Inspired by language-based experimentation and how it can unlock new avenues of cultural expression, Getting Upper curator Amos Klausner charged twenty-six designers with re-imagining a letter from the alphabet, using the illegibility and deconstructive nature of graffiti as their starting point.  If “getting up” describes the recognition that a graffiti artist seeks through proliferate tagging, “getting upper” is the term that Klausner uses to suggest breaking free from history, from the global marketing culture that long-ago borrowed the best of the graffiti scene, and from legibility itself.  The result is an alphabet that reconsiders our collective understanding of what a letter can be and how it functions to create language and meaning.

Each of the 26 letters has been published as a limited edition run of 100 silk-screened posters and will be available for sale at the museum store and online.

This exhibition is curated by Amos Klausner.

Support for this exhibition has been provided by the PMCA Board of Directors.

In-kind support for this exhibition has been provided by Bloom Screen Printing Co. and Mohawk Paper Mills.

The preceding photo taken by copyright: Angst FB UTI

For NY Times review, go here

@Imprint here

@Imprint re: opening night here

That’s ANGST writing out the lyrics to the GERMS’ ”Manimal”, the song in the video…

…and here’s the sketch the installation is based on. It was drawn by the eyes using GRL’s eyewriter 2.0 software:

Mad props to the Not Impossible Foundation, withoutwhom the project wouldn’t have been created.

Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

Internationally renowned as one of the most fertile grounds for graffiti art, the City of Angels has its own idiosyncratic graffiti styles created from filtering the innovative New York “wildstyle” through local influences such as gang writing styles. The Los Angeles artists featured in Street Cred currently represent a broad range of genres through their fine art production, from letter-based formalism to Surrealism. Co-curated by Steve Grody and PMCA Exhibition Manager Shirlae Cheng-Lifshin, this exhibition will also include Grody’s photographs from the crucial years of the graffiti scene, providing key insights into the visual “language” of graffiti, its development in Los Angeles, the ways in which the street work informs the canvas work, and how the two worlds interact.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Michael Alvarez, ANGST, AXIS, Chaz Bojórquez, CODAK, CRAOLA, DASH 2000, Ekundayo, EYEONE, HASTE, Paul SKEPT Kanemitsu, Alex Kizu, KOFIE, MAN ONE, MEAR ONE, Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez, Jose Lopez, Erick Montenegro, Nicnak, PUSH, RISK, Jeff Soto, Evan Skrederstu, RETNA, REVOK, SABER, SHANDU, Jesse Simon, SINER, and ZES.

This exhibition is curated by PMCA Exhibition Manager Shirlae Cheng-Lifshin and graffiti historian Steve Grody.

Pasadena Museum of California Art
490 East Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-568-3665
MUSEUM HOURS
Wednesday – Sunday
12:00 – 5:00 p.m.
The Museum is closed July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

ADMISSION

$7 for Adults
$5 for Seniors and Students
Free to Members
Free the first Friday of the month
For more info:

http://www.pmcaonline.org/exhibits/61/index.html

The wall is located at Homeboy Industries on Santa Fe and Hunter in Downtown LA, and will be on display for the forseeable future. Much thanks to Angst & Nuke for coordinating the project, Homeboy Industries for donating the wall, the Ebelings for hooking up the paint and all the incredible artists who helped paint it!

Or, check it out here

or here

or here

or here

or here

To view the previous (2004) TEMPT tribute mural on the same wall, go here

No Biters Allowed
May 7 – 29, 2011

Opening reception:
May 7, 2011 from 6-10pm

In May, Crewest celebrates it’s 9 Year Anniversary!

“No Biters Allowed” is an exhibition featuring the work of artists who have been painting graffiti or active since the 1980′s and from the West Coast.

Artists:
ACME, AXIS, CHAZ BOJORQUEZ, CRE8, DEFER, ESTRIA, FEAR, HEAVEN, MANDOE, MAN ONE, MEAR, MURAL, NEON, NUKE, PANIC, PJAY, PRECISE, RELIK, RISKY, SACRED194, SINER, SLICK, STREET PHANTOM, TEMPT, VOGUE, VYAL, ZENDER…and a few other surprises to be announced!

Crewest
110 Winston St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
ph 213.627.8272   fx 213.559.0525

Gallery Hours:
Tues-Thur: Noon-7pm
Fri-Sat: Noon-8pm
Sun: Noon-6pm
Closed Mondays

For more info go to www.crewest.com

The next few are from my boy Rich:

Check out a review of the show @Hypebeast:

http://hypebeast.com/2011/01/deferred-dreams-exhibition-chinese-american-museum/

Dreams Deferred: Artists Respond to Immigration

Dec. 10, 2010 – December 18, 2011

The Chinese American Museum (CAM) and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument is proud to present Dreams Deferred: Artists Respond to Immigration Reform opening on December 10, 2010. This exhibition will showcase local artists exploring the tensions, repercussions, hopes, and dreams of immigrant communities in the face of new immigration legislation, through a broad spectrum of art including street art, graffiti art, sculptures, painting and multimedia installations.

U.S. immigration laws have long reflected a lasting legacy of racial exclusion starting with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the first legislation to restrict immigration based on race and ethnicity. This legacy of immigration legislation targeting immigrant communities has since reemerged in the recent decades with California’s Proposition 187,and Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, as attempts at inhibiting the livelihoods of undocumented immigrants.

Dreams Deferred continues the current national dialogue about immigration, kicked-off by the recent opening of CAM’s Remembering Angel Island, an exhibition commemorating the 100th year anniversary of the opening of the West Coast’s first immigration station. Both exhibitions will serve to shed light on the parallels of past and current immigration policies and reform, and how Los Angeles’ diverse immigrant communities collectively share not only their immigrant histories, but also many of the challenges facing new immigrant communities today.

Artists participating in this exhibit include:

Sponsors:
Chinese American Citizens Alliance | Grand Lodge
Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles
Friends of the Chinese American Museum

Co-Sponsors:
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Mid-City Arts
Self Help Graphics
The UCLA Labor Center

http://www.camla.org/exhibit.html#dreams