Tag Archives: street art

NOVEMBER GAIN

Rockin’ new Guns N’ Roses mural overlooks legendary Hollywood band’s old haunt on the Sunset Strip.

Use Your Illusion I and II, the Nineties-era hard rock masterpieces by Sunset Strip-launched legends Guns n’ Roses, have resurfaced on Rock Row in the guise of some rockin’ huge posters plastered on random construction site walls located between the Whisky and the Rainbow.

So, what gives with the rockin’ retro rewind?

Turns out, the GN’R posters are hyping the release of a new deluxe box set of the two albums that somehow expanded to eight discs of related material in a set that costs over $200.

Coinciding with the launch of the box set is the unveiling of a new Use Your Illusion II mural located on the Roxy‘s sidewall and overlooking the Rainbow’s outdoor patio.

Guns n’ Roses diehards will recognize the location of the mural as the area where Axl Rose stared down Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1991 video for Use Your Illusion II‘s smash hit “You Could Be Mine.”

Mark Kostabi‘s iconic cover artwork–a manipulation of part of Rafael‘s “School of Athens” mural–takes up a large section of the wall and is a welcome dose of rock and roll spirit that has been missing from the Sunset Strip for a while now. Let’s hope the new GN’R mural is a permanent part of the Strip.

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THE GUERILLAS

L.A. street artists add refreshing vibrancy to Sunset Strip with homage to rock icons and Hollywood legends.

LACMA may have been on lockdown as we wait out the crazy corona crisis, but local guerrilla artists have been busy keeping the urban landscape interesting with original works of art that have been dotting the Sunset Strip lately.

Alec Monopoly leaves his artful touch in the 90210

Rock icons like KISS, Star Wars heroine Princess Leia, sports great Mike Tyson, and legendary rock and roll club Whisky A Go-Go are just a few of the fascinating subjects that inspired some of the stellar street art that we’ve come across recently in WeHo.

Continue reading THE GUERILLAS

AMERICAN GRAFFITI

Artists turn L.A. streets into an urban art gallery any music fan would love.

In 2020, the Sunset Boulevard scene–from Rock Row to Dodger Stadium–has dramatically changed as a result of the pandemic and the nation’s turbulent political climate. And the changes extend beyond just the physical sense of seeing the famous, once-glamorous and vibrant landscape covered in bland blonde plywood and political graffiti.

The biggest impact is the deafening silencing of the world-class live rock and roll music that always seemed to be a ubiquitous part of the Sunset Strip. Regardless of when you visited Sunset’s Rock Row, there was always an exciting rock and roll energy and spontaneous soundtrack permeating the legendary thoroughfare and creating an intrinsic connection with visitors.

Until this year, there was always music in the night air, whether it was the power chords of superstars like Lita Ford or local faves like Budderside emanating from the Whisky A Go Go, or the rockin’ retro sounds of Missing Persons or L.A. rockers Warner Drive (pictured below) shaking the foundation of the Viper Room.

Warner Drive band

However, while the temporary closure of the Whisky, Viper Room and Roxy is tough on everyone, there is some good news.

Continue reading AMERICAN GRAFFITI

IN LIVING COLOR

Troubadour gets colorful, hopeful facelift as iconic venue sits empty.

During these turbulent times, it’s now that we can certainly use live music as a healing process and to combat the isolation caused by the lockdown. So, it’s especially unfortunate that the Troubadour, one of my favorite local live music venues, has remained empty for months due to the pandemic.

Recently, one of the nightclub’s promoters was on the local news lamenting about struggling to keep the landmark concert venue afloat during these unfortunate times. And like most music fans, I certainly feel the pain of these promoters and clubs that strive to continually bring in quality artists that are keeping rock n’ roll alive.

Continue reading IN LIVING COLOR

ART ATTACK

snc-titleMetal-Loving, Groundbreaking Urban Artists–and a Few Superstar Creatives–Are Turning L.A. into the Guerilla-Art Capital of the World. Eat Your Heart Out, East Village

By David Ciminelli 

HARINGHanging out in NYC’s East and West Villages in the ’80s/early ’90s, it wasn’t uncommon to spot cool and edgy urban art left by creative transplants like Keith Haring and Mark Kostabi and locals like SAMO/Basquiat and Robert Longo. (Nowadays, you can still find some of these celebrated artists’ sidewalk carvings and fading murals throughout NYC, if you know where to look.)

CyrcleToday, throughout Greater Los Angeles, there’s a new crew of mega-talented street artists leaving an artful touch on the cityscape and transforming the Sunset Strip and various parts of L.A. into an attention-grabbing urban art gallery of wickedly-creative pop art. Prolific standouts in the urban jungle of creativity include current and future superstar artists like ThrashBird, BeccaAnnie Preece, Alec Monopoly, David Flores, Plastic JesusPhil Lumbang, Cyrcle., ThankYouXWrdsmth, Teachr1, ImHuge, Trusto, SepterHedHomo Riot, Mr. Brainwash and Destroy All Design.

Roxy

Take a virtual tour below of these and other artists’ amazing artwork that Sunset and Clark has stumbled upon over the past few years during our travels up and down the Sunset Strip, from the PCH to DTLA, and throughout the Southland. A few world-renown artists, including the edgy and awe-inspiring Banksy, Kenny Scharf, Retna and Shepard Fairey, also gifted the City of Angels with colorful original creations, both sanctioned by the city and guerilla-style. Check ’em out and get inspired by awesome artworks that all share a rock and roll edge.

Beatles Banditos

Stones art, Hlywd, 2010

Johnny Cash

Destroy All Design

KISS

Alec Monopoly

Killer Mickey

Continue reading ART ATTACK

HOT WHEELS

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FAST TIMES ON SUNSET BOULEVARD

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Spotted this freshly posted “Super Street Art” by mysterious art ninja EmSixFive while stumbling home from the Rainbow this evening. The nostalgic ode to hot rods and model car kits covers part of a utility box near the front of the Roxy.

The rockin’ monochromatic graphic captures the essence of an era so vividly that it got us reminiscing about those old model car kits that took all afternoon to build. Then as soon as you proudly placed it on a shelf, its wheels fell off, leaving you with nothing but a mess and fingers you couldn’t separate.

But the residual high from the glue usually made it all better.

Strange Currencies

WeHo Art

SUNSET STREET ARTIST PAYS IT FORWARD IN INGENUITY

A1We noticed the curious graphic above on the back of a Sunset Strip stop sign and thought it was cool. Later, we randomly spotted it again in another format and were truly impressed.

Ingeniously, the mystery artist adhered the graphic to a fence in front of the legendary Sunset Tower hotel, dissecting it so that it organically forms into a cohesive image as you pass by. Priceless! Check it out below.

SAMSUNG

SAMSUNG

SAMSUNG

art

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SAMSUNG

L.A. Woman

Becca

STREET ARTIST BECCA MIDWOOD ART-BOMBS WEHO & LEAVES BEHIND SEXY HIPPIE CHICKS READY FOR THEIR CLOSE UP

Austin-based artist Becca Midwood has been busy over the past few months art-bombing her way across the country, gifting cities with some very cool original art, including the large, colorful painting above, which we discovered recently in West Hollywood. The colorful life-size foxy lady covers a door on a shop across the street from the legendary Troubadour, near Santa Monica Boulevard and Doheny.

SAMSUNGWe spotted another original piece by Becca earlier in the summer, when we posted about her smokin’-hot hand-painted art that still adorns the side wall of the Sunset Strip’s Viper Room. Other work — both street art and murals commissioned by the Viper Room — have covered the wall on Larrabee Street over the past few months, but Becca’s sexy image of a scantily clad rocker chick and her tattooed pink pal have remained untouched. Today, it sits beneath a huge mural of ex-Viper Room owner Johnny Depp. Check it out below.

See more of Becca’s L.A. area creations at Unearth Street Art and check out her interview with The Hundreds for the stories that influenced her hip and sexy pop art.

Viper Room

In Bloom at Roxy

CYRCLE FLEXES FLOWER POWER ON THE SUNSET STRIP

Prolific and stellar street artists Cyrcle have covered the side wall of the  Sunset Strip’s Roxy with a very cool, colorful political statement. Or maybe they just like flowers. Either way, congrats to Cyrcle on another very cool addition to the Sunset scene.

Sunset Strip Shot o’ the Day

SUNSET PEOPLE

A slick street artist — and apparent fan of Poe, A Clockwork Orange, Rob Zombie (maybe) and everything Goth — has added some cool pavement art to the Sunset Strip in front of the Viper Room in West Hollywood.

Ch-Check It Out

Beastie Boys - Atwater Village

BEASTIE BOYS IMMORTALIZED IN ATWATER VILLAGE

This (body)movin’ tribute to the Beastie Boys is a brand-spankin’ new addition to a utility box on Brand Boulevard just over the hill from Hollywood, in Atwater Village. R.I.P. Adam “MCA” Yauch.

Sunset Strip Shot o’ the Day

Viper Room

VIPER ROOM BECOMES A GUERILLA-ART GALLERY  

The bland black side wall of the Sunset Strip’s Viper Room just got a whole lot more interesting thanks to popular and prolific street artist Becca, whose sexy “Ride or Die” graphic, above, adorns the popular rock club near its Larrabee Street entrance. Over the past few years, Becca’s original art has been popping up more frequently around town and has become an exciting staple of L.A.’s cityscape.

Beatles Banditos

ART ATTACK

We spotted this rockin’ tribute to masked musical marauders Paul, Ringo, John and George on La Brea near Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. We think the Brit icons would approve.