Exploring the Vibrant Tapestry of LA.’s Arts District Murals

Los Angeles is a sprawling city of diverse culture that is colorfully and meaningfully expressed on walls and other outdoor objects. There is a private code among mural artists I wanted to learn more about and what spurs them to create their vibrant street art.

I signed up for the LA Art Tours: LA Arts District Graffiti and Mural Tour to learn more about them.

Find more things to do and where to stay in Downtown Los Angeles, here.

The LA Arts District is dedicated to street art

Galo was our guide and is a graffiti artist who lives in the Arts District. He met us a little late after having a few beers and lots of coffee. What can I say? He’s an artist but he knows his stuff.

A tour company also does tours in the Arts District but, according to Galo, the guide checks his iPad to answer questions. Galo knows everyone and everything about graffiti and mural art in LA. He’s the authentic real deal.

A vocabulary lesson in Graffiti and Street Art

Aerosol spray cans are graffiti artists’ most precious tool. Art has been produced on walls since pre-historic times, but graffiti art, as we know it today, didn’t fully emerge until the 1960s and was mostly seen in New York and Philadelphia. It spread to other urban cities after hip-hop became popular and can also be seen in Europe and Japan.

It’s been associated with gangs but reputable graffiti artists don’t condone gang philosophy. They’ve appropriated some of the aesthetics of gang writing, fashion, and certain aspects of their lifestyle which have helped them form their unique L.A. style.

Galo became fascinated with letters as a small child. He told us he was introduced to graffiti art through the hip-hop scene and used to draw band logos. Fonts were his thing and he became an expert in them. There’s a documentary about the Helvetica font that he suggested we watch. It’s the most popular font on the planet

Graffiti artists and crews

A Graffiti crew is like being part of a stamp collection or chess club. Everyone in a crew has a similar painting style but not everyone can become a member.  Artists are invited to meetings by crew members. If they get along with everyone else they may get asked to join. Often a crew will do projects together.

Galo belongs to three crews:

• OTR – On the Run
• UTA – Undercover Artist
• LOD – Lopes on Dope

Can Control

Good graffiti artists are experts at wielding an aerosol paint can. They don’t use tape, cardboard, or other agents to assist them in creating their art.  It’s the equivalent of a musician mastering an instrument.  The instrument is the can.

From vision to wall

There’s a process for Graffiti art. The artist has a vision and then translates it to a piece of paper, which becomes their sketch.  Once the sketch is finalized, (sometimes on a computer) they take it to the wall. The artist calculates the dimensions of the wall and determines its center, then paints from the center outward.

Graffiti artists vs street artists

Street art is image-driven. It is seen in the colorful murals painted on walls and buildings throughout Los Angeles. They’re very “Instagramable.”

Graffiti and street artists don’t always get along. Some graffiti artists hate street artists. Many street artists come from privileged backgrounds and live in affluent communities like Calabasas. These trust kids can buy as much paint as they want.

Most graffiti artists have never had those privileges. They come from backgrounds where they had to steal their paint and battle the street.  Most of the affluent street artists have never been jumped by gangs, shot at, fallen off a bridge, arrested, or sent to prison. There’s a huge resentment, especially among graffiti artists who live in South Central LA.

It’s all about respect

If a street artist doesn’t earn the esteem of a graffiti artist their creations will probably get dissed (Dis-respected) That means the piece will get tagged or even obliterated.

Galo told the story of a woman who showed up in the Arts District driving a Red Maserati and wearing Louboutin heels. (worth about $2500) She parked her car and walked over to a fence to repaste it. Repasting is when you stick something to a wall or fence using watered-down Elmer’s Glue or wallpaper paste. After she left, some graffiti artists destroyed her work.

The four tiers of dissing

• Tagging – adding a signature using a unique style of lettering.
• Throwup – an inflated form of tagging usually seen in large bubble letters.
• Pieces – a masterpiece
• Production – a theme collaboration with other graffiti artists that is more organized. It’s not crazy organized, but there’s a main curator who may be the person behind the idea. He or she will invite others to paint on a wall and assign elements to each artist.

Pieces and production earn respect which keeps them safe from dissing.

Street murals

These are some murals I saw on the tour.

Pole art

Stickers

Someone came up with the idea of using stickers as an alternative to tagging, especially on buses. Now, most graffiti and street artists have stickers and there are sticker collectors and traders. 

This artist took down a parking sign and decorated it with random stickers. He tacked it onto a telephone pole.

Here’s a telephone pole covered in old tires.

And . . . an embellished parking meter.

Blake Shane is a 75-year-old artist whose art is often seen on telephone poles. These pole art designs have been hand-hammered with nails.

This wood and nails piece was also tacked onto a pole.

This is a graffitied paint can stuck to a pole.

An artist named Kook has attached his name to multiple poles all over LA.

I found this pole art about 5 miles outside of Downtown Los Angeles in Mount Washington and thought it was cool. It’s made out of macrame.

Off the wall street installations

We passed by an art piece called “Pinata Petting Zoo.” Pretty clever!

An example of hanging street art.

This random street sculpture has a sticker that says “Love Galo” – The artist must be a fan of our tour guide.

Sidewalk art

You never know what you’ll see if you look down.

Garage mural art

There are stunning examples of spray-painted murals on garage doors in the L.A. Arts District.

Female street artists

Female muralists have been prevalent in Japan, Germany, and Spain for a long time. Only recently have females been plying their talents on the streets of Los Angeles. That’s mostly because of the macho attitude of their male counterparts. Women found it difficult to get recognized. 

More female artists have begun to emerge and Galo showed us the work of several of them. One is Helena. Her work is done completely with spray paint except for the blue sky.

Hueman is another female artist who was commissioned to paint the wall of this building and was given about a quarter million dollars to do it. Large murals like this are an expensive undertaking and suck up tons of aerosol paint.

Al’s Bar – Former L.A. punk hangout

We passed the old Al’s Bar which was a punk hangout in the 1980s I went there several times during that time and also to Madame Wong’s in Chinatown. It was located at the American Hotel and was LA’s oldest Punk Club.

The bar operated from 1979 – 2001 until it was gutted. I remember it being a loud and intense venue. Celebrities who hung out there included California Governor Jerry Brown and his then-girlfriend Linda Ronstadt, Steve Buscemi, Sean Penn, and Pee Wee Herman. Bands that played there before they were famous were Nirvana, Los Lobos, and Wall of Voodoo.

Galo said some residents are trying to make it a 1980s museum.

The L.A. Arts District evolves

As with other artsy districts in L.A., boutiques and companies have moved in to take advantage of its appeal and it is becoming gentrified. They’ve evicted longtime tenants to refurbish buildings and then paint over the artwork that spurred them to do business there in the first place. This makes it difficult for lesser-known artists to live in the Arts District because the rent is so high.

There have been art communities in downtown LA since the 40s. Galo talked about a Japanese artist who lived there before WWII but was interned during the war on 1^st St. and Alameda.

Artist residences were originally called “warehouses” that were ultra-cheap to rent. Then they were turned into “Lofts.” After that, “Live-in workspaces.” With each reinvention, the rent went up. Now developers are calling these spaces “houses” to legally inflate the rent.

L.A. Art Tours

The L.A. Arts District Graffiti and Mural Tour by L.A. Art Tour I went on lasted 2 ½ hours.

Afterward, I walked over to Zinc Café and Market and ate an amazing vegetarian mushroom Dijon burger.

The entire district is inspiring to walk around with great places to eat.

Little Tokyo which is not far away also has fabulous restaurants.

Visit the L.A. Art Tours website here

Other guided and private tours are available on their website to check out as well. They are vastly underpriced considering the value. I made sure to leave a nice tip.

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