who likes the bears. these psychedelic bears are on the wall of a building on the corner of 3rd and Alameda. i suggest you visit them, you can spend hours looking at all the tiny pictures inside one bear.

a new California flag.
panda boy and panda girl

don't forget cats!

hello, owl.

someone doesn't think too highly of LAPD...

don't call this alien an illegal!

aw, the bunny thinks he's Lou Reed...

BANKSY??????

back from a hiatus, laptop was at the Apple hospital getting better and baby has been going through growth spurts, teething blah blah blah... i won't bore you with the details, on to the pictures!

i'm curious to know who this artist is that does these following bills! i really dig on the contemporary imagery with a political message/social commentary.

wiki-wiki-wiki-wiki!

Hamid Karzai, my old friend...

now here's some images by someone who just LOVES Mick Jagger. apparently, someone disagrees cos earlier today i found a penis drawn going into Mick's mouth and little Fu Manchu mustaches. i won't show the defaced images to uphold the integrity of the original artist.

my iPhone camera is wacky and recorded this image upside down.

here it is again, with another image.

Jagger as T-Rex!