Street Art

Stromberg's Fake Banksy Mural Goes Viral

L.A. gets so giddy over street art these days that the possibility of a new Banksy mural gracing our fair city went positively viral in recent days. Of course, in Hollywood, everything is not as it seems. This Banksy is a fraud! The New York Times got the scoop last night, with none other than the ... More >>

Banksy Mural Ripped From L.A. Gas Station Could Be Worth $300K

A Banksy mural painted at a gas station near Hancock Park will go up for auction in winter, Julien's Auctions of Beverly Hills announced this week. The piece, titled "Flower Girl," was painted in 2008. Julien's notes in a statement that a Banksy piece titled "Slave Labor" recently sold at auction f ... More >>

Hanksy, the Banksy-Meets-Tom Hanks Street Artist, Tells Us the Secrets to Spoofing Celebrities

See also: *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week *10 Best L.A. Art Galleries For Partying Banksy is so 2010. Hanksy, the similarly secretive street artist and love child of Banksy and Tom Hanks, is reaching his own level of notoriety thanks to his celeb-inspired murals, the subject of Gallery 1988 ... More >>

HUSH Chats About the State of Street Art and His Culver City Show at Corey Helford

There is no single process for HUSH. The U.K.-based artist mixes methods as he applies a combination of paint (acrylic and the spray can variety), screen print and ink techniques to his canvases. In the end, the results are exquisitely layered paintings that people sometimes confuse for collage work ... More >>

A New Book Looks at How Banksy Got So Big

See also: *Banksy Revealed? Our 2010 cover story on Exit Through the Gift Shop Several weeks ago, the Internet exploded with stories about a Banksy piece removed straight from a wall and later found at a

Battle on Beverly: What Happens When One L.A. Street Artist Takes Another's Painting and Puts It Into His Own Creation?

Drama from Beverly Boulevard spilled onto the Internet on Sunday when CHOD, a street artist who has been working locally for about two years, remixed a painting created by Annie Preece and posted it on the building that once housed the Regency Fairfax Cinemas. Preece, herself a street artist who als ... More >>

Graffiti House L.A. Looks to Be a Hub for the City's Graffiti and Street Artists

Graffiti. Mostly on the streets, sometimes in galleries and always in heated art conversations, this spray-can form of expression remains a huge part of Los Angeles' identity. Looking to create a supportive, communal space for experienced and budding artists, the recently-established Graffiti House ... More >>

A Look Back at Norway's Nuart Festival, a Gathering of Street Artists From L.A. and Around the World

In Stavanger, Norway, every September for the past 12 years, Nuart, one of the largest street art festivals in the world, transpires. Closeted in the beautiful Fijords, Stavanger is a quaint, oil-rich community with a high standard of living, sometimes making the list as most expensive in all of Eur ... More >>

What Happened to Banksy's Buyers? Some of His Famous Works Flopped at L.A. Auction Last Night

Graffiti artist Banksy suffered an embarrassing evening Monday as a number of his greatest works failed to sell at a prestigious Los Angeles auction house. While his aerosol-powered contemporaries enjoyed strong sales at British auctioneers Bonham's on Sunset Blvd, Banksy's spray-painted rats receiv ... More >>

Readers Love Us! They Really Love Us!

Street Art Skirmish: Readers Respond to Our Story

Sight, Graffiti Artist on Cover of LA Weekly, Suspended From His Job for Speaking Out Against L.A.'s War on Graffiti

The star of L.A. Weekly's current cover story -- a talented and gentle young man named Bryant Mangum, aka UPN member "Sight," fresh out of four years in state prison for scratching up the L.A. bus system as a teenager -- has been suspended from his job as a result of the story. As we revealed in "L ... More >>

Los Angeles' War on Street Artists

The art world sees a vibrant movement. Metro's cops see jail fodder.

Fuck New York: Street Art Began Here in L.A.

This piece is part of our package on L.A.'s war on street art, including: *Los Angeles' War on Street Artists *The Secrets of L.A. Street Art: Bumblebee, Sharktoof and Linelinedot Discuss Their Work More stories on street art from L.A. Weekly: *Our cover story on MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibit ... More >>

The Secrets of L.A. Street Art: Bumblebee, Sharktoof and Linelinedot Discuss Their Work

This piece is part of our package on L.A.'s war on street art, including: *Los Angeles' War on Street Artists *Fuck New York: Street Art Began Here in L.A. 1. The Boy From Downey: Bumblebee Street art isn't very big in Downey. "People go to work, go to school, do it all over again," Bumblebee says ... More >>

L.A. Mural Ordinance Postponed Into Oblivion

Last October, when L.A. City Hall started drafting an ordinance that would lift the city's oppressive mural moratorium, we tried to be patient. Even though it had taken the City Council over a decade to get the ball rolling, we said, hey -- better late than never. We set aside our skepticism. We gav ... More >>

Shepard Fairey Guests on 'The Simpsons' For Episode on Bart's Graffiti-Art Obsession

Fox / obeygiant.comShepard Fairey and Bart Simpson.​Forget Law & Order. It's The Simpsons that's ripped from the headlines. The show will ride the Art in the Streets zeitgeist that has hipsters popping into galleries and cops popping graffiti creators. The March 4 episode mocks the Banksy doc ... More >>

Mr. Brainwash's 'Art Show 2011' Gets Populism Right

photo by Nanette GonzalesMr. Brainwash's "Art Show 2011"​ Update: Show has been extended, and will be open one more day, on Jan. 8. Doors open at 2 p.m. Location is 960 N. La Brea Ave. At "Art Show 2011," equivocal street artist Mr. Brainwash's 80,000 square-foot feat, Mr. Brainwash sat at a ... More >>

Hotel Art in L.A.: A User's Guide

Top 10 Street Art and Graffiti Stories of 2011

Shannon CottrellJR in L.A.​Yes, year-end lists. Not even street art is exempt. But hey, 2011 was a banner year for the Los Angeles street art and graffiti communities, as they enjoyed plenty of worldwide attention. LA Weekly put together the ten L.A.-related street art and graffiti stories th ... More >>

Shepard Fairey Designs Wall for New District La Brea Shopping Complex

​ Wait, what? Is that Shepard Fairey putting up a mural in broad daylight on La Brea at 11 a.m.? The cops are going to stop him any second! Fairey is the street artist who rose to fame in 2008 when his Obama "Hope" poster became the emblem of an era, and was a major player in the 2010 Banksy ... More >>

Banksy at Occupy London: See the Street Artist's Monopoly Sculpture Before It Got Vandalized

Colin Young-Wolff​Angelenos aren't strangers to the works of British street artist Banksy. His participation in MOCA's street art show was a (predictably secret) given, and the man plastered L.A. during the run-up to the Oscars, inspiring residents of Westwood Village to petition for his works ... More >>

Street Art: 'Homo Riot' Angers Homophobes and Empowers Gays with Righteous Art

Patrick Range McDonaldHomo Riot, street artist​In the predominantly heterosexual world of street art -- possibly the most important contemporary art movement of today -- there are only a handful of artists in the world that consistently feature gay themes in their work, and only one is based ... More >>

Carmen Trutanich's War on Art Murals

Can a bumbling L.A. City Council revive the local street art form?

Mr. Brainwash Invites You to Participate in his Latest Exhibit/Party, 'Art Show 2011'

Shannon CottrellThe site of Mr. Brainwash's upcoming show​ As if traffic along the La Brea corridor isn't already bad enough, L.A.'s beloved street artist Mr. Brainwash -- who first got attention through our cover story and later through the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop -- is staging ... More >>

Shepard Fairey Sticker-Bombs L.A. Department of City Planning

Los Angeles City Planning - Code Studies via Facebook"Shepard Fairey sticker bombs City Hall," writes the department.​Update: LA Weekly speaks with the recipient of the package, who is positively tickled. Interview at the bottom. Uh-oh -- the fight between muralists and the L.A political mach ... More >>

C.A.V.E. Gallery's New Show is 'Street Art Saved My Life,' But How Exactly Does that Happen?

Courtesy of C.A.V.E. GalleryGerman street art duo Various & Gould's self-portrait, Street Art Saved OUR Lives​ Now that MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibition has finally shut its doors, where can you go for your next fix? C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice has the answer: this Friday, it opened "Str ... More >>

Johnny Cubert White: Top Chef Art Director and Street Art Photographer

Photograph courtesy of Johnny Cubert WhiteBeautiful roadkill: Jonny Fenix's famous swallow, two lanes large​ Chinatown's brand-new Canton Art and Jazz Club is a peaceful, white-walled space on Hill Street, and looks somewhat unlikely as a gallery, wedged in among restaurants and tchotchke shop ... More >>

MOCA's Jeffrey Deitch Talks 'Art in the Streets,' Widely-Acclaimed Exhibit Closes in a Week

Patrick Range McDonaldLee Quinones: "Debbie Harry" (1981)​With the Art in the Streets exhibit closing on August 8 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown, MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch talks with L.A. Weekly about the impact of the widely-acclaimed show on the public and in the art world ... More >>

Banksy iPhone App Hits the Apple Store

​ Tech geeks and street art fans, take note: a Banksy iPhone app has just hit the virtual racks of the Apple Store. It's a beautifully-crafted gallery tool that allows you to immerse yourself in the World of Banksy -- and maybe soon, it'll even allow you to catch him in the act. Though it see ... More >>

The Tattooer's Apprentice: Art Emancipates PostModern Cholo (VIDEO)

Luigi Ventura​The synchronicity between the opening of MOCA's "Art in the Streets" show and L.A. law enforcement's crackdown on graffiti hasn't gone unnoticed by postmodern cholo and tattooer's apprentice Sal Sanchez. Recent arrests of street artists Invader, Smear and Revok are on Sanchez's ... More >>

Faile Comes to Venice

Faile Launches Steve Lazarides' Venice Venture Post No Bills, Which Proves Print Isn't Dead

Shannon CottrellMaster printmaker Ramon De Larosa oversees Faile's prints at Post No Bills in Venice​ This week's main art feature in LA Weekly's print edition comes from our resident street art expert Shelley Leopold, who looks into London dealer (and former Banksy gallerist) Steve Lazarides' ... More >>

No "Art in the Streets" for Brooklyn Museum: New York Changes Mind About Street Art Show

Art in the Streets, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Photo by Gregory Bojorquez, Courtesy of MOCA​We've just been forwarded an email sent by the Brooklyn Museum to a street artist in the "Art in the Streets" show, currently on view at the MOCA. The Brooklyn Museum was scheduled to be the next ... More >>

Yarning Is Not a Crime

Judge Rules Run-DMC Photo, Used by L.A. Street Artist Mr. Brainwash, Protected by Copyright Law: What Will It Mean for Fair Use?

PHOTO BY GREGORY BOJORQUEZMr. Brainwash just got busted.​Forget the Shepard Fairey case. Music photographer Glen E. Friedman's lawsuit against Mr. Brainwash, the street artist profiled alongside Banksy in Oscar-nominated doc "Exit Through the Gift Shop," is the one to watch for legal fair-use ... More >>

Banksy Sponsors Free Mondays at MOCA's 'Art in the Streets' Exhibition

Ted SoquiBanksy really feels L.A.​We wouldn't blame Banksy if he hated L.A. After all, we took down his art, stole it and covered it up during his stay in our fine city in winter in the weeks leading up to (and after) the Academy Awards (where his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop was up ... More >>

National Crackdown on Graffiti Art Reported in the Midst of L.A.'s Own 'Art in the Streets' Renaissance

Gregory BojorquezRevok.​In the wake of MOCA's groundbreaking "Art in the Streets" exhibit, is there a national crackdown on graffiti? The Wall Street Journal, following up on the recent arrest of "Art in the Streets" star Revok, says yes. While we reported that officials say it's simply a co ... More >>

Canlove Answers the Question: Where Do Street Artists' Spray Paint Cans Go to Die?

Lea LionCanlove founders Paul Ramirez (left) and DJ Neff​ When the mysterious British street artist Banksy left an image of a young boy holding a paint can next to the words "I remember when all this was trees" on the abandoned Packard Plant in Detroit last year, some fans interpreted it as an ... More >>

MOCA's 'Art In The Streets' Reviewed by A 10-Year-Old: 'I Really Didn't Like It'

Flickr/KayOne73​I took my son Ricky, age 10, to MOCA's 'Art In The Streets' show, which I'd assumed he'd enjoy. Ricky loves to draw, and is known as one of the best artists in his fifth-grade class. He's also no stranger to art museums, and he's savvy enough to comprehend the difference betwee ... More >>

RISK, Legendary L.A. Street Artist, Laments What He Sees As L.A. City Crackdown in Shadow of MOCA's 'Art in the Streets' Show

RISK on the wall.​It's a bittersweet moment for the street art community in L.A. MOCA's groundbreaking exhibition "Art in the Streets" has brought mainstream recognition not only for the evolution of graffiti as a serious medium but for L.A. as a new capital for the form. But even as spray ca ... More >>

Star Wars Street Art: Free Humanity Talks Barack Obama, Akira Kurosawa and Mr. Brainwash

Keith Plocek​See more posters at "Star Wars Street Art: The Works of Free Humanity."​Jabba the Hutt and Salacious Crumb, stenciled on top a page of the Wall Street Journal with the words "Greed is good." Boba Fett, standing alone with "I'm sorry for the deaths of the innocent but that happen ... More >>

'Free Revok' Movement For Jailed Street Artist as Supporters Organize Gallery Fundraiser

bert 23Revok, up.​Hours after spray-can artist Revok received a 180-day sentence for violating terms of his probation for vandalism, the L.A. street art community rallied and pledged to hold a fundraiser in his honor. Revok, a.k.a 34-year-old Jason Williams, was arrested last week as he attem ... More >>

Street Art at MOCA

How Jeffrey Deitch convinced an outlaw art movement to show itself for the landmark retrospective “Art in the Streets”

Banksy Revealed as Man Caught on Camera Having Nude Sex Atop USC High-Rise

imgur.comIt's Banksy.​The true identity of British street artist Banksy, who graced L.A. with his work in the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards last month, has been a topic of debate, and no one, it seems, is 100 percent sure who he is. Well, in an LA Weekly exclusive, we can tell you th ... More >>

Banksy's 'Elephant' Tank Artwork in L.A. Was Home to a Man Named Tachowa Covington

Ted SoquiBanksy's 'Elephant.'​You can live in art (architect R.M. Schindler's work is often an object of desire in L.A.) if you have the means. But for an otherwise homeless guy named Tachowa Covington, artful shelter came to him for free. And then it was taken away. Turns out that Banksy-t ... More >>

Was Banksy's Sunset Blvd Billboard 'Livin' the Dream' Really Just a Slick Advertisement?

Ted SoquiBanksy's 'Livin' the Dream.'​Update: A spokeswoman for the billboard advertiser says it ain't so, after the jump. Was Banksy's "Livin' the Dream" billboard art all an inside job? That's the report being echoed in blogland this week following the British artist's whirlwind tour of L. ... More >>

Valuable Banksy Public Art Piece in Malibu Towed Away, to be Sold?

Ted SoquiBanksy's 'Elephant' as it once stood in Malibu.​It looks like another Banksy piece from his days in L.A. for the Academy Awards has bitten the dust. But at least this one might ultimately be saved:

Banksy's Valuable 'Crayon Soldier' Piece in Westwood Removed

Pia MiaBanksy has left town.​Banksy has left the building and so has much of his art, seems like. After his art was spotted on the back of a Westwood Urban Outfitters last month in the weeks ahead of the Academy Awards, where the Brit vied unsuccessfully for a best documentary Oscar, a Facebo ... More >>

#Banksy and the #Oscars: Our Fave Tweets About the Artist and the Big Show Are More Entertaining Than James Franco

OK MagazineBanksy?​Banksy seemed to get more positive buzz from the Oscars on Sunday than James Franco. And the artist wasn't even there. After a few weeks in L.A. in which the British wall painter saw his work taken down, stolen and vandalized, it was only fitting that he would then be dis ... More >>