Category: graffiti
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Street Art In Shoreditch
Perched high on top of a street sign in the middle of a sidewalk near Shoreditch, a small bronze angel peers over the bustling street below. Its outstretched wings point to two very different sections of this East End borough: on one side of Sclater street, old 2-story, arched masonry buildings are adorned with tags…
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Artist a Day: Jamel Shabazz
Before Rap Squats became a meme, any musical artist coming out of the 1980’s had to have a perfect album cover pose, and Jamel Shabazz’s photography captured the look. His portraits not only gave us a contemplative look at Brooklyn in the 1980’s and 1990’s, his ability to connect to his…
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Booths Without Borders at DesignerCon 2017
For pop culture enthusiasts, there’s an unlimited number of conventions where you can connect with your tribe. There are gamer cons, comic cons, anime cons, dragon cons, quilt cons and even a con that celebrates inclusion. I love spaces where art and kitsch collide and for the past 10 years, DesignerCon has become one of…
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Common Reveals Hip Hop’s Lost Soul
The beautifully close cropped faces staring into the camera for Common’s latest video for Black America Again dare the viewer to look each subject directly in the eye. Their gaze is strong, inquisitive and evocative; you quickly get the sense that their gaze is knowingly somehow directed at you, challenging you to see them as complex individuals with unique stories,…
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Camilo Jose Vergara’s “Old New York”
Camilo Jose Vergara’s work takes a historical photographic look at the dramatic evolution and dissolution of New York’s neighborhoods over decades. I really love his early early 1970’s work. For me, the most captivating series is “Old New York”, a body of photos that exposed the neglected, desolated, apocalyptic cultural landscape existing in the South Bronx. In these pictures you…
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Behind the Walls: The Art of the Favelas
After Rio’s shiny, spectacular Opening Ceremony on Friday I came across this sobering picture that quickly brought me back to reality and filtered my view of the Olympic games. Brazil’s honest portrayal of the slave trade and the upbeat, energetic favela portion of the ceremony obscured some of the horrific present day realities behind the historical and…
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Mural Buffings Confirm Fears of Runaway Development in DTLA’s Arts District
Early on in my career I was given a small piece of advice that dictated how I presented myself professionally: “Dress for the job you want.” In the intersecting space between gentrification and street art, developers have applied that age old career advice to the neighborhoods they invest in. When it comes to street art,…
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Artist a Day Challenge 2016-28: Shinique Smith
When I started Culture Shock Art in 2010, my goal was to explore street art and graffiti in Los Angeles, after I stumbled upon street artist JR’s work completely by accident. The process of discovery through investigating the origins of one of his murals led me to his 2010 TED talk after which I purchased one of his lithographs. That…
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Artist a Day Challenge 2016-9: Brandan Odums & Noirlinians Usher in New Wave of Art in NOLA
Laissez le bon temps rouler! I’ve got New Orleans on my mind, so I thought I’d use today’s post to shine a light on the art that’s being made in the Crescent City today. Steeped in tradition, plagued by disaster and portrayed as a crown jewel of urban renewal, New Orleans is a multifaceted and deeply…
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Wandering: DTLA’s Arts District
Last year I went to a meeting at the CleanTech Incubator near the L.A. river and I was surprised to see how much development has gone into the Arts District. Over the last few months I’ve been getting acquainted to L.A.’s latest gentrified, “it” neighborhood. Here’s what I LOVE about it: The energy is phenomenal (I…
Colony Little, Culture Shock Art 