This gem of graffiti art references old-school graff writing style and tagging. It is striking and unusual with its combination…
BOW DOWN TO CONTEMPORARY-ART GREATNESS: YOU MUST SEE THE LUCIO FONTANA EXHIBITION IN L.A., PT. 1
CONQUEST OF THE USELESS: STREET ART BUILDING TAKEOVER IN VENICE
SUSTAINABLE: GIANT CRUMPLED ALUMINUM FOIL MADE INTO GIANT SCULPTURAL OBJECT
Go to your kitchen! GO! Go right now! Grab some aluminum foil. Rip a sheet out of the box. Now,…
GRAFFITI FARM: THE AESTHETIC OF THE URBAN VEGGIE GARDEN
LOVE WILL GRAPHICALLY TEAR US APART: VINTAGE JOY DIVISION CONCERT POSTER
Beautiful graphic design. These type of vintage concert posters have been becoming more popular for a while now. We wonder,…
ED RUSCHA AND L.A.: INSEPARABLE UNTIL NOW!
Artist Ed Ruscha has a deep and longstanding relationship with the city of Los Angeles. It’s where he studied art.…
“BODA BODA MADNESS”: THE COSTUMES OF NAIROBI’S MOTORBIKE TAXI DRIVERS
Driving a motorcycle taxi in Nairobi is a competitive business. To stand out and lure fares, the taxi riders adorn…
BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE: HOW TO SLEEP ON A PLANE, A VISUAL BREAKDOWN
The Washington Post has published an “Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sleeping Positions on a Plane” on its website. The article does…
NO, REALLY, IT’S A WORK OF ART: FROM THE MUNDANE TO THE “HUH?” TO THE SUBLIME
An ordinary-looking fitted bed sheet is draped from a canvas leaning against a white gallery wall. It’s an artwork by…
EPIC CHILD’S PLAY: VENICE BEACH MURAL BRINGS OUT OUR INNER KID
The artist who goes by the name Pilpeled created this large, monochromatic mural on the side of a restaurant along…
AN ART-WORLD GIANT BOWS OUT: R.I.P., CARL BALDESARRI
The world was sad to see the news earlier this week that artist John Baldesarri had passed away last week.…
GO GET ‘EM, TIGER! BIG CAT MURAL MENACES GENTRIFIED HOOD
We came across this rad black-and-white mural of tiger in full stare-down mode in Santa Barbara’s gentrified former industrial area…
SNEAKER PIMPIN’: BUBBLY PINK NIKES INSPIRED BY SPONGE BOB SQUAREPANTS ARE REAL!
Seeing is believing. In this case the truth is revealed by the appearance of this pair of Nike “lifestyle” performance…
HOMAGE OR RIP-OFF? BANKSY X KOONS X ANONYMOUS IN L.A.’s LEAFY WESTSIDE
In a rare feat, a single artwork has managed to simultaneously pay homage to two iconic works of art by…
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT: HOW A RECLUSIVE SUPERTSAR JAPANESE ARTIST’S DOG SCULPTURES POPPED UP AT LACMA
Where in the hell have these delightful Yayoi Kusama dog sculptures been hiding? Currently on view at LACMA in Los…
PRINTED MATTER: THIS MAGAZINE HAS NAILED THE ART OF THE SPINE!
There’s a certain European “interiors” publication has made a unique design for the spine of each issue of its magazine.…
IN TOKYO: ALFRED TEA ROOM AND THE INCESCAPABLE REACH OF AMERICAN CHAINS
Alfred Coffee is a popular, fashionable budding mini coffee-chain empire in Los Angeles with about a half dozen cafes spread…
IN TOKYO: BONSAI TREE HANGING IN SPACE MAKES US QUESTION EVERYTHING
It’s an amusing conceit. In the high-ceilinged foyer of the Barney’s store in Roppongi, Tokyo, an unpotted Japanese bonsai tree…
IN TOKYO: SIGN ON BUILDING LEAVES LITTLE DOUBT AS TO CONTENTS WITHIN
As you approach Little Darling Coffee Roasters for the first time, you’re not sure you’re in the right place. It’s…
IN TOKYO: “KAWAII” ROADSIDE RABBITS DANGEROUSLY DISTRACT DRIVERS, PEDS, WITH INSUFFERABLE CUTENESS
Along one side of this steep hillside street in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighborhood, there’s a guard rail decorated with cute plastic…
IN TOKYO: BUILDING SITE IS TANTALIZING SPOT FOR GIANT GRAFFITI TAG
When the graffiti writers rocked up to this spot for the first time, they must have been salivating, drunk on…
IN TOKYO: GETTING OUR CAFFEINE FIX IN HIPSTER COFFEE HAVEN
In what was once an old, small two-story house next to the elevated train tracks in Tokyo’s Naka-Meguro lives Onibus…
IN TOKYO: THE TYRANNY OF CHOICE AT THE SNACK SHOP
So many choices, so many options, so many variations. Who knew there could be so many nut-based crunchy-delicious Japanese snacks?…
IN TOKYO: POP-UP ARCHITECTURE
IN TOKYO: HOW TO SAY “DON’T PARK YOUR BIKE HERE!” IN A COOL VISUAL WAY
Iconographic sign in the Azabu Juban neighborhood of Tokyo.
IN TOKYO: HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE DESIGN EVOLVED
We briefly swung by Japanese cellphone carrier and telecommunications giant DoCoMo’s current design exhibition in Tokyo that shows how the…
TOKYO, MON AMOUR …
We’re back in Tokyo for the better part of a couple of weeks. There’s always lots to do and see…
FRUITY: WHEN AN ARTIST MEETS LOUIS VUITTON, PART II
Artist Urs Fischer is one of a handful of contemporary artists who have collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a…
SURFY: WHEN AN ARTIST MEETS LOUIS VUITTON, PART I
Another contemporary artist who has collaborated Louis Vuitton on the Capucines Collection handbags is Alex Israel, whose artwork heavily employs…
INTERGALACTIC: SPACE APE MURAL REMINDS US OF OUR HUMBLE ORIGINS
Sometimes it takes a bold yet cognitively dissonant vision to center our thoughts on what’s really important in life, about…
MUCKROCK’S STREETSY PHOTO HOMAGE TO “LUNCH ATOP A SKYSCRAPER”
Mural artist Jules Muck’s (a.k.a., Muckrock) painting on the exterior of The Gym Venice (which is technically in the Venice-adjacent…
SUPER MARIO, TRANSFORMERS, PAINT AND CANVAS
The “canvas” in the headline above is actually eight, large square-shaped canvas panels placed together to form a masterwork by…
MICKEY MOUSE HEADPHONES: YOU DON’T NEED THEM EVEN IF YOU WANT THEM
Beats made these Mickey Mouse headphones for fans of the iconic Disney mouse. Beats headphones, worn here by a colleague,…
STYLE: VINTAGE JAPANESE MOVIE POSTERS AS GRAPHIC TEES
Our friend, and Brazilian fixture of the Los Angeles coffee scene, Mr. Lu recently has been frequently wearing these super…
L.A. HEARTS JONATHAN GOLD: HOW THIS MURAL IS A TRIBUTE TO JOURNALISM AND FOOD
This mural across the facade of a small commercial building along Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles is a tribute…
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: VINTAGE LAND CRUISER FOR SURFERS
If we could choose right here, right now, any car in the world as our go-to surf wagon, it would…
THE PASSING OF A FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY MASTER: RIP PETER LINDBERG
Peter Lindberg, the German fashion photographer whose work ushered in the era of the “super model,” died this past Tuesday.…
DARK MATTERS: WHY BMW USED THE BLACKEST BLACK ON ITS NEW CAR
German auto-manufacturer BMW recently unveiled a car painted in the blackest black hue in the color spectrum. This black is…
DOLLA DOLLA BILLS YO!
Artist Brenna Youngblood’s wry painting titled “3 Dollar Bill (Dirty Money)” is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art…
GROUNDBREAKING: ARTIST XU ZHEN’S “IN JUST A BLINK OF AN EYE” WILL MAKE YOU SAY “STUNNING!”
We’re a bit world-weary at times about art. Dare we say, a bit cynical, even. We’ve seen so much and…
FASCINATING NY TIMES’ REPORT ON DEATH OF “MAN WHO PAINTED MAO”
The recently passed Chinese artist Wang Guodong is not well-known name in the art world. For decades and practically the…
CAFFEINATION: POUR OVER MAGAZINE, AN ARTSY INDIE MAG FOR COFFEE-FUELED TIMES
Coffee is so central to contemporary daily life for millions — if not billions — of people all over the…
“WHAT’S GOING ON” MAKES US WONDER WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON
Late African-American artist Barkley Hendricks‘s photo-realistic painting titled “What’s Going On” is a beguiling image. The artwork is a group…
THIS WAS LUNCH AND IT WAS FREAKIN’ DELICIOUS
Sage-and-cheddar croissant with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds and paired with an almond-milk cappuccino at The Boy and The…
REVISITING THE MESMERIZING AND LANDMARK “METROPOLIS II”
Like an incredible childhood fantasy made real, “Metropolis II” at LACMA comes to life with the sound of whirring and…
TERRIFYING: UN-COMMISSIONED STREET ART APPEARS IN OTHERWISE GRAFFITI-FREE SECTION OF AFFLUENT BEACH TOWN
This awesome wheat-paste street art is by the graffiti artist who goes by the moniker “T-Smoke TCF” in Ocean Park,…
SPITEFUL COLORS: HOW ONE ARTIST THUMBED NOSE AT A MAJOR ART MUSEUM’S TRADITION
Artist Yunhee Min’s site-specific floor mural for Hammer Projects takes center stage at the Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles.…
SEX AND WAR: “UNKNOWN SOLDIER” EVOKES ANONYMOUS GOOD TIMES
Artist Sarah Lucas emerged in the 1990s as a so-called “YBA” (“Young British Artists”), one of a generation of British…
FOOD AS DECOR: THE “WALL OF DONUTS” MAKES US “HANGRY”
Do you ever see something really yummy when you’re hungry and get “hangry”? “Yes,” you say? Yes, you do? We…
GOING BIGGER: “LOVE BERTO” DOMINATES FAUX-URBAN LANDSCAPE IN L.A.
Here’s another one of these abstract, geometric murals by the artist Berto, who usually signs his work “LoveBerto.” His massive…
D.I.Y. A.F.: WHEN GRAFFITI SERVES THE PUBLIC GOOD
This dumpster at a popular beach in Southern California is covered with graffiti and stickers. The meaning of the graffiti…
“OH, GREEN WORLD!”: THE TOWER OF PLANTS SHOCKS CITY DWELLERS WITH VISION OF VERDANT PARADISE
The plant-covered structure pictured here take the term “green building” to another level. The tower is one among several buildings…
AMONG THE STELLAS, VOL. 3
We recently went to see a small but formidable collection of mostly paintings and some sculptural artwork by the iconic…
AMONG THE STELLAS, VOL. 2
And here’s another one, this one one of Frank Stella’s iconic minimal masterpieces.
AMONG THE STELLAS, VOL. 1
And here are some more Frank Stella paintings at LACMA in Los Angeles.
GRAFFITI ART IN YARN
GUILTY PLEASURE: TERRACE HOUSE
We’ve stumbled upon a new obsession the past few months. This in addition to those our other obsessions regular readers…
CATCHING THE “WAVE OF MATERIALS”: VIEWING ZHU JINSHI’S EPIC PAPER TUBE, DUDE!
Chinese artist Zhu Jinshi’s massive art installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (or LACMA) is a giant,…
MESMERIZING: SHORT-VIDEO “MULTIVERSE” CAPTURES THE SCOOTER-JAMMED TAIPEI
The short film “Multiverse” by Hiroshi Kondo is a mesmerizing visual document of the overwhelming scooter traffic in Taipei. The…
R.I.P. “ARCHITECTURE OF DENSITY” PHOTOGRAPHER MICHAEL WOLF
Rest In Peace, Michael Wolf. It was reported Monday that the Hong Kong-based German photographer had died at 65 years…
COLOR LOVER: THE SUPER-RAD MURALS OF ALBERONERO
We’ve never heard of Alberonero. Have you? No? We didn’t think so. But now we have, and you have, too.…
DIGITALISM: LACMA LAUNCHES A NEW WEBSITE AND IT’S ABOUT F***ING TIME
Seriously, it took a while, but here it is, the new website of the esteemed Los Angeles County Museum of…
SICK: RED PATENT-LEATHER ADIDAS
ART ON THE BEACH
“TWO GUNS” AND THE LONG OBSCURITY OF T.C. CANNON
ASTRONAUT IN SAMO
THAT MYSTERIOUS RED SCULPTURE
STREET ART HIJACK OF TRAFFIC-SIGN
WHY “FRESH GASOLINE” IS A BLOWN-UP AND EVIL MICROSCOPIC MONSTER
THE DESIGN RADNESS OF ARTIST DAVE DANZARA
REALLY? THE “GREATEST DRAWING OF ALL TIME”?
ARTIST RAYMOND DUNLAP’S STUNNING “AWAKE OF THE WHALES”
Raymond Dunlap’s “Awake of the Whales” is a high-water mark in the Houston, Texas-based artist’s two-decades of output. It’s one…
WHAT IF THE BAUHAUS DESIGNED LOGOS FOR TODAY’S MOST POPULAR GLOBAL BRANDS …
Yes, what if that distinct, massively influential, totally original, modern, German-born design philosophy and aesthetic was applied to some of the best…
HAS L.A. ECLIPSED N.Y.C. AS THE NEW GLOBAL CAPITAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART?
Yeah, probably. That the question is even being asking is telling in and of itself. It’s still early days in…
OUR NEW ALOHA DEATH TUNE! “BEACH CONDO” AVAILABLE TO LISTEN NOW
Our band Aloha Death has released a fresh new tune! It’s titled “Beach Condo.” You can stream it or download it now on Apple Music / iTunes, Spotify, YouTube and almost everywhere! Or give it…
OUR RE-MASTERED “SEA OF FOG” RELEASED WITH NEW ARTWORK! AVAILABLE NOW!
As part of Global Graphica’s ongoing electronic music project Aloha Death, we’ve released a re-mastered version of our first tune,…
THE SUBLIME MANIPULATOR: THE ART OF MATTHEW STONE
British artist Matthew Stone‘s paintings are not really paintings. His epic images look like paintings but look closely at the…
A MADMAN RETIRES: THE MAN BEHIND APPLE’S ICONIC COMMERCIALS CALLS IT QUITS!
Lee Clow announced his retirement last week. Who? What? Who again? Ok, so you might not know his name —…
MINIMALISM FOR $95,000.00!
This small smoked-glass cube by artist Larry Bell is a classic of minimalism. And now it can be yours for…
GO GET ‘EM TIGER! FEROCIOUS FELINE STALKS URBAN JUNGLE!
This street art mural of a tiger in Los Angeles is cleverly placed behind two dumpsters. The effect is of…
“TOKYO”
RESPECT THE HUSTLE
Mr. D. At the agency office in Los Angeles with another one of his awesome typographic tee shirt. This one…
STYLE ICON & DESIGNER KARL LAGERFELD DIES
We woke this Tuesday morning to the news of the passing of a fashion legend. Karl Lagerfeld died after being…
WHY DO WE NEED 230 NEW EMOJI?
We need more emojis, and we need these 230 newly released emojis pictured above. Why? Because the previous full set…
FAKE NEWS? YOU CAN’T MAKE UP THIS HEADLINE!
God bless the New York Post. Love it or hate or both, as many New Yorkers do, amusing, pun-filled headlines…
THE ANTHONY BOURDAIN MURAL
The much-beloved American writer, television show presenter, foodie and former chef Anthony Bourdain passed away in June last year in…
UNVEILED! A NEWER MoMA TO RE-OPEN IN FALL 2019!
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is set to close for four months starting in June for the…
DEATH STARES: WHEN CONTEMPORARY ART DARES YOU TO BLINK!
This artwork by artist Urs Fischer’s boldly stares at you with an equally bolder collage of photographic and graphical colors…
MYSTERY MEAT: WHEN YOUR BASIC BURGER COMES TO LIFE!
ACCIDENT OR INSPIRATION: DID THIS ARTIST CREATE A MASTERPIECE BY SPILLING RED WINE AND BEET SALAD ON A CANVAS?
It’s a question you have to ask, right? Look at this painting! It’s a masterpiece of post-modern art. The painting…
DYING TO KNOW: IS THE “THE BLUE WHALE” THE POSTER CHILD OF LATE MODERNISM?
Is this building the poster child for late-modernism? No, it isn’t. But maybe it should be. It’s certainly one of…
DUDE, LET’S GET “ANTI-HIGH” WITH RI RI!
A colleague recently rocked this rad pullover hoodie with the words “Anti-High” on the front. On the back are black-and-white…
CLASSIC, VINTAGE, CREEPY AF VAN
We saw this van parked in the far corner of the sprawling parking lot at our gym in Los Angeles…
EPIC! MARK BRADFORD’S “160 PORTRAIT TONE”
This epic painting is by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford. Its title is “160 Portrait Tone.” LACMA is showing the…
FASHION FORWARD: DOPEY DENIM JACKET
Spotted in the wild at a cafe in Los Angele, this denim jacket with cartoon images from the classic Disney…
YOU HAD US AT “HELLO…”
The artist Roy Lichtenstein is a giant of post-modern art, and, more precisely, the pop-art era of the 1960s. His…
ESSENTIAL LIGHT BEDTIME READING
The latest issues of the magazines Monocle, the Surfer’s Journal, and — most exciting — Juxtapoz with photo of recent…
“NOH”
“Noh” is a poster designed by Los Angeles-based Japanese designer Takenobu Igarashi. Using a mix of Roman and Japanese characters,…
“MIDNIGHT RUSH” IS HERE!
We’ve just released an tune as part of our electronic music project called Aloha Death. The new song is called…
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