Revok, an LA based and world renowned graffiti/street artist, recently received a 180 day sentence and did time in the Los Angeles County Jail on charges of probation violation and vandalism. Revok was arrested, detained, and sentenced on the basis that he illegally painted a publicly visible surface (never mind the fact that he had the property ownerʼs permission to paint that surface). Mainstream news media headlines have labeled him a “vandal” and conservative journalists have attacked his moral integrity going so far as to refer to him and other street artists as “parasitic.” The heightened reactionary response to Revokʼs art and malignant judgement of his character coincide with his increasing notoriety as one of the most prominent figures on the street art scene.

Upon hearing about Revokʼs sentence I began to think through the complex issues that his case raises. On the one hand, first amendment rights are being eclipsed by Los Angeles authorities which creates a very difficult to navigate democratic process. On the other hand, there are moralists who believe that street art is an illegitimate art form and, thus, will stop at nothing to pervert the publicʼs perception of these artists. The first point is enmeshed in the city of Los Angelesʼ bureaucratic gridlock. The second point is a conservative effort to criminalize a very particular body; one that is socially conscious, one that is aware of the disparities between various publics, and one that may not have mainstream elite credentials. To put it another way, Revok is produced as the quintessential vandal citizen. The institutional technologies that have permitted Revok to be publicly and legally constituted as a vandal have extensive roots.

In 2004, the Los Angeles Department of City Planning drafted a guide book to the earlier sign ordinance which declares that all signs visible in public sites abide by strict codes and be permit approved. Initially, the ordinance was intended to control advertising and curb “visual clutter.” However, that which is classified as signage has come to include murals and, in effect, the sign ordinance has halted the production of public art.

Property owners and artists who violate the ordinance face fines starting at $2,000 going up to $48,000 per day. Moreover, artists can be sentenced up to 180 days in county jail (as was the case with Revok). Angelenos aware of the far reaching ramifications of the sign ordinance have come to refer to it as the mural moratorium.

In response to the Los Angeles mural moratorium, Saber (an internationally respected street artist and personal friend of Revok) hired five jets to skywrite above City Hall in Downtown LA. The spectacle took place on September 19th, 2011 and marked the beginning of Saberʼs protest. After tagging the sky, Saber launched a campaign to “End the Mural Moratorium in Los Angeles.” To date, the artist has secured over 6,000 signatures in his petition via Change.Org

Bringing attention to Revok and Saber is crucial for several reasons. Far from being an attempt to get readers to slip into a manichean divide of “good art” versus “bad art,” I turn to Revok and Saber in an effort to truly engage critical thinking. I seek to remind the public that in a society based on democratic values, street artists are being singled out and denied outlets to express themselves, to work, and to create. The ramifications of criminalizing street art and vilifying street artists is a systemic attempt to homogenize and pacify critical perspectives and to annul controversy. To deprive the public the occasion for difference and for controversy is to close off debate. And to close off debate is to participate in authoritarian practices.

The Los Angeles mural moratorium targets street art in particular and public art in general which means that all murals are at risk. As citizens of a democracy, we should all be concerned because murals tell us something about the world in which we live. They tell us something about the way in which publics and communities are constituted. That particular murals, murals of a socially conscious nature, are removed via sandblasting and whitewashing or are prevented from ever taking shape, is indicative of American societyʼs structural inequalities. The fact that an urban and ethnically diverse city such as Los Angeles is participating in an active elimination of murals reveals which communities are and are not permitted self-determination. In addition, Los Angeles authorities and reactionary figures are placing a hierarchical value on artists and art.

Historically, art has served an educative purpose. If particular artists are criminalized and the opportunity for them to speak through paintings is withheld, communities and all peoples will suffer by not being given the opportunity to think, reflect, debate, and inquire. Communities have long rallied around murals and street art to show solidarity, to address social problems, and to rise up against oppression. Murals and public art have the potential to make visible those who have been consistently marginalized. They have the capacity to speak across generations of social struggle and, as such, function as both cultural and historical artifacts. If mural painting continues to be criminalized, communities, artists, and publics will suffer the consequences by being denied a forum for democratic expression. Is this the future of public art?

—Alana Parpal

Alana Parpal is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of American Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

This article was featured on the Global Grind

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/style/production-vandal-citizen-los-angeles%CA%BCs-assault-street-art#ixzz1cXc0cbwZ

Big artists need big spots and there aren’t many walls in East London as visible as the Mother bar frontage on Old Street. The indigenous lesser-spotted hipster now has a beautifully painted lady surrounded by dreamed koi to drunkenly fall against courtesy of Probs. Dabs and Myla meanwhile turned their trademark retro styles to a top hat wearing sausage and ‘Stay Golden’ over a foundation of stripes by Remi. As always we’ll let the pictures do the talking.

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

El Mac is one of the most highly regarded spraycan-wielding artists in the world. His inimitable contour line covered, photo-realistic portraits are completed to a level of perfection that defies belief. From incredible interpretations of Dutch masters to portraits of Mexican workers, his style and meticulous approach are uniquely his own – even down to chilling cans down with ice to achieve consistency of line.

Mac, and his lovely lady Kim, popped in to pull an all-nighter just before running off to Heathrow to grab a flight back to L.A. The result is spectacular. EndloftheLine got a sofa out, set the timelapse to record, cracked the beers, and enjoyed an intimate audience with a truly special talent. The process of his painting is every bit as fascinating as the final piece and we felt very privileged to have the chance to watch him in action, Although we are paying for it now.

Watch this space for the complete timelapse animation coming soon.