iT'S STreeT arT THurSDay! and Malibu morning picture of the day - Thursday, June 4, 2015

Good morning street art lovers and others,

There is a tunnel on Myra Avenue formed by the overpass of Sunset Blvd., just about where Sunset meets Santa Monica Blvd. and Sanborn Avenue. This 3-way intersection is called Sunset Junction. Inside the tunnel on both sides are murals. I share one of them with you today.

Artists: Louie Metz, Guia Avesani, Rob Malone, Brandt Marshall, Gateway, paint on concrete.

Scroll down to see the whole thing, but this is basically the essence. The artists had a hella job since the middle section and the lower part of the wall is convex and has this heavily textured concrete portruding, creating a very uneven and inconsistent surface on which to work.

While this is art on and of the street, I put it into the classification of "Public Art" because it depicts content that is curated by a public committee, a committee that puts itself on the hook by having their names on it in a very legible way. It's notable because of the racial, ethnic, and gay-straight diversity depicted (you can just hear the approval of the drawings; "Nice, but you need to add ...").






I could be wrong, but I think this is executed by young people (at the time), evidenced not so much by their lack of painting technique (it's fine for where they're at, they just need to log on hours), but for their observations of what people they focused on.

Typography: street artists don't do these kinds of letters and typefaces (SILVERLAKE, FRANKLIN HILLS). I suspect these artists are kids who are used to the decorative fonts they can find in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint.

I forgot when this mural went up. It's been a while and it's been there for years. You can kind of peg it in the late 90s and 00s by the fashions and hairstyles of the denizens of Silverlake depicted. Schoolkids in their uniforms are rather timeless.

What makes this a lot of fun for me to look at is the candidness of the depictions. The only person who is rather idealized is the young woman on the aluminum zip scooter, sunglass bespectacled with her close-cut, freshly dyed maroon 'do.

And yes, these all look like East Holly people to me. They do NOT look like Malibu people.

The list of artists depicts at least three males. I assume Guia is female. A quick Facebook search of the artists' names indicates that Metz is actively painting and quite accomplished--check him out.




If you've lived or spent any time in East Holly-Silverlake, one thing you see that they've nailed is the sense of houses being stacked up on one another since the whole place is hills once you get east Virgil Avenue. And no depiction of Silverlake would be complete without some element of the Shakespeare Bridge of Franklin Avenue which is the backdrop for the couple above. I walked over that bridge every day coming home from Marshall High School.


AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE:

Serial # JG15-03 (4)

Another June Gloom Forenoon. I see a little breaking surf at Surfrider Beach today. And just above them are a group of passing wild parrots (notable for their loud squawking).


And here's the whole mural from above.

I guess it's called "Gateway" because there's a cross street right there called Gateway, but it IS the border between Hollywood and Silverlake. I think this is a fitting welcome, though it's nearly always in deep shadow.

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Love,
Pops