If you were looking up in L.A yesterday you would have noticed an unusual bit of skywriting by 5 different jets. They wrote the names of the MSK crew, Obey, Upper Playground, and Juxtapose over city hall and downtown. All are L.A residents and all are in conflict with the city authorities over it’s persecution of all mural art in L.A. The recent controversy over Risk and Retna’s Heal the Bay mural in Santa Monica is a good example. A commissioned piece on private property with a positive message and yet it still faces the buff because L.A has dictated that all public murals are signage and as such need permits. The irony of L.A being one of the street art capitals of the world and yet all public art effectively being illegal is certainly not lost on one of it’s most famous sons – Saber. It was him that took it upon himself to hire the jets. Check his statement below. EndoftheLine salutes you sir.

9.19.2011

End Mural Moratorium. Art Is Not A Crime…

The reason I hired five jet planes to sky write over City Hall and downtown Los Angeles is to bring awareness to how ridiculous a moratorium on public art is.

The city states that all public murals are signage, effectively banning art from the walls of Los Angeles. And it is removed at the taxpayers’ expense. Money is given to private graffiti removal companies, who have broken onto private property to paint murals beige. The owners of small businesses where murals have been painted have been harassed and threatened with fines if they do not remove the artwork. Police officers raid homes and places of work, intimidating artists and building owners. During this time of economic crisis, “mural signs” are an easy target for the city to extract money. This moratorium is a clear violation of the first amendment right to free speech and enforcement for these unreasonable laws is a complete waste of taxpayer funds.

To put things in perspective I recently visited the beautiful set of murals inside the Terminal Annex Building on Alameda. This mural by …was painted in 1941-44 and was funded by the “Works Progress Administration” (WPA). Murals are just a part of the legacy of a national program that put the country to work during the Great Depression.

Fast-forward to the Great Recession, taxpayer money is now used to obliterate all traces of the artwork my generation have created. I believe this is city-funded censorship pushed by lawmakers with personal vendettas. Potential jail time is more probable for us than the opportunity of creating an artistic legacy for the next generation. In a city that used to proudly call itself the “Mural Capitol Of The World,” the officials who enforce this ban should be ashamed to call themselves “Angelinos.”

Art Is Not A Crime… End Mural Moratorium.

- SABER

Not related but these great videos have been making our day!

check their facebook and website

Vodker

The man Vodker has been smashing up Brighton town all over. We painted with him a while back and his clean lines and dope letter style are a joy to witness. We are expecting some solid letter writing and dope flows from the young prodigy.

Twesh has been one of our favourite artist for years. A member of the big bad Heavy artillery crew, This italian writer living and painting in London has a completely unorthodox approach to painting. He constantly pushes his style in weird and wonderful directions. His recent piece at Stockwell shows exactly why Twesh is a one to watch, great colours, unreal style and most probably late.

Kak

We are very proud to announce the inclusion of KAK at this years Meeting Of Styles. We have been big fans of this homegrown British talent and we are very excited to see what he will pull out of the bag this year. He has been rocking some serious productions and it is incredible to see what is possible with just three letters. Bags of big burners.