Tonight was the opening of California Locos, at Eastern Project in LA. Arriving to a cue extending about a city block, it was clear that this was not a show to miss. High art and street art merged in a wonderful tornado of spray paint and oils. Eleven different take on the wonder that is Los Angeles. Thkse native to the city or its suburbs have a unique perspective on the beauty of the city and this group was perfectly in sync with the clover of LA.
"Chaz Bojórquez, known as the godfather of graffiti art and is considered one of the first artists who successfully made the transition from street to gallery. His iconic street image, a stylized skull called “Señor Suerte” (Mr. Luck), has become a seminal icon in graffiti art. Bojórquez’s paintings are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, Laguna Museum of Art, M.O.C.A. and L.A.C.M.A., to name only a few. Bojórquez was prominently featured in the renowned Art in the Streets exhibit at MOCA in 2011. Chaz is known as a primary influence on many contemporary graffiti artists such as Retna, Banksy, Shepard Fairey and others.
Dave Tourjé was born and raised in the culturally eclectic Northeast L.A. of the 1970s and his upbringing amongst the skaters, gangs, and the area’s tribal friction play heavily in his work. Also a musician, Tourjé was a member of the influential L.A. band the Dissidents, playing shows with Camper Van Beethoven, Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen to name a few. Tourjé’s artwork oscillates between high and low, punk and institutional hegemony and was the subject of a one-man exhibition covering 15 years of paintings on acrylic glass at the Riverside Art Museum in 2002. It has been featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and Laguna Art Museum. In 1998, Tourjé helped to form the Chouinard Foundation after purchasing the home of Nelbert Chouinard, in order to help restore the lost history of one of the great art schools in the world.
John Van Hamersveld, known for an enormous catalog of pop images. From his iconic poster for the movie The Endless Summer, to his album cover work for The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour), Blondie (Eat To The Beat) and the Rolling Stones (Exile On Main Street) to name but a few, Van Hamersveld’s iconic images have had a tremendous impact on popular culture and fashion from the early 60s to the present, including his influence on street artist Shepard Fairey. Van Hamersveld’s images incorporate a diverse mixture of sub-cultural design elements and formal academic training from both Chouinard and Art Center during the ’60s, drawing off of diverse influences from Lorser Feitelson to his life as an iconic surfer.
Norton Wisdom, who has been collaborating with musical ensembles for live art painting performances since 1979. His collaborations with renowned artists include Nels Cline (Wilco), Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones), Ivan Neville, Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction), Llyn Foulkes, National Bamboo Orchestra of Bali, the Disney Hall with Christoph Bull, and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, to name only a few. His live painting performances have touched off a growing international movement of the same type, which he has been forwarding since the ’70s.
Gary Wong, who studied under Emerson Woelffer and Matsumi Kanemitsu at Chouinard and was a vital part of the shifting dialogue integral to the formation of West Coast postmodernism and surf/skate/rock culture as we know it today. His visual language is a complex collage-based paint/draw process that often uses photography, and reflects his involvement in music as well as wider social and political concerns. Close friends and influences have included artists as diverse as Rick Griffin, Doug Wheeler and Terry Allen." from www.californialocos.com
Shepard Fiarey was also a participant. A grand wall of some revamped favorites and also a few new pieces. He chose a very warm pallet of red and orange, all glazed with amber. Beautiful propaganda.
The crowd was was as eclectic as the works themselves. You had your east side OG cholos mixing with the West Side 60 something working her fabulous von Ferstenburg. rounding things out, the skate punks were bridging the gap. A utopian sight the be scene.
Two immaculate specimens of automobile deliciousness were on display wowing patrons with every fleck of metallic gleam. Behind velvet ropes, of course.
photos by Fernando Guerrero, 2017