Photo by the teutonic titan Lord Jim.

Mateo St. ~ Los Angeles

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CRUISIN’ CALIFAS: The Art of Lowriding

This exhibition will feature a display of full-size cars and motorcycles that have been created in the Lowrider style. Accompanying the vehicles will be paintings and sculptures made by the vehicle designers and owners and other prominent artists influenced by Lowrider culture in their artwork.

Featured artists include Teen Angel, Mike Pickel, Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, Jae Bueno, Stephanie Bueno, David Avalos, Bobby Ruiz, Mister Cartoon, Fudamae, Eric Ellerbusch, Gary Seeds, Deadend Brothers, El Moises, D.A. Garcia, Victor Cordero, Eddie “Swoopy” Galindo, Aztek, Howard Gribble, Pedro “Rooster” Rayos, Salvador Gonzalez, Ulises Vasquez, Armando Flores, Estevan Oriol and Eriberto Oriol, among others. Guest curated by Carlos C. de Baca and David C. de Baca.

Preview Reception: Saturday, May 12 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Exhibition Dates: May 13 – September 30, 2012
Oceanside Museum of Art
704 Pier View Way Oceanside, CA 92054

The Status Faction have been dumpster and alley art pioneers for awhile now, but this is next level shit even by their standards. Behold the mighty Xerox monster, ready to get revenge for acts of savagery like this one.

Yesterday the arts community in LA was angered and disappointed by the art critics at the LAPD deciding to buff a mural created by NYC legend COPE2 and two rising stars from LA, Vyal and Sand. It’s actually not the first time that Sand’s work has been destroyed on the very same wall– back in February of 2011, Sand did a beautiful mural that was approved by the property owner and supported by the area’s local businesses including Conart, MonicaMichelle, 1000bikes.org, and Legends Barbershop. It was only up for a short time before the wall was returned to an unsightly beige. Apparently, the Sheriff’s Department told Sand that her mural was “offensive to the community.”

Palomino Beige is the color of the New World Order – Saber

For those who don’t understand the issue, the problem isn’t just that works of art are being destroyed, it’s that some works of art are being destroyed. Who decides what is “offensive to the community”? The job description of the city’s graffiti abatement crews does not, and should not, include art criticism. The fact that some murals catch the buff and others don’t brings up many issues that the city really shouldn’t want to delve into– such as, is the City threatened by images celebrating women who aren’t the Virgen of Guadalupe? Are COPE2′s bubble letters provocative while the abstract forms of another artist are not? Would a mural by Chaz Bojorquez be allowed to stay up as long as one by Kent Twitchell? Selective enforcement of an already unclear and unjust law hurts even the legitimate cause of keeping neighborhoods clean and consistent with neighborhood values.

Photo by Ericka Jimenez.

UGLARworks | Unified Group of Los Angeles Residents

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Filmmaker Jason Warow sends depressing evidence that the city’s war on art continues unabated. This legally produced mural, done with the support of the building owner, teamed up local stars Sand and Vyal with the legendary Cope2 of the Bronx for an NYC-LA collaboration. The priceless work of art was destroyed by a city worker this morning. Reached via Twitter, Sand One says “I’m traumatized already, I went to sleep scared about the damn wall being buffed and sure enough…”

L.A.’s leaders talk about wanting to be a world-class city, but it will never happen if they continue to pursue a strategy of destroying important works of art by world-class artists. If you care about LA, contact councilmember Jose Huizar. He’s on Twitter as @JoseHuizar and his website is here: http://cd14.lacity.org/index.htm

636 N. Mission Rd. ~ Art Primo ~ Los Angeles

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Photo by ~db~ via the LA TACO FLICKR