This Means Mar

Once a hater, always a hater~


Mar is a hater, and a snitch.

Its not surprising that some people might get upset with the things that are written on this blog, but it is surprising when it comes from inside the community, more specifically an artist. The street artist, Mar, has been making some particularly nasty comments about MELROSEandFAIRFAX recently. Apparently, he feels upset about a lot of things, and he comes across as a complete dick while he is ranting. Mar's comments reveal more about him than about us. We feel confident in what we are doing, and all that this blog has done to promote the street art of Los Angeles. While we haven't been around LA forever, we have been heavily involved in LA's street art scene for years, and we have been along long enough to remember how Mar got started in the street art game. Mar came into the game as a hater, and while he has dabbled in street art, his actions show that Mar still defines himself as a hater.

Mar first started doing street art by hating on successful artists. His first big street pieces, and the first pieces that Mar posted on his own Flickr are Mar defacing White Mike's full color 'Shark' prints that were all over LA a couple of years ago (pictured above). Mar took a red drippy marker to the paster making it look like blood. Even though we thought the effect looked cool, Mar meant it as an insult and a challenge. He posted on his Flickr 'Go create something, I dare you.' Mar then moved on to making posters that made fun of Mr. Brainwash, giving Brainwash the Brainwash treatment (pictured below). But the idea was so unoriginal that over the past year and half two separate people at two different times have done essentially the same thing. Way back in the Spring of 2010, Bankrupt Slut gave Mar some advice at the time saying "Unless someone has done something to someone personally, I'm not a big fan of 'diss' campaigns--it just comes off as sour (pretty girls are much more fun!!) and like abstinence campaigns have been shown to lead to higher levels of sexual activity, even if it is meant as a 'diss', it still blows up Mr. Brainwash. any publicity is good publicity in street art ;)"

Mar seemed to take this advice as he did start making art of his own, and he seemed to take it to heart as for the next year or more Mar's major theme for his art was 'pretty girls'. And while we don't want to bad mouth Mar in the same way that he seems intent on doing, it must be mentioned that Mar's art always seems to be derivative. From the content to the colors to the placement, it is clear that Mar is being influenced. That said, we generally like Mar's pieces and the art usually looks good. It is better than average, but by no means profound. We'd give it 6 on a scale of 10. It isn't a loud voice on LA's street art scene, but we generally used to like seeing Mar's art around.

In fact, Mar's being a dickhole took us by surprise because, although we never knew the guy well, things were always friendly. But then, things changed when Mar did his first piece of street art in months and we didn't post it. It wasn't anything special, just another one of his girls with the words 'Fuck you if you don't like me'. We didn't like the tone, and since there was so much other stuff to post at the time, we didn't put it up. No one, besides Mar, ever noticed. But Mar seemed to think that he was entitled to be on the blog and when he didn't get featured, just like a spoiled little kid he threw a fit.

Talk about entitlement. Mar drives a high end black BMW sports car that was most certainly paid for by Mommy and Daddy. He is not a starving artist, but a spoiled kid. And when he doesn't get what he wants, or if others are having success that he is jealous of, he starts to hate on them. We remember how Mar came into the game as a hater, and he brings more hissy fits than art to the scene recently.

Usually, we try to ignore negativity and steer clear of the hate. But Mar crossed the line when he began acting like a snitch and publicly threatening the purveyors of MELROSEandFAIRFAX. We became familiar with street art through the world of graffiti, and in graffiti there are some lines that aren't crossed. Even if you don't like someone you handle it in a business like manner. The worst thing is to be a snitch. But for Mar, who came to know street art through entitlement and then being a hater, he doesn't understand the culture and what lines not to cross. The worst thing to be in the underground world is a snitch, but Mar seems eager to wear that crown. Members of the street art community beware--loose lips sink ships and Mar has shown that he will fly off and flaunt private information just because, well, he is spoiled kid who is just throwing a fit--he doesn't even realize it, but he is announcing himself as a snitch. Agree with him or not, he has announced himself as a snitch . . . community beware . . .

As for us, we feel that it is unfortunate that Mar is such a hater. The success of the blog speaks for itself. We have spend thousands of hours putting in work on the streets and promoting the street art of Los Angeles. We believe that we have had an incredible amount of success furthering street art in Los Angeles, and in introducing the artist's of Los Angeles to the rest of the world. We have tried to be honest, and even when we are harsh we try not to be unfair. We hear a lot of private information, but even if we don't like someone, or don't approve of something, there are some lines that are not crossed and we respect that. Of course we have personal opinions, but we try to be as objective as possible, and try to support the scene as best we can. We have never tried to claim the scene, just celebrate it and try to steer it the way we thought best--and even if it doesn't please everyone, we have never been afraid to speak truth to power. Most of the time, even if they don't like it, people understand that. And they appreciate what MELROSEandFAIRFAX has done to launch LA's street art onto the world stage. Mr. Brainwash told us himself recently "When I started out people used to say 'Oh, you are from LA--who cares that you do art, it is a place without culture.' But now, when I tell people that I am from Los Angeles they say 'Oh! That is the best spot for street art in the world". We appreciate the kind words and support, and to further LA's street art scene is the whole reason we have done this. It sucks and is unfortunate when someone, especially an artist, will act the way that Mar has acted, but his being a snitch reveals more about him than it does about us. We are going to keep doing what we are doing, and keep working hard to share the street art of Los Angeles The street art scene is bigger than any one artist. We have always understood that, the scene won't notice if one artist never gets posted. We can't support snitches or backstabbing in the community and won't be supporting artists who act like this. Mar, maybe you can talk to your parents about hooking us up with a sports car. That would make dealing with your hissy fits a lot more worth it. But til then, we don't get paid enough to get threatened and harassed like this, and hopefully, we can focus more on the street art and less on the drama.

Its clear that Mar came into the street art game as a hater--and he is still a hater. In 10 years no one will care or remember what a 'Mar' was on the streets anyway (no one hardly noticed you now), but they will be talking about the role that this blog has played in defining what is arguably the most active street art scene in the world. MELROSEandFAIRFAX is going to keep doing what we are doing and celebrating the streets of Los Angeles. No one is entitled to be on the blog, but we are going to keep trying to showcase the best in LA from the top artists in the world all the way down to the tiniest stickers on the street. We know that for the small group of haters, there are thousands of supporters and true artists. We will continue doing what we are doing and be supporting art, not hate.

Thanks LA. Stay up~