SABER L A RIVER PIECE

On September 1, 2009 federal stimulus money was used by the Army Corps of Engineers to buff the Los Angeles River of graffiti. In doing so, they white washed an important part of L.A.’s artistic history. Key among the pieces that were destroyed was a work by the artist SABER; artwork recognized by many worldwide as the largest graffiti masterpiece. Created in 1997 on the sloping concrete banks off the 5 freeway, the piece measured 250’ x 55’ – nearly the size of an NFL football field – and took 97 gallons of paint. Most large-scale graffiti in the L.A. River, such as the MTA roller (also recently buffed) are straightforward two color blocks. What made Saber’s piece world famous (beyond it’s impressive scale and staying power) was that it was a complex full color piece. Few beyond the graffiti scene truly appreciate the dangerous logistics of getting the artist and his supplies to that site, much less the technical and artistic skill required to create such a large piece on an angled surface. This historic artwork has become such a landmark on the LA River that SABER has been featured in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s exhibition.

LA legend SABER

Lee Quinones: Tribute to the late Iz the Wiz

Legendary graffiti artist Lee Quinones recites a tribute he wrote for the late Masterblaster Iz the Wiz @ the Hellenbeck Gallery in NYC on June 18.

Lee Quinones: Tribute to the late Iz the Wiz from Raquel Cepeda on Vimeo.

IZ THE WIZ REST IN PARADISE

Graffiti writing pioneer IZ THE WIZ (Michael Martin) died last night from heart failure. The legendary vandal, president of The Master Blasters crew, has been described as the “longest reigning all-city king in NYC history” for his prolific work on several subway lines during the 70s and 80s. IZ was one of the main characters profiled in graffiti cult classic, Style Wars (9:38 mark) and is widely regarded as an influential figure in the movement. He was also a great guy and one of the humblest writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, so here’s a toast in honor of IZ THE WIZ: To a graffiti writer whose name will never fade.

Evidence reppin AWR since 89

Evidence+AWR= la combinacion perfecta

http://www.knowngallery.com/blog/post/evidence-reppin-awr-since-1989

HOW&NOSM

Página recomendadisima que acaba de ser relanzada.

http://www.hownosm.org

NZ man jailed for killing teenage graffiti artist

A New Zealand man who killed a teenage graffiti artist he caught spray-painting his home has been sentenced to more than four years in jail in a case that has gripped the country.

Fifty-year-old Bruce Emery grabbed a knife and chased Pihema Cameron after he caught the 15-year-old spray-painting graffiti on the garage of his South Auckland home just over a year ago.

The teenager died from a stab-wound to the chest. The businessman told police he was defending himself.

Emery was found not guilty of murder and convicted of manslaughter.

The teenagers mother, Leanne Cameron, is outraged.

“Did any of you fellows see his face? It’s painless, he looked at us an put his head down,” she said.

Emery’s lawyer, Chris Comesky, says both sides involved have suffered, and the victim’s family must move on.

“Family members of the deceased saying they’d love to rip his eye-balls out, they are filled with hate,” he said.

Emery was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.

[Via:www.abc.net.au]

MTA MEMEBERS GET BUSTED!

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies today arrested at least eight alleged members of the notorious Metro Transit Assassins tagging crew, some of whom are believed to be responsible for a several-blocks-long “MTA” tag in the concrete Los Angeles River bed that authorities say will cost millions of dollars to remove.
The arrests occurred during a series of early-morning raids centered in the Hollywood area. Among those detained for a parole violations is a famous tagger whose work “SMEAR” has has won acclaim in the art community.
Those arrested were booked on suspicion of vandalism, drug possession, narcotics for sales, weapons possession and other parole violations, officials said
“These individuals are responsible for tags not only in Los Angeles but Las Vegas and San Francisco,” said Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein, who is chief of the Metropolitan Transit Authority police. “The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that removing the “MTA” tag from the riverbed alone will cost $3.7 million.

Cleaning graffiti from the river is far more expensive than cleaning other areas. Officials use high-pressure water spray to remove the toxic paint.
But hazardous-materials crews must then dam and capture all the paint and water runoff to prevent it from getting into the river. The crew did an additional $20,000 worth of damage to transit vehicles and facilities. Finkelstein said the Los Angeles River “MTA” tag, in a vast industrial district east of downtown between two rail yards, took about 400 gallons of paint — 300 gallons white and 100 gallons black. “It took them four nights to do it,” he said.
The three block letters cover a three-story-high wall and run the length of several blocks between the 4th Street and 1st Street bridges. The tagging crew, which is also known as “Melting Toys Away” and “Must Take All,” began about the time the transportation agency began using the MTA letters. Investigators say they have statements, including some on video, that implicate some of the crew MTA members get busted!

members in the enormous tag.
“Some of this group could face federal charges,” Finkelstein said. During the raids, Finkelstein said, investigators found customized high-pressure fire extinguishers that, when filled with paint, allow the tagger to hang upside down on the underside of a freeway and quickly scrawl massive graffiti. These taggers are not kids, he said.
Most those detained are in their 20s; one of them drives a $60,000 BMW, and another member possesses a diamond-and-ruby-encrusted Metro logo pendant with paperwork suggesting it’s worth $29,000, Finkelstein said.
– Richard Winton
Photo: Police car shows scale of the giant “MTA” tag in the Los Angeles River in May 2008. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

SOURCE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/sheriffs-deputi.html

Is graffiti worse than prostitution?

By RICK CASEY

http://www.chron.com

If four eighth-grade girls at a Cy-Fair middle school had been found with a couple of ounces of marijuana, or had stolen $1,400 from a house near the school, or had engaged in prostitution, they would have committed a misdemeanor.

But they did none of these things. They wrote on the girls' bathroom wall.

So they face felony charges.

In Texas, graffiti with a Sharpie on a school wall is a more serious crime than carrying a switchblade, making a terroristic threat, burglarizing a vehicle, committing a second DWI, stalking, or assault causing bodily harm.

It's part of our efforts to criminalize childhood.

Handcuffed, hauled off

The mothers of two of the girls, with whom I spoke, agree that their daughters did wrong and should be punished.

But arrested on campus, handcuffed and taken in a squad car to be booked, photographed and fingerprinted?

Both mothers, Noelle Jackson and Christie Mathieu, said their daughters are A and B students who are not troublemakers.

In fact, they are literally choir girls. The trouble began Dec. 1 when the choir teacher failed to show for after-school practice. While waiting for the late bus home, the girls went into the bathroom where, they told their mothers, graffiti was already scrawled on the walls and ceiling. They decided to add their own.

Stronger than 'I love Alex'

Jackson's daughter told her mother she wrote, "We run this sh--."

She said two other girls wrote, "Hi ladies," and "Wipe before you leave."

The worst, said Jackson, was one that wrote, "(Girl's first name and last initial) is a big-azz ho."

Mathieu said her daughter wrote in pencil on the toilet roll holder. This is not a felony because it's not in permanent ink, but Mathieu said she was told her daughter is being charged because she was with the other girls "and didn't rat on them."

A spokeswoman for the school district said federal school privacy law prevents them from discussing details, but the amount of graffiti was worse than the mothers described, and the content was "much stronger" than a similar incident in the Katy ISD last year.

In that case a 12-year-old wrote "I love Alex" on a gym wall. The DA declined to prosecute, but the district sentenced her to four months in the district's alternative center.

After a public outcry, Katy officials lowered her punishment to writing an apology to the maintenance director and thanking him for cleaning the wall, and making posters promoting clean schools.

But the mothers of the Cy-Fair 8th graders said school officials apparently based their punishment on assuming the girls were lying about what little they had written.

Matthieu said she obtained an e-mail a 7th-grader wrote to a friend admitting she and two others had already defaced the walls and gloating that the 8th-graders were taking the rap.

The message read in part: "well we found out today that we didnt get caught. (: they said they cught the ppl who did and they said that it these four eighth graders. bahha but it was really us three. yeahh they also said that those four girls got arrested and sent to juvii."

Matthieu said she showed the e-mail to the principal, not to get the other girls punished but in hopes of getting a more reasonable punishment for her daughter and her friends.

Instead, she says, she understands that the 7th graders are now also facing felony charges. I was unable to confirm that.

State law also requires that any student charged with a felony be sent to the district's alternative learning center. The 8th graders will be there for six weeks.

Matthieu and Jackson are worried about the effect on their daughters' grades and their performance on the upcoming TAKS test.

"My daughter has been there two weeks and she hasn't come home with a book yet," Matthieu said.

I don't know the full extent of the graffiti or who wrote what, but there is no rational reason for the Legislature to make all graffiti in a school a felony.

The punishment should not be administered by the criminal justice system, but by the school.

The law should provide that school punishment be designed to further educate children, not hurt their education.

The amount and tone of the graffiti should determine just how many Saturdays the girls spend cleaning restrooms. That would, at the least, teach the girls appreciation for the noble work of janitors.

Making graffiti in a school a felony is a dumb law. But the principal is not required to call the cops. And the DA is not required to accept the case.

Such outlandish punishment is not teaching the girls responsibility. It's teaching them to distrust authority.

You can write to Rick Casey at P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210, or e-mail him at rick.casey@chron.com

Cero

De vuelta con lo clásico. Cero okc

TSL bombs

The Darker Knight from Keegan Gibbs . com on Vimeo.