Street Snaps – Os Gemeos in Los Feliz, Los Angeles

When I moved out to Los Feliz beginning of this year, I heard rumors that the Brazilian writers Os Gemeos had painted a small wall here years ago. I could find pictures of small sections of the wall scattered through the Internet, but never found the actual location. Today, I hopped on my bike and rode around the areas that I suspected this wall could be and voila, I found it! One of the best feelings ever when I caught a glimpse over my shoulder of this white washed wall with what looked liked painted figures from afar.

Here is my gift to the street art world on the Internet of these cool little gems.

– Los Angeles, CA

Street Snaps: Invader on Paris Streets

While roaming Paris streets, you cannot turn a corner without finding Invader’s (@invaderwashere) mark on the city. From invasions of more recent years, you can clearly tell that Invader grew bolder and more ambitious, both in size and in visibility. Whereas in 2000 you’d see small invasions that required concentrated effort to find it, by 2009 pieces grew enormous and invaded prominent street corners.

Of course, copycats are abound in the city, but it isn’t too hard to tell the real deal from the fakes based on quality of the work from cheap tiles to not so geometric arrangements. If you think you might be fooled, it’s easy to use Flash Invaders to confirm.

Between myself and my travel buddy, we had a ton of fun trying to see who could find the most invasions. Below are some of my favorites that we found.

PA_1100>2014>50 Points – This John Hamon guy was everywhere in the city too.  Seems he’s some kind of guerrilla artist himself.
PA_360>2000>10 Points
PA_800>2009>50 Points
PA_1161>2015>30 Points
PA_769>2009>50 Points
PA_1127>2014>50 Points
PA_1030>2012>50 Points
PA_682>2006>30 Points
PA_878>2011>20 Points

– Paris, France

Street Snap: DXTR x Nychos “THE WEIRD”

The chief Nychos (@nychos) and DXTR (@dxtrtheweird) of the Weird Crew drove down to sunny Los Angeles to escape the drear of San Francisco a few weeks ago. Being the industrious sorts, they arranged a couple of walls before getting here and wasted no time getting to painting. I got a chance to snap a few quick photos of the wall today, but, of course, a freakin’ truck had to be blocking most of the wall when I got there. Hopefully, my next visit is better. In the meantime, these will have to do.

Here’s a good interview from Juxtapoz with the white rabbit Nychos: An Interview and San Francisco Visit with Nychos

Santa Monica & Ardmore

– Los Angeles, CA

Thought I’d Share This Margaret Kilgallen Video I Came Across Today

Street art is an obviously male-dominated culture. I must admit, even this very blog that you are reading right now is a testament of how few woman artists are a part of street/urban art based on the number of posts that mention a female artist. That fact alone makes Margaret Kilgallen stand out, but pair that with her talent and genuine passion for creating, she becomes a legend. Despite her passing too early, her bold, yet muted in color, figures she created in her work on the street and in the galleries still find relevance today.

YouTube recommended the video above to me today and I thought I should share.

Hunting for Street Art in Google Maps Street View Might be Better than the Real Thing?

I never thought about this, but hunting for street art through Google Maps Street View should totally be a thing.  While clicking through Echo Park streets in Street View, this Low Bros (@low_bros) wall popped out.  Looks like it’s a mural completed last summer to coincide with their solo show at Thinkspace Gallery.   This random encounter facilitated by the Internets is probably the next best thing to serendipitously walking into it in person.  I should get outside more, especially since the weather is so nice today…

screenshot-2016-11-05-13-03-16

-Los Angeles, CA (Thanks, Google)

UPDATE

The blog got a shoutout from Low Bros themselves!  I guess someone on their team read the blog.  Pretty cool.