moca: art in the streets recap (part three)…

…so i’ve saved some of my favorites for last. a difficult task you might think but these struck me for various reasons and definitely finish strong…

part of the exhibit was of course dedicated to the history of street art. i can see why it was elevated to the upper level. it made sense because by the time you’d burned your brains out on everything else, it was the perfect place to catch your breath and contemplate the past. They started with the United Graffiti Artists formation in 1972 and these are some of their faces. they are the faces of so many youth i see walking my community:

you can’t have history without talking about the music and the self proclaimed father of rap malcolm mclaren. i don’t think the sugar hill gang would agree with that but ‘double dutch’ is still the bomb!:

hey ebo, ebo, ebonettes!

there is something about textures that sets me to looking for patterns and my eyes got busy when i saw the wall of spray paint cans, vintage spray paint cans:

i closed in on some of my favorite groupings. i love these and there is something about the seventies vibe on the two far left plasti-kote cans that resonates:

a nod was given to fashion as well with the focus being on one of the partners for the exhibit, levi’s. levi’s featured the vintage trucker jacket and together with moca, and 10 of the featured artists, created a limited collection of ten designs at fifty units each.

stephen sprouse’s speedy for louis vuitton was front and center. i wonder how many females fogged up the glass on that one:

speaking of females, around the corner i found miss van, interestingly though, no fafi:

not to be missed, was this beautifully beaded piece from os gemos! i was so blown away by how gorgeous it was. you can’t tell from the shot but the piece is enormous and takes up an entire wall:

and now we get around to the cars! i remember seeing people drive these around in places like hollywood and venice beach and i’d think about the dedication it took to do this. most of their cars were tricked out haphazardly and only on the outside (the inside was filled with garbage 🙂 ). needless to say, this isn’t one of those:

of course downtown l.a. was well represented by mr. cartoon who took lowrider art and brought it mainstream. any celebrity who’s anybody, has been inked by mr. cartoon and he’s got some of the biggest corporations on his resume:

but the real treat brothers and sisters, was the ice cream man! this was just the ill-est shit i’ve ever seen! i was all over this truck like white on rice and i just couldn’t get enough. the interior was tricked out with a sick audio visual system and all the candy… click the truck for a close up:

and there you have my recap, boys and girls! needless to say there was no way in hell i could cram everything into this blog. there is way more that i didn’t get a chance to cover so obviously the only way to do it real justice is to check it out for yourself. ‘art in the streets‘ will be up until august 18th after which it will do some time in brooklyn. if you live in l.a. or will be visiting some time in the future, do not sleep on this show!

moca @ the geffen contemporary

152 North CENTRAL Avenue, Los Angeles –

(213) 626-6222