Posts Tagged ‘graffiti’

In the early 1960’s, special operatives from the CIA secretly recruited and trained over a quarter of the Hmong people—a minority ethnic group who lived in the mountains of Laos and were known for their combat skills—to fight against the north Vietnamese Communists. They were dubbed the “Special Guerrilla Unit,” and by the time of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, over 12,000 of them had died fighting in battle, many more injured. The remaining survivors were left to fend for themselves in Communist territory, and under constant threat of governmental persecution. Many were forced to flee to Thailand, and in the 1990’s-early 2000’s, were again forced to return to Laos. Fearing sustained persecution, thousands of Hmong  fled to the jungles to live a nomadic lifestyle, where they remain targets of attack.

For three weeks in early 2010, artist/photojournalist KC Ortiz willingly joined and lived with the last surviving members of the Hmong people in the jungles of Laos. The process of gaining access to this seclusive, nomadic, and persecuted group took Ortiz two years.

Ortiz’s images—all in black-and-white—which hang in the back room of the newly established Known Gallery on Fairfax under the title “Forced Rebellion,” reveal a stark, multi-generational, Flying Dutchman society. Constantly on the move, the Hmong cannot afford to plant crops, or build permanent shelters; the jungle, their only real home, serves as the background for almost every photograph. Most of the subjects hold AK-47’s in their arms, sometimes alongside a newborn baby. Their entire demeanor is one of defense. They stare into the lens of the camera solemnly, almost judging it—and by extension, the viewer.

Ortiz got his start documenting graffiti artists in the Chicago area (the work of his former subject, Pose, a major name in the street-art movement, is on view in the front room of Known Gallery), and his journey toward covering more remote, often subjugated cultures in the world is one of extreme courage. He has shot photographs of Vietnamese cancer patients, Burmese migrant workers, the Hong Kong lower class, and Delhi Tuberculosis victims. Word has it that his next mission is the Colombian drug trade.

Here in LA, it’s often too easy to dismiss socially conscious photojournalism, as if it were simply some type of clever “hook.” But seeing Ortiz’s work, and reading about what went into it, one can see it is just as personal as any other form of photography—or artwork, for that matter. He, much like the Hmong soldier posing center-frame with his rifle, stands for rebellion: a conscious, slow, determined, little-seen, and worthwhile rebellion.

Known Gallery is located at 441 North Fairfax Avenue. KC  Ortiz’s “Forced Rebellion” is on view until June 12th. For more information, please call (310) 860-6263, or visit www.knowngallery.com.

If you’ve never heard of Banksy, chances are you still know who he is—especially if you’ve ever traveled west on Melrose. His art has appeared all over the world, from Bristol, UK, where he got his start, to the Palestinian segregation wall in the West Bank. His striking and humorous images and slogans with their subversive flair is immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with his work. Despite his popularity, Banksy has managed to remain anonymous in order to protect himself from legal persecution—his identity is known to only a small handful of chosen trustees. This Monday, Banksy’s excursion out of the night and into the world of film will prove Banksy to be more than just a cleverly-tongued and craftily-handed stenciler.

The film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is not just a retrospective of the birth of the underground graffiti-art scene in the 80s. It also follows the story of Thierry Guetta, the LA-transplant from France who serendipitously stumbled upon the graffiti-art scene in the late 80’s and captured hundreds of hours of video footage of the artists in action. Guetta, an obsessive-compulsive character who was compelled to video tape every moment of his daily life, discovered at a family reunion that his distant cousin was the graffiti artist Space Invader, and turned his camera towards the movement. What began as a mild curiosity quickly turned into a new obsession for Guetta. Under the auspices that he was making a documentary on the movement, he managed to befriend and document every big graffiti artist working at the time, accompanying them on their nighttime forays and neglecting his family and life in LA for the span of a decade. Finally, he met and gained the trust of the notorious Banksy, whose reputation for his shocking and dexterous work was by then world-wide. In a grand gesture of faith, Banksy allowed Guetta into a world that few had ever entered—Guetta was the first and only person that Banksy ever permitted to film his secretive exploits in an effort to permanently preserve on film his artwork which was usually destroyed by authorities upon its discovery.

After it became apparent that Guetta’s obsession with the graffiti movement was not actually a passion for filmmaking (he had never made a film in his life, but was the owner of a vintage boutique in Hollywood), Banksy convinced Guetta to hand over his footage and take it easy. He advised him to go back to LA, maybe do some graffiti art of his own, have a little show, have fun. Little did he know what monster his friendly suggestion would birth. Guetta returned to LA, named himself Mr. Brainwash, and in an explosion of self-promotion that would impress even Octo-Mom, launched the biggest solo exhibition of graffiti art the city had ever seen.

At this point, Banksy takes a breath. The movie is no longer about graffiti art, or this crazy guy Guetta—but about the nature of trust, of art itself, and of hype—and how Guetta managed to exploit and violate all three in his manic drive for affirmation. Guetta, in his crazed attempt either to please Banksy, or inflate his own ego, or get rich—it’s unclear—created a humongous body of work practically overnight. He managed to cut through all the channels that most artists have to navigate to become successful. He never developed a craft—he hired real artists to actualize the ideas in his head, most of which were cheap rip-offs of the artists he had followed for so long. He refinanced his house in order to afford the warehouse space where the exhibition took place, filled it with pretty things in a matter of days, and with a shrewd knack for publicity (perhaps where his true artistry lies), got the press—and the art world—on board. The result was a wild success commercially, but it resulted in the loss of all those friendships with artists he had befriended as their accomplice in graffiti for so many years.

The real clincher is that it’s not clear that Guetta has any clue that he may have breached some kind trust in his creation of Mr. Brainwash and subsequent pillaging of graffiti culture and imagery. Operating under the same oblivious self-congratulation that fuels so many of the taste-maker types in the LA bubble, Guetta actually believes his own hype. He maintains an attitude of pleased insouciance—“Life is Beautiful,” he sprays in pink paint on a brick wall moments before it is bulldozed—after all, he is well-known, much adored, and rich. And Banksy? His relationship with Guetta wasn’t a complete disappointment. He proves that his ability for turning a wall into a window reach far beyond his stenciling skills—let Exit Through The Gift Shop be a lasting reminder of that fact.

By Helen Kearns

Exit Through The Gift Shop opens this Friday, April 16th in selected theaters in the US. Check out the website for more information.

There is a certain age when writing on walls is somewhat socially acceptable, although parents don’t exactly shriek with excitement when their budding Matisses and Kahlos show artistic talent with markers on the living room wall.  But, imagine it now, a large scale 8′ x 14′ Crayola on plaster drawing already installed.  Give it some time and it could be worth thousands!  For most kids, it isn’t about the finished product; it is the act of drawing on the wall that makes up a majority of the thrill.  It is liberating!  But those were the days, when cupboards weren’t loaded with Magic Erasers and scribbles weren’t loaded with a political statement.

While part of Los Angeles will be working itself into a Gustavo Dudamel frenzy November 8th at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, there will another group of Angelenos in a similar state commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall that will have a lot to do with drawing on walls and making political statements.  Making a direct connection to our sister city Berlin with live feed, The Wall Project recreates the Berlin Wall by erecting 40 painted panels of ‘wall’ across and near Wilshire Blvd. for three hours that Sunday.  With the exhibition Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures at LACMA earlier this year in the back of our minds, the newly constructed Berlin Wall will be stationed outside of the museum in the 5900 block of Wilshire.  Headed by the Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War, The Wall Project will divide the city into a temporary East LA and West LA to parallel the Berlin Wall’s division of Germany into East and West.  The Wall Project notes on its website that “led by city officials and international dignitaries wielding sledgehammers, and backed by musical performances, our wall falls, too.”

Both the Angeleno Berlin Wall and remnants of the German Berlin Wall will be painted as part of the commemoration of the original fall.  The LA version of the wall will be divided into two portions.  The ‘Wall Across Wilshire’ will cross the street and will be painted by Shepard Fairey, ArtStorm, and student artists.  The ‘Wall Along Wilshire – Eastside Gallery West,’ will be painted by Kent Twitchell and Berlin-based Thierry Noir and is to remain in front of the 5900 Wilshire building for a longer period of time.  Furthermore, artists on the other side of the Atlantic will be preparing to revamp the remains of the original wall.  All previous works of art have been removed (hmm…)  in order to prepare the original Berlin Wall scribblers to recreate their late 80s – early 90s work.

Be sure you have a marker or paintbrush at hand, it might be time to make history instead of just making your landlord upset.

There has long been a debate about whether graffiti is a form vandalism or a form of art with neither side gaining more than a few significant strides.  With the increasing popularity of Banksy and Shepard Fairey, though, graffiti arts’ critics may have been momentarily silenced.  A recent “fine arts graffiti” stunt in both Los Angeles and New York had us wondering what you all think.  Graffiti: Art? Or Vandalism?

Artist Mat Benote has, over the years, experimented with starting discussions (in diplomatic terms) about the money museums spend on works by famous artists as well as asking the time honored question: is graffiti art beautiful or intrusive?  From altering other artists’ work to creating abstract sculptures only to be left wherever he pleases and covertly inserting his own works on the walls of major museums, Benote has definitely gotten people talking.  Last week, he hung his own pieces (complete with information plaques) at our own LACMA and Hammer Museums as well as at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.  Hung during normal business hours amongst regular patrons, museum guards, and security cameras, he does have a sort of Thomas Crown Affair appeal.  His website states that one intention is to “be a catalyst in the continuing process of merging high art and low art.”

So… is he vandalizing or making a true artistic statement? Is he starting a worthy discussion among artists and museums or is he acting like a petulant child?  The jury is out at Fine Arts LA headquarters, but let us know what you think! 

To those who are shocked to hear there is a subway system in downtown LA running to Koreatown, Hollywood, and Pasadena (not an urban legend — I swear!), I have news for you: there was an even older rail system that Angelenos once knew about and didn’t mind riding. The Red Car flourished for a time then ceased operation in the ‘60s as Angelenos turned from public transportation and towards the freeway (we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into). The remnants of the Red Car laid in decay, but it was never left behind.

One standout locale of the abandoned Red Car route was the Belmont Tunnel.  Completely off the radar for most of those crossing the intersection of Beverly Blvd. and Glendale Blvd. in the Westlake neighborhood, thousands of graf artists flocked to the Belmont Tunnel, which is said to be the birthplace of Los Angeles graffiti art.

Those outside the street art world may fondly remember it in the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under The Bridge music video.  Graffiti artists remember the Belmont Tunnel as the place to be seen, where skills were honed, artistic competition reigned, and Los Angeles was put on the map in the international graffiti world.

Downtown’s Crewest Gallery pays tribute to this mecca to which so many came, sprayed, and few conquered: The Belmont Tunnel – now a real estate development.

The Legendary Belmont Tunnel closes June 27 with a closing reception 6 – 9pm at Crewest Gallery (110 Winston St., LA, CA 90013)