Brentwood is a verdant, upscale neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles. It’s filled with mansions and luxury condos and…
WHAT HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE: THE MINIMALIST ESPRESSO BAR
This is probably the most minimalist coffee-making/-serving set-up we’ve seen. It’s in the courtyard of the Hammer Museum of art…
DESIGN WTF: THE RETRO-FUTURE WANTS ITS JUNK BACK!
Hey, the retro-future is calling. We’re guessing from sometime between 1973 and ‘79. It wants its junk back including this…
SHEPARD FAIREY IS EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO BE
We were in Silver Lake, in Los Angeles, stopping by a popular espresso bar for a quick coffee, driving around…
FROM OUR BOOKSHELF: “RACKGAKI” DOCUMENTS AN ERA OF JAPANESE GRAFFITI ART
It’s time again to randomly browse our bookshelves at HQ and re-discover a forgotten coffee-table tome. Today we’ve pulled out…
STREETSY: ARTWORK ON A BILLBOARD – WHEN CAPITALISM AND ART MAKE A BABY
Capitalism and art. They’re not the best of friends. Sometimes they look at each other with roiling contempt. The fact…
THE STUNNING PHOTOS OF SLAIN AFGHAN PHOTOJOURNALIST SHAH MARAI
Agence-France Presse photojournalist Shah Marai was among those killed by two suicide bombers in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. Marai’s photos,…
THE CUTENESS! STENCIL STREET ART APPEALS TO BASE EMOTIONS
Ah, so cuuuuuuuuuuuuute! This street art in Venice, Los Angeles, depicts an almost life-sized, stenciled, spray-painted image of a man…
ACCIDENTAL STYLE TRENDS: MATCHING NATURE WITH FASHION
There this. And also this. And then there’s this too.
STREET ART HOMAGE COLLAGE TO PHYSICS GENIUS
Why? Just ‘cause, we speculate. So many questions here: Why the crown? Why the Supreme pants? Why the NASA jacket?…
NEW TUNE BY THE BAND ALOHA DEATH!
That’s us! Our electronic music project — and now band — Aloha Death have just a released a new tune.…
BRUTALISTS IN LEGOLAND!
You, savvy reader, are probably a fan of architecture. If not of architecture in and of itself, then perhaps as…
HAVE WE REACHED “PEAK” YAYOI KUSAMA?
We saw this cool street-artsy mural portrait of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in Santa Barbara, California, while visiting there…
MINIMALISM 101: “WHITE” PAINTINGS … OR “I COULD DO THAT!”
This video on Vox does a great job of explaining so-called “white” paintings by artists like Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin,…
SO EXTRA! SUPER STREETSY ALL-STAR STREET ART
Talk about piling on. We snapped this pic in the back alley (are there other kinds?) than runs behind row…
WHEN TOWN PRIDE GOES ALL-IN ON MURAL ART
ARCHITORTURE: WHEN DESIGN WENT GOOGIE-EYED
Architectural styles are subject to the tastes, fashion and trends of a given era. Some architecture stands the test of…
QUIZZICAL: ART MUSEUM OR HOME DEPOT?
It’s quiz times once again, savvy readers! Look at these photos. Is this a Home Depot or an art museum?…
LOLS: WILL FERRELL & JOEL MCHALE VISIT CONCEPTUAL ART EXHIBITION, HILARITY ENSUES
This is brilliant. In this short promotional video for the Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles, actor-comedians Will Ferrell…
MOVIES: CLIPS RELEASED FROM UPCOMING DOCUMENTARY ON DESIGN GOD DIETER RAMS
Documentary filmmaker and producer Gary Hustwit has a new film about German designer Dieter Rams coming out in 2018,…
STREETSY: IS NEW BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTO STREET ART BY JR OR JR WANNABE?
Hey, you know JR, right? The French street artist who has become something of a worldwide phenom over the past…
GOOD TIMES: IN PRAISE OF MARKETING CO-OPTING STREET ART
NEEDS: A PALM TREE WEARING SUNGLASSES, RIDING A SKATEBOARD
Needs. We all have them. And who doesn’t need a “shady palm.” That is, a palm that just doesn’t provide…
ARCHITORTURE: PERFORMING ARTS VENUE GOES POST-POST-MODERN
PUMPIN’: STREET ART WITH LOTS OF HEART
We love coffee. You probably do too. But we REALLY love coffee. It’s actually kind of a problem, and, though…
“FOREVER” … FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY
UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS: AWESOME “BUMBLE BEE LOVES YOU” INVADES OFFICE
We stumbled upon this commissioned mural by the Los Angeles-based artist who goes by the moniker “Bumble Bee Loves You”…
“I WANT A PRESIDENT”
Artist Zoe Leonard’s 2016 public art project under the Standard Hotel building on the High Line in New York City…
PRINTED MATTER: THE RETURN OF THE AWESOME CRAPPY ‘ZINE
“Can’t Steal Our Vibe” is a lo-fi, black-and-white ‘zine published by Lone Wolfs (sic) Objets de Surf, a surf brand…
APPROPRIATION: CLOTHING STORE MINES ‘80s L.A. SURF CULTURE TO HELP SELL DENIM
Junk Food Clothing and Levi’s, the iconic purveyor of denim jeans, had collaborated on a pop-up concept store in Venice,…
STREETSY: MORE STREET ART FROM DEEP VENICE
POST-MODERN: PAINTING TITLED “THE ROSE” IS KIND OF LIKE ACTUAL IMAGE OF ROSE
We joke a bit here with the headline, gentle reader. But seriously, this painting by American artist Cy Twombly is…
NEWS FLASH: “SPANTO IS A ‘KOOK’” AND OTHER MYSTERIES OF DEEP VENICE!
Sooooooo … Spanto is a Kook. “Who is Spanto? Why is he a kook?” you ask, savvy reader. These are…
ANIMALISTIC: IS THERE NO GIANT STAINLESS STEEL BALLOON ANIMAL JEFF KOONS WON’T MAKE?
BTW: WE’RE ON INSTAGRAM! FOLLOW US!
By the way, as some of our savviest readers have discovered, we’re on Instagram. In fact we’ve been there for…
OVER THE INFLUENCE: EPIC VHILS x SHEPARD FAIREY COLLABO STREET ART
Greater than the sum of its parts, this mural is an awesome collaboration by the Portuguese artist Alexandre Manuel Dias…
YOU’RE SO RETRO: 8-BIT IMAGES OF YOUR FAVORITE PEAK TV-ERA SHOWS
Artist Gustavo Viselner is a so-called “pixel artist,” and he’s brilliant. The artist has made a name for himself by…
THE ROCK: ARTIST PUTS CONTEMPORARY SPIN ON MILLENNIA-OLD CHINESE ART FORM
VANDALISM: UPSCALE CONSERVATIVE CALIFORNIA TOWN HAS GRAFFITI “ART”
There’s graffiti art in Santa Barbara, California. Pictured here is evidence in the form of a large graffiti throw-up in…
SIGN OF THE TIMES: LAIDBACK SURFER HAND GESTURE GETS A SPICY UPDATE
“Shaka” or “Shaka, brah!” Maybe you’ve heard this expression. Maybe you’ve uttered those words in earnest salutation or ironically. Maybe…
STYLE: ALL THE OTHER KIDS WITH THE PUMPED-UP KICKS
It’s not news that a pair or two or three or 50 of fresh sneakers is an essential part of…
CURRENT EVENTS: RETRO ARCADE-STYLE WEB VIDEO GAME “THOUGHTS & PRAYERS” POKES FUN AT GUN CONTROL AND MEDIA IN AMERICA
In light of recent news events in the United States and yet another deadly and senseless mass-shooting at a school,…
PROJECTS: OUR BAND ALOHA DEATH HAS A NEW TUNE CALLED “SHIBUYA”
One of our current projects here at Global Graphic is a music collaboration turned band called Aloha Death. We’ve just released…
ICONIC: OFFICIAL PORTRAITS OF BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA UNVEILED
The official portraits of former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama we’re unveiled Monday at the National…
KICKS: GIANT FOOT STICKING OUT FROM ROOF OF HOLLYWOOD STORE “TOO INSTAGRAMMABLE”
Can something be too Instagrammable? That is the question, savvy reader. Our initial thought is, “Yes, yes something can be.…
ROCKSTAR PAVEMENT STENCIL
BLACK AND WHITE: ABSTRACT ZIG ZAG PATTERN ON ROLLER SHUTTER “TRIPPY AF”
LEGENDARY: GODDAMMIT DON’T ASK ARTIST JASPER JOHNS WHAT HIS ARTWORK MEANS — NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS!
One of modern art’s greatest painters and arguably America’s greatest living artist, Jasper Johns is a giant of the contemporary…
CAPITALISM 101: ICYMI … EVERY AD IS A TIDE AD!
In case you missed it, one of the best — if not the best — TV commercial from the broadcast…
SIZE MATTERS: EPIC 82-FOOT LONG MURAKAMI PAINTING STEALS SPACE FROM OTHER ARTISTS
This massive painting by Japan’s most successful and well-known contemporary artist Takashi Murakami is displayed in the primest spot of…
WILDLIFE: PUBLIC ARTWORK CALLS ON VIEWERS TO SUPPORT “URBAN WILDLIFE”
PAINTERLY: SARAH CAIN’S MASSIVE MURAL AT ICA FILLS EMPTY DEAD SPACE
“Now I’m Going to Tell You Everything” is the title of this site-mural at the recently opened Institute of Contemporary…
LOVESICK: ANOTHER “BLEEDING HEARTS” MURAL REMINDS US THAT LOVE IS … BOTH RAPTUROUS MUSE AND A MONSTROUS BITCH?
SIDE HUSTLE: WE’RE IN A BAND CALLED “ALOHA DEATH”
The cat’s out of the bag! It’s true, some of the Global Graphica squad are musicians. In fact, they (we)…
DRIVEN TO ABSTRACTION: THE INCREDIBLE DEPTH OF ELLEN GALLAGHER’S “BLACK” PAINTINGS
These paintings by artist Ellen Gallagher speak to us in deep, immediate, profound ways. The black abstractions of these canvases…
CAPTURED: PHOTOGRAPHER’S PIX OF COLLEGE CLASSMATES THEN AND NOW
The New Yorker magazine has a fascinating photo essay in its Photobooth series of photographer Josephine Sittenfeld’s then-and-now “Reunion” images.…
POLITICAL FASHION: “OBA MAO” T-SHIRT IN CHINA
The graphic on this t-shirt is a cute mashup of one of modern China’s greatest political leaders Mao Zedong (sometimes…
HAIRY: WHEN YOUR PERSONAL MODE OF TRANSPORT NEEDS A HAIRCUT
You are looking at this photo and you’re thinking “WTF?” Maybe you’re even mouthing the letters as you think them,…
PRETTY IN PINK: ON THE SCENE AT THE PAUL SMITH “PINK WALL”
Swamped by a preening horde posing for carefully-crafted, eye-catching seflies, the parking lot at the Los Angeles store of U.K.…
TRUE CRIME: STREET ARTIST “APPROPRIATES” ICONIC IMAGE OF FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER
EXPOSED: THE STARBUCKS LOGO HAS A MAJOR DESIGN “FLAW,” BILLIONS AFFECTED, ETC.
Yes, savvy reader, it’s true. Almost everybody’s favorite Seattle, Washington-based, international speciality-coffee chain has a design flaw in its familiar,…
CULTURE: DOES WATCHING SURF FILM “FREE JAZZ VEIN” UP YOUR OH-SO-RETRO STREET CRED?
The answer, savvy reader, is “No, no it won’t.” Whatever level of individual street cred one has will not be…
RADICAL: COCA-COLA CHANGES ITS TYPEFACE, BILLIONS AFFECTED
This shit for real, y’all. Coca-Cola, the global mega-brand and carbonated soft drink, is getting a slightly new look. It’s…
CITY LIFE: BIRD MURAL RUINS OTHERWISE COLD, SLEEK, OVERPRICED MINIMALIST CONDO & PERFECTIONIST LIFESTYLE
Text by Van Corsa Imagine. You’ve made it. Went to school. Got a job in a tech start-up. Paid off…
BROMANCE: THAT TIME WHEN MICHAEL AND BUBBLES WERE BESTIES
In 1988, the artist Jeff Koons created the brilliant porcelain sculptural object “Michael and Bubbles,” a kitschy, super-sized 3D depiction…
LUST: A VISIT TO “LONE WOLFS’” LOS ANGELES MUSIC STUDIO
The hyper-aesthetically single-minded and stylistically dialed-in guys who started Lone Wolfs (sic), a surf shop and brand in Los Angeles,…
LOVE: ELI BROAD’S DECADES-LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH BASQUIAT
Among the vast art collection of billionaire businessman, philanthropist and art collector Eli Broad is a large collection of artworks…
SIZE MATTERS: FRENCH STREET ARTIST GOES BIG, AVOIDS GOING HOME
BAD INFLUENCE: WHEN RESTAURANT’S AWESOME ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN MAKES FOOD TASTE BETTER
LOST & FOUND: TOY FIGURES OF ANGRY EDM DJs
During our annual Mew Year’s House-cleaning ritual we uncovered these two toy mini-figures of DJs. We love (and are slightly…
KARMA: WHEN YOUR STORE GETTING ROBBED RESULTS IN CLEVER SLOGAN FOR YOUR BRAND
CONTEMPORARY ART: GIANT FURNITURE FORCES MUSEUM VISITORS TO QUESTION SANITY
ACCIDENTAL MINIMALISM AT ACNE STUDIOS
The exterior of the Los Angeles concept store of Swedish clothing brand Acne is a peach hue of painted and…
SCARY MONSTERS: COMIC MURAL AT VARDAGEN SUGGESTS DARK UNDERLYING ISSUES
CLICHE UPDATE: YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SURFBOARD AS DECOR
A few months ago we posted on the phenomena of shops and restaurants upgrading their space with the simple act…
GRAPHIC DESIGN X MATCHES — LIT AF!!!
Our annual New Year’s ritual of doing some house cleaning and organizing, throwing things out and making room for all…
CAPITALISM: JEFF KOONS AND LOUIS VUITTON MAKE A BABY BUNNY
The unthinkable has happened. Yes, savvy reader, bona fide post-modern rockstar artist and art-world darling Jeff Koons has collaborated with…
RETAIL DESIGN: WHEN YOUR “SHOPPING EXPERIENCE” IS A WORKING GARAGE FOR MOTORBIKE REPAIR
The idea is genius, if maybe accidental and gimmicky to the extreme. HWY is a shop on Sunset Blvd. in…
SHORT VIDEO: “THE ETERNALITY OF GRAFFITI”
The Atlantic magazine produced a cool little video about Studio B and efforts to preserve and exhibit graffiti art from…
GINGERBREAD HOUSES: IS KITSCHY HOLIDAY CRAFT ON CUSP OF BECOMING LEGIT FORM OF SERIOUS ARTISTIC EXPRESSION?
We are fans of architecture. Even more so we are fans of “architectural design.” However, kitsch and the aesthetics of …
EPIC : MURAL ATTEMPTS CHEERY POSITIVITY AMID GRIM DEPRESSING VIBE OF WINTRY DOWNTOWN NYC
The current mural at the “Bowery Wall” (a.k.a., the “Deitch Wall”) in downtown New York City is an epic, colorful…
NOSTALGIA: STREET ART HAS NO SHAME FOR MEMORY LANE
The British jazz-pop singer Sade can be counted in the Pantheon of 1980s music icons. Her music videos for songs…
TROPE-A-DOPE: STREET ART IMAGE OF DOG IN VENICE INSANELY UNORIGINAL (OR STREET-ART TROPES: A PRIMER)
There is street art. There are cliches. And there are street-art cliches (SAC). That said, we think “trope” is the…
DECK THE WALLS: SKATEBOARDS AS DECOR – THE HORROR!
There’s really no excuse for this. Unless it’s a college dormitory or your parents’ basement or the living room of…
ART OF OUR TIME: “MERELY DECORATIVE”? JAPANESE ARTIST YAYOI KUSAMA’S BALLOONS
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s current exhibition at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles is a sensation. It’s a huge bona fide…
OBEY: THE WABI SABI OF OLD SHEPARD FAIREY STREET ART POSTERS
Like a vintage wine, some street art ages remarkably well. Others not so well. Take for example most wheat-paste street…
ADVENTURES IN NEON: HOW “DOUBLE AMERICA 2” IS THE PERFECTLY SYMBOLIC ARTWORK FOR THE TRUMP ERA
Artist Glenn Ligon‘s “Double America 2” is among the most profound works of contemporary American art, and it is profoundly…
BEHIND THE SCENES: EXCRUCIATINGLY AWESOME VIDEO SERIES “AT THE MUSEUM” SHOWS INNER WORKINGS OF MOMA
The MoMA (that’s the Museum of Modern Art in the New York-fucking-City) has recently launched a web video series on YouTube…
SUFFER FOR FASHION: VINTAGE MOTO HEADWEAR DESIGN FOR YOUR RETRO LIFESTYLE
TYPOGRAPHICALLY YOURS: THE FRIGHTENING OMNIPRESENCE OF KOOK STREET
HEAVY CRITICAL: MORE POWERFUL LATIN AMERICAN ART FOR YOUR PLEASURE
SIDE HUSTLES: WE LIKE TO SKETCH
Yes, it’s true, savvy reader. Sometimes we here at Global Graphica like to pick up a pen, pencil or, preferably,…
HOBBIES: WHERE TO PUT THAT $450 MILLION DA VINCI PAINTING YOU JUST BOUGHT AT AUCTION
Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Christ the Savior” has just sold at auction for a record $450 million. Just to clarify,…
SEEN: MASSIVE CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION AT MOCA CREEPY AF! AND WE LOVE IT!
Some will hate it. Some will love it. Many will be confused. More to the point, it’s creepy AF! But…
PINKISH: PORTRAIT OF ROBED ELEPHANT-HUMAN STREET ART BEFUDDLES PASSERSBY
Street art often provides many unanswered questions, not only about the artwork itself, but also who created it. There’s seldom clear…
CAPITALISM 101: STRANGER THINGS APPAREL SPOTTED IN THE WILD
Have you binge watched season two of Stranger Things? If you have then you know how good it is. Some…
POLITICAL BORDERS: THE AESTHETICS OF GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION
The New York Times has just published a fascinating article titled “Eight Ways to Build a Border Wall” that looks…
CONFUSION: “ART-NOT-ART” STREET ART
A funny thing about “art.” Sometimes the happiest of aesthetic accidents happen as a consequence of totally non-artistic impulses. Take…
STYLE: THIS FORMER EURO-AMBULANCE COULD BE YOUR NEW CALIFORNIA CRUISER
Style. It’s important. You know it. We know it. When it comes to personal transport, the mode of transit you…
TECHNOLOGY: STREET ARTWORK LITERALLY “PHONY”
An electric utility box along Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake, in Los Angeles, has been painted as an old-school public…
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