Murals keep LA’s once-bustling streets company
As the pandemic surges on, museums and community galleries are no longer convenient weekend getaways. Luckily, Los Angeles continues to serve as one of the most culturally rich galleries in the world, home to an intimately curated collection of towering outdoor installations.
These convention-breaking pieces tell forgotten stories and breathe themes of vibrancy, rhythm and freedom throughout the city, taking risks and coloring daily commutes. Get ready for the most unforgettable road trip around the city possible in these trying times, because whether these vivid works stay displayed for decades or just a handful of hours, one thing is for sure — they’re all located across the street.
Abuelita
Resting on the side of the American Hotel in the Arts District, Abuelita is a portrait of Navajo weaver Martha Gorman Schultz, who has spent the entirety of her life practicing the Indigenous art form through her geometric tapestries. In honor of her craft, Abuelita came to life with the help of three street artists, El Mac, Kofie and Nuke, each weaving their stylistic elements into the frame of a larger creation tale. The side profile of Abuelita is painted in neutral beige and gray tones, looking up at the stars.
She has a familiar demeanor almost similar to a grandmother of your own. Contributing artist Joseph ‘Nuke’ Montalvo puts it best, telling the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles, “A blanket carries so much weight. It holds our dreams. But do we often wonder who weaves the blanket, or what they were thinking? La abuelita, she thinks of us when she weaves. It is not so hard to imagine that God is a grandmother.”
Technicolor Drip
Let’s be honest, we’re all sick and tired of the Paul Smith Pink Wall on Melrose; it’s crowded, basic and runs out of flavor faster than, well, bubblegum. If you’re looking for a new crush, meet the pink wall’s drippy, trippy, psychedelic cousin: the Technicolor Ooze Wall.
Painted by artist Jen Stark, whose work adorns the Miami International Airport and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., “Technicolor Drip” pays a modernist homage to the coloring process most prevalently featured in 20th-century film. With its candy-like hues, this bright baby brings to mind the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz.” The iconic film was captured in Culver City, where the Technicolor wall resides today, dripping down the side of the parking structure at PLATFORM.
The Saskia Mural
In mid-2019, when Tetris took its last breath, a generation of flash game enthusiasts weeped virtual tears and lovingly packed their go-to time-killer away. For the block stacking lover, “The Saskia Mural” sprawled across the wall now occupied by Animal Kingdom’s Santa Monica location brings back nostalgia with a simplistic and summery twist.
Joe Nicoletti, owner of the company Chameleon Paintworks and father of the turquoise and sunshine-yellow creation, chose to paint each brick of the once gray wall a different color, but for a reason that is far less obvious. The colors were inspired by and specifically ordered to match a bra owned by Nicoletti’s girlfriend, Saskia, hence its namesake, “The Saskia Mural.”
Fun fact: Tech giant Lenovo actually liked the mural so much that it was used in the background of one of its advertisements without credit to the artist, unintentionally entering a lawsuit from which Nicoletti walked away with a handsome settlement. Who says art doesn’t pay?
The Kobe Bryant Memorial Mural
It’s hard to remember a time when L.A. grieved harder than the passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in early January. Although Kobe Bryant Day has passed (Aug. 24), the memorial mural on La Brea earns an honorary mention. The day was celebrated this year with Figueroa Street soon to be named Kobe Bryant Boulevard, between Olympic and Martin Luther King Boulevards, demonstrating that memories of the basketball star live on.
The mural itself was completed by street artist Thierry Guetta, more commonly known as Mr. Brainwash, and depicts the smiling former Lakers player with his arm around Gianna. The background is accented with pops of color set against newspaper prints detailing Bryant’s achievements in the NBA. Other casualties of the Calabasas helicopter crash are recognized as well with their names written in purple on a yellow backdrop, a nod to the Lakers’ team colors. The sheer detail in the piece makes for a breathtaking tribute that doesn’t take a basketball fanatic to appreciate.
The Masked Kiss
Tattoo artist, model and street artist Pony Wave is better known for her appearance on the reality tattoo competition show “The Inkmaster.” Still, her latest mural featuring two lovers kissing while separated by cloth masks is a show-stopping standalone piece. The faces are monochrome, but where their lips meet, flowers bloom. Its redefinition of what it means to love others during these desperate times has never been more necessary, an eye-catching pro-mask reminder decorating Venice Beach.
Street art on Venice Beach never lasts long, but Pony’s art has a powerful, distinctive quality that leaves a hard-to-erase impression. Striking in both its timeless beauty and immediate relevance,the piece went live a few days before L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti set forward a face covering mandate and is.
RETNA @ The West Hollywood Library
The West Hollywood Library was dull and dilapidated before RETNA, the street and studio artist born Marquis Lewis, took charge of the situation. He paints his signature cryptic calligraphy in decadent blue against a white background, a color combination seemingly strange among a sea of typical jewel tones and neons. Influenced by a cocktail of Arabic calligraphy, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Hebrew, Blackletter and Indigenous American typographies, his script is rapturing and those familiar with his work can spot his trademark style from a mile away.
Considering the building that it calls its home, the quote that he transcribes onto the stone walls couldn’t be more fitting. Emblazoned on the wall is a quote from the author Salman Rushdie that roughly translates to, “Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination, and of the heart.”
Urban Light
Although not as independent or organic as street art in its most traditional sense, a comprehensive evening is best concluded with a brief trip to the entrance of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. There you’ll find 202 antique street lamps standing in a grid that change angles and arrays depending on the placement of the viewer, forming a stunning sculpture best enjoyed at night.
With 16 different street light models represented, each light once faithfully lit the streets of L.A. The bulbs are solar-powered and switch on and off by way of an astrological timer. Its original artist, performance sculpturist Chris Burden, bought the first lamp at a Rose Bowl flea market before it became an obsession he could not stop. Each lamp is painted the same shade of gray to better demonstrate the structural differences each presents. At night, Burden was fond of describing the sculpture as a “building with a roof of light.”