Columbus vs. The Indians

Today's piece from Bandit is entitled 'Columbus vs. The Indians'.  Columbus brought the guns while the Indians brought the corn.

Pasted up on a dumpster in downtown LA.

Bandit and Kizh Nation

Bandit gets up on Day 3 of his month long series tributing Native Americans. This piece says 'Kizh Nation Shall Rise' and it features Toypurina, a female tribal war hero and the only native woman to lead a revolt against the Spanish.

Pasted up in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles.

Always dig strong female role models. Stay up!

Bandit -- Indian Zombies Never Die

Bandit gets up another hand painted paster during November. This one was painted with water colors and it is a late Halloween themed paster entitled 'Indian Zombies Never Die'.

Bandit - Warriors of the Art World

In celebration of Native American Month in November, Bandit aims to put up a new piece every day.

His first piece is called Warriors of the Art World, and it says 'We are not the rockstars of the art world. We are the warriors of the art world.

As for not being rockstars, M&F says speak for yourself! Lol. J/k. The line is something that this blog coined because we do believe that street artists are the rock stars of the art world. But we also agree that the best street artists are also warriors.

So stay up on the streets! Whether you are a rockstar or a warrior. Or, both~

Today is Columbus Day, But Not Everyone is Celebrating

Today is Columbus Day, but not everyone is celebrating.

Bandit got up along a freeway in Southern California with a new piece aimed at questioning Columbus Day as a National Holiday.

Bandit got up with two separate pieces.  One is a banner of an Indian on horseback discovering two teepee's on fire.  It says '9/11 - 10/12??? Fourteen Hundred Ninety Two . . . . Indians, He Spared a Few'.  Bandit says it is meant to show how Columbus slaughtered and tortured Indians when he discovered America.

The other banner shows two teepee's on fire and the 'Never Forget' tagline is meant to compare what happened to the Indians when Columbus arrived was kind of like a terrorist attack.

Apparently, these pieces struck a nerve with the authorities, and they were taken down by the police an hour after being posted.

Click the link for more pics

Bandit & Wild Life

Bandit teamed up with fellow street artist Wild Life to put up a teepee installation.

Bandit describes his project saying 'We made a teepee and painted it as the native Americans would have in the plains. We then bombed it making the statement of how we fucked over the Indians with their land, water rights, etc. we place it by the arts district in the abandoned dirt field which we plan to make a sign saying "District Reservation" we also plan to add more teepees or other installs at this location.'

Dig the street art with a purpose.

Stay up!

Bandit in Navajo Country

Bandit continues on his Southwest street art tour.

This latest piece was put up in Durango, Colorado.  The artwork features a Navajo Indian man named Nestaga Hatali.  It is placed on an old abandoned Navajo stand shack.

So far Bandit has gotten up in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.  Stay up!

Click the jump for a deeper look, and also some pics of street art around Durango.

Bandit Continues Southwest Tour

Bandit continues on his street art tour through the Southwest United States with a special focus on the Native American Reservations.

Bandit just visited and placed some art on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, as well as the Jemez reservation in New Mexico.

The above pic features an Apache warrior applying war paint to his face, and it is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There are multiple spots from Bandit in this post.  And, as an extra bonus, this feature also includes some pictures of the local street art flavor of the area.  Bandit reports that there is a lot of art, but also a lot of police, and its a hot spot to get up!

Click the jump to check it all out.

Bandit - Native American Street Art Tour Across the Southwest US

Bandit just set out on a cross country road trip throughout the Southwest United States.  Bandit's goal is to put up Native American themed street art at some reservations throughout the area.

Here are the first spots Bandit has visited, and as it is clear from the pics, the art is a hit!  (Love the shots of the kids watching the install and nervously holding to each other for support!) Click the jump to check out the pics from multiple locations near the North rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Also notice the Native American themed version of the Statue of Liberty pasted on the dumpster.

Dig it.  Stay up!

Bandit - The Truth Shall Set You Free

Bandit paints a brand new mural in downtown as a tribute piece to the Kizh-Gabrieleno Indian Tribe, who are the native Angelenos.  The piece is entitled 'The Truth Shall Set You Free' and it features a portrait of Ernie Salas who is the spiritual leader of the Kizh Tribe.  The Kizh Tribe is currently seeking federal recognition.

This piece was painted as an unsanctioned piece on Winston St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Dig it.  Stay free.  Stay true.  And stay up!~

The First Angelinos

Bandit is introducing a new series tributing Native American culture.  This new piece is dedicated to the Kizh-Gabrieleno band of Indians.  Their tribe dates back to before Columbus landed on the Americas.  Indeed, these are the first Angelinos.

Bandit's piece is in the Kizh language it means 'my journey, joined together'.  This piece is located on Winston Street in downtown Los Angeles, just up the street from Indian Alley.

Stay up, to the 1st Angelinos!

Only When the Last Tree Has Died

A hand painted piece from Bandit with a Native American theme pasted in North East LA.  There is a quote written on it saying "Only when the last tree thas died, the last river been poisoned, and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money".

Seriously, we might be getting close to this doomsday scenario.  There are still trees and fish around, but is there a single river in America that has not been poisoned?

Heed the words.  And stay up~

Bandit - Lust

Bandit continues on with his hand painted portrait series of the 7 Deadly Sins.

Here is 'Lust', pasted up on York St. in Los Angeles.

The Medium Must Match the Message

An awesome street art hot spot in Silverlake.  At the bottom of Bamp's giant mug shot is a tiny 8.5x11 piece of paper that says 'Don't you dare for one more second surround yourself with people who are not aware of the greatness that you are'.

Love the quote.  And another good one (paraphrased) says that 'We judge other people by their actions, but we estimate ourselves by our potential'.  No doubt.  Its true.  We judge others based on what we see, but we judge ourselves based on what we know we are capable of.

Think the tiny paster is from Leopoldo.  No doubt there is greatness, and we look forward to seeing more of it on the streets.  But the medium should match the message, and if it were presented differently, people will respond to it differently.  Anyway, dig the concept and stay up!

Joined by street art from Bamp, Sonay, Bandit, Fame, Phylo TSF, and more, like the half covered BleepBloop still says.

Bandit's 7 Deadly Sins - Wrath

Bandit is working on a street art project working on the 7 Deadly Sins.

Here is a Hitler themed paster talking about 'Wrath'.

Getting up, and getting watched next to Teacher's NSA camera on Melrose.

Bandit - Never Shall Their Memories Fade Away

Bandit puts up a Memorial Day freeway tribute to all the fallen soldiers who have died serving this great country.

This piece is riding in Bandit's home town of San Clemente.  Bandit has been planning this piece for a long time, and it is very cool to see street art used in a way that gives back to society like this.

Dig it.  Stay up, and never let their memories fade away~

With Their Handcuffs - They Try to Shut Us Up

A new piece from Bandit featuring a shackled angel with wings.

The angel is wearing handcuffs, which are opportune in correlation to Bandit's getting chased by the police after putting this piece up in downtown Los Angeles.

Bandit - Three Feathers Mean Loyalty

New piece from Bandit going up in downtown Los Angeles.

Bandit says that the three feathers represent his loyalty and commitment for some special people in his life.

Dig it~

Teaching Graffiti at the LA Conservation Corp.

Bandit and Teacher visited the LA Conservation Corp. to give a demonstration on graffiti, stenciling, and street art techniques.

The LA Conservation Corp. is kind of a detention center for kids who get into trouble, and Teacher joked from the handstyle of some students that day that it was clear what they got into trouble for.

This session from Bandit and Teacher demonstrated how to make a stencil, and the goal is to help these kids find a way to channel their passion for art, and grow from 'vandalism' into an art career.

Dig it~  What an awesome way to help kids out.  Kids need more opportunities, and less punishments, and its great that Bandit and Teacher provided an opportunity through the some punishment.

Click the jump for more action shots from the LA Conservation Corp.  Stay up!

Call Me for Action

A lot of action getting it on at this classic spot along Melrose.

With pieces from Bandit, The Ceremonies, Why Denmark is Broke with #Newspeak, Nomatter Whatness, CMYK saying 'Call Me', and more.

Click the jump for a huge 10+ pictorial with all kinds of close ups