RETNA & THE MAC Opening Teaser - Mid-City Arts 6.7.09
RETNA & THE MAC at Mid-City Arts Opening Teaser from 33third Los Angeles on Vimeo.
What: RETNA & The MAC Gallery Show Opening and Live Painting
Where: Mid-City Arts - 5111 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019
When: Sunday June 7, 2009 12-6 PM - ALL AGES
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http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6145&Itemid=50
We love Retna ( Juxtapoz #78) and Mac for their larger than life collaborations, so we’re more than hyped on a live painting event and exhibit opening featuring two of Los Angeles’ most respected graffiti artists: Retna and The Mac. The opening event takes place Sunday June 7th 12pm – 6pm at 33Third in LA. The art exhibit will be on display in the adjoining Mid-City Arts gallery.
The new exhibit from Retna and The Mac will featured a large-scale indoor mural installation in addition to smaller pieces. Retna says that the show “will be representative of the remembrance of growing up as a youth.” They will aim to re-enact “the trials & triumphs of pursuing an art form that you have all this passion for, but yet angers all these people. Just kind of showing the 2 different sides to it.”
This is a topic near and dear to the artists’ hearts, echoing sentiments shared by many of today’s successful artists who have transitioned from graffiti to legitimate street art. “This is where we came from. We came from being these street kids. We wanted to show that you can keep going,” explains Retna. “It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of a culture like this that has spread throughout the world and this would be our way of giving back to an area, a city, a community that was the beginning of my career (Mid-City Area of Los Angeles). Those blocks and corners were where I was given the opportunity to do my art and was shown a lot of support by the community. Communities like these are where we come from and it feels good to give something back to the future generation of kids doing this.”
About The Artists:
Since first creating a name for himself in the early 1990s, Retna has become an “eternal broadcaster” of sorts, shining a light to the kinetic urban soul of Los Angeles. His work merges photography with graffiti style and paint, time with color, couture with street culture, the spiritual with the sensual, and fluidity with grit. Retna traverses between the galleries and streets with ease. In addition to being aligned with the Art Work Rebels and Mad Society Kings Art Groups, he is a member of the internationally exclusive art collective, The Seventh Letter, whose influence on contemporary street art encompasses the globe.
The Mac began painting graffiti in the mid 90s and since then he has been commissioned to produce murals around the world, exhibited in museums, and his work has graced the cover of numerous publications. Mac has gained increasing notoriety for his almost photorealistic depictions of both ordinary people and ethereal women, in a style that is uniquely his own. Mac’s intricate brushwork styles have also gained attention, while some of his murals have become mini-landmarks. Elements, themes and techniques of classic art are often incorporated into a modern context in Mac’s artwork, usually with an emphasis on the human face and figure.
Chaka ONE LOD - Gallery Opening Photo Recap - Mid-City Arts Gallery Los Angeles, CA
For everyone that was unable to attend the opening of Los Angeles’ KING CHAKA solo exhibit at Mid-City Arts, we have included a photo recap below.
Need Graffiti Art Supplies? Purchase Graffiti Supplies @ 33third.com
Chaka One LOD Opening Teaser Trailer
We put together a little trailer for the Chaka opening this Saturday. I think it makes a pretty good argument why you need to be there.
Chaka ONE LOD - New Works
Opening: Saturday April 25, 2009 7-9PM
Mid-City Arts
5113 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Chaka One LOD - First Gallery Show - Saturday April 25, 2009
We are pleased to announce the first solo show by Los Angeles’ King Chaka at Mid-City Arts in the heart of Los Angeles, CA. Anyone that was around LA in the late 80s and early 90s is more than familiar with CHAKA and his infamous tags that literally covered California from Orange County to all througout Los Angeles to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. We will be having an opening reception for a show created to take the viewer back to an era bordering on chaos.
CHAKA ONE LOD first solo show opening at Mid-City Arts Gallery
Mid-City Arts Presents The First Solo Show From Chaka, Los Angeles’ Most Infamous Graffiti Artist
Los Angeles – March 2009 - Mid-City Arts is pleased to present the first solo show ever from the infamous LA graffiti artist, Chaka. Resurrection opens April 25th and will feature highly anticipated new work from the mysterious Chaka.
Daniel Ramos, AKA Chaka, was 18 when he was arrested and charged in 1991 with 48 counts of vandalism, trespassing and causing
$500,000 in property damage. Chaka’s signature tag had appeared in a staggering 10,000 locations from Orange County to San Francisco. At the height of his notoriety Chaka was demonized by mainstream media and culture as being little more than a prolific vandal. At the same time he was celebrated by street artists who admired the ability of a teenager from the projects to literally make his mark on the vast, glitzy LA cityscape in such a ubiquitous manner. He is credited with breaking away from the New York “wildstyle” popular at the time and introducing clearer, more blockish lettering into tagging. Chaka was one of the first to create a reputation as a recognizable individual tagger, and spawned many imitators. However Chaka was not just a lone operative. He was part of the LOD crew and as such, his work in reclaiming hard to reach places of the cityscape (freeway overpasses, walls, trains etc) on behalf of his crew is recognized by fellow taggers as a selfless achievement for LA’s graffiti scene as a whole.
After spending a year tracking down the once unavoidable Chaka, Mid-City Arts presents his first solo show. For Chaka’s fans as well as street art collectors, this will be a rare opportunity to revisit the nostalgia of the early 90’s, and own a piece of LA’s cultural history. Chaka himself will be in attendance and there will be a limited number of signed posters in addition to his works available for sale. The opening reception will take place April 25th, 7:00-9:00pm at Mid-City Arts, 5113 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019. For more info visit: www.chakaone.com
Mid-City Arts was established in September 2009 as an extension of the store 33third – LA’s premier source of graffiti art supplies, streetwear apparel, and related books and magazines. The gallery was established with the purpose of showcasing local, national, and international artwork by up and coming and established artists with a focus on (but not limited to) graffiti / street / urban art. Mid-City Arts offers a show space that interacts with other artists and events that surround the 33third Los Angeles location. The gallery’s artwork is available to view by the active customer base of 33third, which includes graffiti artists and fans of graffiti art. Mid-City Arts is open Monday through Sunday 12-8PM. For more information, visit: www.midcity-arts.com
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