Risky's - Crew
The street art scene in Los Angeles has blown up—so much so that artists from around the world feel compelled to visit and leave their mark on the city. While we have some huge stunners that have been put up over the past few years (and are still standing!) from artists like Cyrcle and Woodkid in Hollywood and How & Nosm and Dabs & Myla in downtown L.A., there are some newer ones over the last year that have caught our attention.
Some of them are colorful portrait murals from the likes of Tristan Eaton and pop art from England’s D*Face. And then there are the ones with short lifespans like WRDSMITH’s wheatpastes with typewriter notes of inspiration and Pablo Delgado’s tiny, tiny murals of people popping up where you least expect them.
Ogabel
“OG Abel” as many of us know him by, is one of Southern California’s most successful Artists. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles on 92nd St between Hoover and Figueroa. An area infested with crime, gangs and violence.
Sirens, gunshots and police helicopters were a permanent ambiance to his young life. Its a place where most kids arm themselves at an early age for protection. For him, art was his refuge and his weapon of choice was the spray paint can. It became an escape from all the hardships surrounding him throughout his youth. It helped him avert the gang lifestyle and becoming another victim of the streets of Los Angeles.
Abel’s unique style is sought out by many. His early passion for graffiti as well as his present mediums of choice have spread his art throughout the globe like a Southern California wild fire.
His perseverance and dedication to his art have mapped out a way for him to achieve what many of us are looking for, The American Dream. And he is most definately on his way to become a titan of the art world
Jim “TAZ” Evans
Artist Jim “TAZ” Evans, began his career in the overheated San Francisco underground rock scene. He has illustrated comics, album covers, rock and film posters, appeared in numerous books, and has expanded his work through exhibiting fine art and limited editions. Evans is the founder of the TAZ collective, which is responsible for hundreds of posters, album covers, and rock ephemera. TAZ has turned out numerous posters for bands like the Foo Fighters, U2, Oasis, Porno for Pyros, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, L7, Ramones, Rage Against the Machine, Wu Tang Clan, Metallica, and Nine Inch Nails. TAZ has also done several high-profile album sleeves for Beastie Boys, Beck, Aerosmith, House of Pain, and Neil Young. Recent posters and limited editions have included, Anderson Paak, the Pixies, Blink-182, M.I.A., 311, and the Sex Pistols. Evans / TAZ work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide.
Sonny Boy
Sonny Boy was born & raised in Los Angeles. He has been a professional artist since 2004. He started off his career in the Southern California custom culture scene where he has done everything from custom painting, motorcycles & cars with pinstriping, lettering & gold leaf, to building motorcycles. In between painting motorcycles he spent his time learning the art of traditional lettering & sign painting and has incorporated those techniques into his style of art on murals, logo design and fine art. In 2015, he became the newest member of the West Coast Artist crew. In 2019 he and his fiancé Nicole opened NicSon Mercantile, in Highland Park Los Angeles. An art focused retail store that is curated with unique and obscure merchandise and apparel from local artists and makers.
CES
Robert Provenzano, professionally known as CES, is an American artist. He is a fifth generation New York City leader of the streamlined and aerodynamic ‘wildstyle’, an alphabetic reconfiguration in contemporary graffiti art. Over the past thirty years, his innovative style and ideas have influenced the next generations of writers from all over the world.
Born in Westchester County, New York in 1970, CES began drawing at age 5, after a first day of school activity in his kindergarten classroom highlighted his talents. By the age of 13, he was already completely infatuated with the entire graffiti culture.
CES, also known as Wish4, has collaborated with brands like Rock The Bells, Puma, Adidas, Vans, Seamless, Marriott Bon Voy, T-Mobile, Nickelodeon, Turner Broadcasting, The New York Knicks, The National Basketball Association, Topps Trading Cards and Major League Baseball.
His work has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, The Source, Craines New York, Mass Appeal, Showtime, Complex, Juxtapoz, as well as the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap.
Currently, CES is working on several new works for upcoming exhibitions in Shanghai and London.