Some Dudes are ALREADY Trying to Snatch BanksyNY's Inflatable Throwie!

Some dudes are already trying to snatch BanksyNY's 'Inflatable Throw-up'.

Apparently, the dudes have a ladder long enough to get up to the upper level, but the balloons are tied to to the rooftop, so they appear to be safe--for the minute.

This piece would have been much safer, and stronger, if Banksy had actually painted the graffiti onto the building.  Have never seen one cut out of a building this high up.  Just sayin'.

Ironically enough, some of the folks on the scene are calling the cops to protect Banksy's vandalism. What a strange world we live in, and as Banksy says in his audio, why live in a world decorated by art, when we could live in a world made of art? Watching how the public fumbles over how to deal with a Banksy, its real life art (chasing after art).

Graffiti Bombing Los Angeles

This post features graffiti bombs from all over Los Angeles.  Multiple locations from Melrose to downtown to your mom's house.

Click the jump to check out all the action

Mear One - New World Order

Rooftop mural from Mear One in Echo Park.

Entitled 'New World Order' the art features a young girl in front of a scary industrial wasteland landscape.

Carpe Seizem

Seizer seizes the day with a giant rooftop paster in Echo Park.

Riding with a graffiti piece from Cal on the back of the billboard.

TOS & FDS

TOS and FDS are two hungry crews that are hitting hot spots all over Los Angeles.

Its kind of hard to see the hits--because the spots are so hot.  But look for sequential pieces along the rooftop ledge.

Some Artists Get Offered Walls, Other Artists Have to Claim Them

Once you reach a certain status in the art world, some artists start to get offered walls.  It is usually a compliment based on the skill or reputation the artist has built.

Other artists don't get offered walls.  They don't get offered walls, so they have to claim them.  In general, the art might not be as detailed, but the unsanctioned stuff is far more exciting.

Here is a great example of the clash of cultures.  Down below, murals from Cyrcle, Yoskay Yomomato, and Dabs Myla ride strong.  Meanwhile, up above on the rooftop, organic graffiti bombs from Phels, Dsok and Bust(?) are fighting to hold onto their spots, as the Phels pieces says beside it 'Fuck the Buff!'.

Rooftop Love

Eros gets up bombing the Branded Arts Complex rooftop.

Riding with a tag from Hogs and a series of characters below from Rime MSK.

Bombed Out Rooftop

It is not unusual for a rooftop in Los Angeles to host some graffiti.  What is unique about this spot, is the way the rooftop turned into a giant graffiti combo spot.

With bombs for your moms from Boast, Dcet, USO, YEU, High, Jukes and many more.

Dig it.  Stay up!

The Mind is a Prison

A rooftop painting from Leba in downtown Los Angeles showing a prisoner wearing a black and white striped suit and shackles for bracelets.

We can all be prisoners of our own minds.  Check out the girl covering her face in the pic, which seems to go with the theme.

Bozoe - Another Hot Rooftop Spot!

Bozoe hits another hot rooftop spot.  This one is deep in the San Fernando Valley.

Bozoe is arguably LA's most active graffiti writer at the moment, getting up from downtown to Hollywood to the rooftop of your mom's house.

Getting up with Spot DYA NBR.

Graffiti - From the Ground Up to the Rooftop

Slammed out graffiti yard in downtown Los Angeles.  With burners on the walls down low and bombs on the rooftop up top.

Monsieur A - Love Graffiti

Parisian street artist Monsieur A, aka Mr. A, aka Andre, paints a pair of his signature characters atop a rooftop in Los Angeles as part of his ongoing 'Love Graffiti' series.

Bozoe Crossroads

Bozoe isn't at the crossroads, his graffiti is above the Crossroads store with a rooftop bomb on Melrose.

Hanos

Hanos gets up with another rooftop bomb along Melrose.

With shout outs to fellow SYB crew members Movie and KYC.

Teacher x Kiosk - A New Crown Atop the City

Teacher and Kiosk teamed up on a massive new 3d project.  The work brings to life Kiosk's signature geometric shapes, and it is done on a massive scale, making the art look like part of the environment.

Very impressive piece that jumps out onto he street like a crown atop the city.

This can be spotted on Melrose.  Dig it~  Stay up!

Snyder & Teacher - The Classroom as the Street

Here is a guest post from Snyder detailing an awesome morning with Teach on the streets of Melrose:


I arrived early at the Ethos Gallery Fame Yard. As I rolled into the parking lot I glanced up into the day's first rays of light and saw a figure dangling from a ladder easily 24ft. high above the ground. While most of the community was still slapping around their snooze alarm, this artist was hand painting the first base coat of his largest stencil piece to date.

It is not uncommon for a street artist to manage pieces alone. Minutes ago I was balancing on the top step of a paste dripped a-frame ladder in flip flops amongst the early commuter honks of Melrose. Street artists are comfortable doing this, as well as seeing this among their contemporaries, but the sight of Teacher, one of the most technically skilled artists in the game, blew me away.

I instantly offered help, but was politely waved off. With the giant billboard looming just overhead, the rejection seemed justified.

I took a seat and enjoyed a rare exhibition of a carefully honed technique. Though the morning wind was mild, I nervously watched Teacher climb the ladder with the gigantic stencil in hand, reach the top and tape it to the facade. I offered help, but was again met by a polite refusal.

Teacher carefully lined up the piece before climbing back down to the ground. We exchanged pleasantries, caught up on life, and before I knew it, he was back on the ladder.

The organized apparatus of ladders alone was a piece of art. Each ladder extended to a higher level eventually concluding with a not-so-easy hoist onto the high roof above Melrose. A sight only a few have witnessed and one which flip flops unfortunately prevented. Once atop, Teacher enjoyed the view, slapped some stickers and began spraying the top of the piece.

I was surprised how long it took him to spray the entire black layer, but soon related to the comfort of not having to rush through a piece. As he carefully worked his way down the top half and continued the lower half from the ladder, I meandered the yard with my box of trouble adding color to the recently buffed walls, later to find that in between climbing ladders and swapping gigantic stencils, Teacher managed to snap some photos of me in the midst of some of my own shenanigans.

I returned while Teacher was still atop the ladder and was greeted by a neighbor of the yard. A lady in her 50s with a strong accent greeted me as I scouted areas around an empty dumpster. She expressed her admiration for Teacher and his evolving piece. She eagerly offered her driveway to Teacher requesting a portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy. Teacher liked the idea, but I could tell he was focused on one piece at a time.

The last few streaks were sprayed along with some finishing drips. Teacher descended from the ladder, joined me at the back of the parking lot and together we admired his largest finished stencil piece to date.

On this early morning I removed all background knowledge of this LA artist. I looked past his views on the current state of public education and for the moment, I ignored the his journey to bring light to the unfavorable conditions of public educators. I stripped down this educational experience and took it for face value. The classroom was the street. The chalkboard was a 30 foot urban wall and the subject was how to start and finish a fucking gigantic stencil all by yourself!

-Snyder

Dig it!  Snyder is a master of self stencils himself, so to take a student's approach and still enjoy a learning experience like this shows how it is about learning and love of art, not ego.  Great artists and great story!

Click the jump to check out all of the early morning rooftop action

Teacher Hits One of the Most Impressive Legal Walls Around

Teacher claims some prime building top street art real estate with a giant 8 foot JFK 'Teace Peace' stencil on Melrose.

Impressive piece, made especially more so by the janky ladder system which Teacher had to use to monkey up onto the roof.

This was an invitation piece on the side wall of Ethos Gallery, but the sheer skill employed to execute this size and placement with the nothing more than a few ladders and the tools of the trade make this one of the most impressive legal walls that we have ever seen.

Check it out to see more pics.  And also enjoy those unusual aerial view shots looking down on the old-Barracuda parking lot.

Up on the Rooftop

Graffiti bombing action up on the rooftop with hits from Sesh(?) and more.

Dig the spot.  Stay up!

Scom RK

Scom RK hits a Melrose rooftop with a long nosed character.

Drive By Graffiti and Street Art - Los Angeles

M&F has been using the term 'drive-by' to describe when we have combined a lot of posts into one massive feature.  This is another such sampling from all over Los Angeles.  Click the jump for 20+ more pics of art around LA.

^Kicking things off with an Este bomb riding on Melrose with Icy & Sot and JR.