My new favorite street artist: Starchild Stela

A few months back, I was introduced to the art of Starchild Stela when someone posted a photo of one of her pieces on Twitter.  It was so different, so colorful, so political, and cute! She instantly became my new favorite street artist.  (She considers herself more of a feminist graffiti artist and not a street artist per se).

Dr. Jessica N. Pabon, who interviewed Stela for her blog, described her style like this, “Stela’s work caught my eye because her absolutely curvilinear handstyle, pastel color palette, and pretty soft-eyed characters are almost always adorned with explicit and aggressive language.”

Indeed, it is that juxtaposition of cute, big-eyed, (almost anime style), female characters, with strong political messages, which sets her apart from her contemporaries.

I think it works artistically because, even though her drawings seem simple, they are colorful and full of life.  And, I think, it works politically because there is an element of humor to it, (which is what I believe makes Banksy so popular among basic masses).

Take for example, a cute little girl with the words, “Fuck your macho bullshit” spray-painted under her; or her clever drawing of a woman with some kitties and the words, “Cats against cat-calls.”

In the same interview referenced above, Stela says about her work:

"I love adding a little feminist twist to my pieces. I don’t really intend to add a social message to my pieces, the words I add often reflects the discussion I’m having with friends. But indeed we are talking about what matter to us, and what makes us pissed off."

Check out more of her work—and support her—by buying some of her stickers, prints, and original art from her online store.

Recommended: May '12 Issue of Juxtapoz

I haven't been excited to look at--much less read--an entire issue of Juxtapoz magazine since March of 2011 when they had a cover story of Emory Douglas, (the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture). But the current issue on the stands is the "Public Art Issue" which features, (besides four different covers), great photos and interviews of some of the biggest street artists working today.

There's also articles written by the artists themselves. For instance, El Mac, who starts off an essay about murals with a quote from one of the great Mexican muralists, Jose Clemente Orozco: "The highest, most logical, purest and most powerful type of painting is mural painting. It is also the most disinterested, as it cannot be converted into an object of personal gain nor can it be concealed for the benefit of a few privileged people. It is for the people. It is for everybody." And then there's this quote from the introduction of Ron English's article where he talks about his long-time involvement with public art:

"Most of the public art that I've done in my career was unsanctioned. So for me, public art means street art, which is DIY, immediate, unfiltered, non-paying, physically and legally risky, and sometimes resulting in situations unplanned for and out of control. I seem to have an innate ability to generate imagery that pisses people off. Combine that with a penchant for putting it on the street and what you have is a life of constant trouble with periods of great delight."

Other great pieces in this issue include the profile piece on Swoon, an artist known for taking her beautiful wheat pastes and highly creative "out-stallations" all over the world: from Brooklyn to Sao Paulo, Brazil; from New Orleans to Haiti; from San Francisco's Mission District and back again. You can tell she has a lot of love for the planet and loves to engage with all kinds of people. The interview with L.A. graffiti artists Saber and Revok is also good, as it spends much time speaking on the criminalization of graffiti artists (mostly youth), and the constant harassment from police and city government.

But, my favorite article is the profile on JR, a french artist who also travels the world trying to utilize art for social change an has gone to many different places like Brazil, Palestine, South Africa to wheat paste giant sized portraits of regular people that seem to bring out their humanity. "When I'm in the streets and I paste, I have to talk to people, so that's why it's easy for me to talk and paste because that's what I do, working in the streets everyday. I have to explain it to folks. I love people, and I love exchanging, and those projects are a great way to learn about people and ask them questions about their story and really learn about their conflicts," he said in the interview.

If you only buy one issue of Juxtapoz a year, make sure this is the one!

[UPDATE: Some stores have already removed this issue from the stands and have replaced it with the new June issue. However, you can still order this issue online].

MacArthur Park Through the Eyes of Sonia Romero

I have to admit that as much as I hate Metro trains and buses sometimes (for various reasons), I have to give it up to them when it comes to public art; they do a great job of putting up a variety of beautiful art pieces in many of their train stations.

My favorite public art piece (that was commissioned by Metro Art and completed back in 2010), is "MacArthur Park; Urban Oasis," by local artist Sonia Romero, and it is located in the Westlake-MacArthur Park Red Line station. It is a series of 13 porcelain mosaic murals, which can be described as vignettes that show daily urban life in the the Westlake-MacArthur Park neighborhood.

What I really love about it is that it represents all that is good in the area and it also gives us beautiful depictions of the working-class immigrant people that work and play in the park; for example, a lady selling tamales, and a paletero (ice-cream vendor).

There is also a lot of history in the pieces. For instance, there is one piece memorializing Al Langer, the founder of Langer's Delicatessen and Restaurant, which is across the street from the park--and has been there since 1947! My favorite panel is the one that depicts the Westlake Theatre, which was built in 1926 and used as a movie theatre until 1991, and is now a swapmeet. The clashing of the old neon sign and ticket kiosk with murals of products you can buy inside the swap meet always made this a curious sight for me and the artist really captures this well.

I'm not the only one who thinks this is great public art. As a matter of fact, last summer it was chosen as one of the best public art pieces by the organization Americans for the Arts. People should check-out this art by visiting this train station; or, if you live too far and can't make it to L.A., visit Romero's website HERE.

FYI: That Banksy is Now Hidden

Some of you might remember one of my first blog posts about a Banksy piece in South L.A., on Washington Blvd and Compton Ave, (by the Washington Blue Line station). Well, that Banksy piece is now covered up by a giant metal fence that now surrounds the empty lot next to the piece. Someone once tried to vandalize the piece, but failed because it had already been protected. But, that's not the reason why the metal fence has been erected. Not sure, but possibly because a lot of people used to tag the building where the Banksy's piece is located. (To try and get a little fame, I guess). This is bad news for anyone who wasn't able to go see the piece in person, but you can still kinda see it from a crack in the fence.

If that's not good enough for you, you still have a few days left before the Art in the Streets exhibit closes at MOCA and they have a whole room full of Banksy's work! But don't wait until the last day.

Haters Gonna Hate...on Banksy

So, someone decided to vandalize that awesome piece Banksy did over on Washington (near the Blue Line). That was a true piece of public art, so I'm pretty pissed. There's some glass over it that protects it, so I'm sure it's still in perfect shape, but people can't appreciate it with all this crap covering it. Fuck'n haters:



[click on photo to enlarge]


Anyway, tune in tomorrow when I upload some Banksy pics I took at MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibit.