iT'S STreeT arT THurSDay! with Malibu pic of the day - Thursday, September 17, 2015

Dear Street Art Lovers, Friends, Family, and anyone else dropping by out of curiosity,

We've been looking at various personal artistic expressions in the last few Thursday postings, but it's time to return to basics and look at some good ol' graffitti name art.

I'm starting you off with some character art that appears in the right corner, a blue-skinned, war-bonneted, Mesoamerican native warrior, flanked by a skeleton and skull, perhaps ancestors lending their strength, eh? I'm digging the tiny detail of the eye on the black hand under the skull--how easily could you render that with a spray can?

But I stuck him there to capture the image for the FB lead-in. Let's back up and take a look at the whole thing.

Artists Bugs, Wreks, 2 unreadable, Lousy Kosmo, et al., Quintet of Names, paint on stucco.

We essentially have four names in a 4X4 grid on the side of this auto repair shop. The two on the right, Bugs and Wreks, are legible. The other two need someone more versed in graffiti decoding to figure out the names. There is even a fifth name peeking out over the roof, Ciby, which you can only see from across the street--it's on another building painted up high in peek-a-boo fashion.

It's good to remember that the basic aesthetic of street art is putting your name on the wall. It's the statement of your identity, that you are here and that you count to yourself. Once that is established, the name artist then works, really for a lifetime thereafter, on embellishment, on individuation. In that simple quest, we all share that journey.

Here's the first name, starting on the upper left. Enflamed crimson and maroon letters, outlined in white, highlighted against an aqua sky.


Moving the right and down, we have the two readable names. Our blue warrior holds up the name "Bugs" with his left hand. Bugs is treated with at least two levels of flame in its typography. This is set against a picture postcard sunset sky.

Down below we have "Wreks" done up in the style of a brand-new, shiny, newly waxed automobile, with sparkling highlights.

And then we come the lower-left name, and only God and his crew-mates know whose moniker this is.

A symphony of layers. You try to organize it in your head, but your eyes keep turning their gears, never settling on an overall pattern.

Best to just stand there and let it swirl folks.







And then on the bottom, we have this repeated border pattern. I'm trying to figure out what these may be indicating, but I'm failing. Any guesses out there?

Oh, and in the upper left of this detail, we've got some more skulls. Comrades or friends who have moved on from this mortal coil, bless their grinning visages.

You will find this mural catty-corner from the Betty Davis mural of a few weeks ago, on the corner of Fountain and Normandie (unless someone has painted it over).

It's right across the street from a tiny little theatre. There were many hipsters standing around waiting to go into a show when I was snapping these off. Such a vibrant place, and such a run-down corner to boot. I used to buy gas on this corner some 30-40 years ago. Regular was 79 cents a gallon back in those olden days.


AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE:

It's a blue on blue day here on the left coast, truly a Blue State today in more than one way.

If you hadn't heard, there was a big earthquake in Chile last night and we're supposed to be getting waves 1-3 meters higher than usual about now. Ain't seen nothing yet. That's as calm an ocean as you ever get here.

Don't let any tsunami carry you away today.

Love,
Pops