MEDIA KIT

16 November 2016 – 17 January 2017

11 ARTISTS FROM L.A.CURATED BY GAJIN FUJITA

L.A. LOUVER / 45 N Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 / lalouver.com / 310-822-4955

Venice, CA -- L.A. Louver is pleased to present a group exhibition curated by Los Angeles artist Gajin Fujita. “Roll Call” refers to tagging all of the names of a graffiti crew who work together to make a piece. Fujita’s inspiration for both the show and its title is in this same spirit, recognizing individual contributors that create an overall picture — a vision of L.A.

“Los Angeles is the city that raised me, its streets guided me, and graffiti was my transport. Graffiti took me all over the city, seeking out prime real estate to stake my claim, tag my name and flex my skills. It’s how I came to know all the artists in this exhibition; some of us go back almost 30 years. Graffiti is the foundation on which we built our artistic practices. But beyond graffiti, Los Angeles is what unifies us. We sharpened our skills on its walls and structures.”

— Gajin Fujita

Fujita grew up in the East L.A. neighborhood of Boyle Heights. As a teen, he became fascinated by the graffiti and hip-hop movement coming out of New York when the movie “Style Wars” was released in the ’80s. Alex Kizu (Defer) shared in his enthusiasm. He and Fujita were both from Boyle Heights and attended the same junior high school in Mid-City (an hour bus ride from home). Together, they pored over and studied pictures of graffiti they collected, which in the pre-internet age, were their only access to that world. Kizu developed his own intricate lettering style, and now makes paintings that emphasize the letters’ gestural qualities in a practice he refers to as “spiritual language.”

At school, Kizu introduced Fujita to Jesse Simon, a surfer kid and talented writer who would later translate his graffiti skills into creating polished, abstract sculptures from broken surfboard remnants. The three of them, along with a few others, gathered to form the graffiti crew KGB (Kidz Gone Bad) in 1984. “Back then, there were only a handful of crews on the scene,” describes Fujita. “We were lured by the potential of street fame and notoriety, and fueled by the adrenaline rush of breaking the law – working covertly and on constant alert, our heads on a swivel.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 2016

Media Contact: Christina CarlosTelephone: 310-822-4955

Email: christina@lalouver.com

11 artists from L.A. Chaz BojorquezDavid Cavazos (Big Sleeps)Fabian DeboraRicardo EstradaGajin FujitaAlex Kizu (Defer)Patrick MartinezRetnaJose Reza (Prime)Jesse SimonSlick

curated by Gajin Fujita16 NOVEMBER 2016 – 14 JANUARY 2017Opening reception: Wednesday, 16 November, 6-9pm

Media preview: Tuesday, 15 November, 11am-1pm Artists will be presentRSVP: Michelle@lalouver.com

By 1985, the graffiti movement was gaining momentum. Kizu went on to form K2S (Kill 2 Succeed), a crew that dominated the scene. K2S hailed from Downtown L.A., Pico-Union and East L.A., and was known for appropriating gang culture into their pieces. Fujita eventually joined their ranks with artists like Jose Reza (Prime). His lettering hybridized angular “Cholo” writing with East Coast “Wild Style” into an aesthetic that became synonymous with the Los Angeles graffiti scene. David Cavazos (Big Sleeps) developed letters based on Chicano writing (a tradition rooted in L.A. since the 1920s) that have launched his career as an internationally renowned tattoo artist. Slick, a top figure at the Belmont Tunnel (the legendary, now defunct graffiti yard), was the first to incorporate shading and dimensionality into his pieces, and is recognized the world over for his iconic cartoon hands, a trademark that continues in his paintings, murals and graphic works today.

By the ’90s and ’00s, more and more crews were on the streets. The competition for wall space grew thicker as pieces became larger and more complex. Chaz Bojorquez played a leading role in putting Los Angeles on the map. An early advocate for graffiti, he began painting on the cemented L.A. River beds in the ’60s, creating his first spray paint stencil motif in 1969. Bojorquez maintained an unwavering devotion to graffiti, and now creates paintings that pay homage to his street practice, while embracing the fluidity and gravitas of written language. He paved the way for the K2S crew, and other artists like Retna, from LTS (Last to Survive) and The Seventh Letter, who gained international recognition for his hieroglyphic-like letter forms with commissioned murals all over Los Angeles and the world.

“Graffiti gave us a voice and a sense of identity,” explains Fujita. “It was our entry into another world beyond our neighborhoods, and we never thought what we were doing then would have such an impact not just on the cultural landscape of Los Angeles, but on the generations to come. It’s exciting to see the new school of artists coming out of the L.A. graffiti scene that are breaking away from letter forms, and taking the movement to the next level.”

Ricardo Estrada and Fabian Debora use portraiture and figuration to merge their distinct connections to Mexican culture and East L.A. identity with the Chicano muralist traditions that resonated in their neighborhoods. Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Patrick Martinez makes mixed media works that provide insightful socioeconomic observations of his suburban upbringing, and which also open a colorful, at times critical window to the minority experience in the United States.

“To me, these artists are a cross section of generations and geographies of graffiti,” says Fujita. “This show is a reflection of the people that have impacted my life, and the city of Los Angeles.”

Gajin Fujita (b.1972) received a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design, followed by a MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000. Exhibitions include Conversations through Asian Collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; and Gajin Fujita, Hunt-er Museum of America Art, Chattanooga, TN (2015); Gajin Fujita: Ukiyo-e in Contemporary Paintings, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA; and Gold, Museum of Belvedere, Vienna, Austria (2012); Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Woodblock Prints, The Minneapolis Art Insti-tute, Minneapolis, MN; and Beyond Bling: The Influence of Hip Hop Culture in Contemporary Art, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL (2011); Prospect.1, curated by Dan Cameron, New Orleans, LA (2008); Zephyr: Paintings by Gajin Fujita, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas, MO (2006); Contemporary Projects 9: Gajin Fujita and Pablo Vargas Lugo, curated by Ilona Katzew, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA (2005); Floating World Redux: Gajin Fujita and Yasumasa Morimura, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC (2002); and Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitan, curated by Dave Hickey, Site Santa Fe’s 4th International Biennial, Santa Fe, NM (2001).

For more information and visuals, please contact Christina Carlos, L.A. Louver, 45 North Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA, USA, www.lalouver.com tel: 310-822-4955; fax: 310-821-7529; e-mail: Christina@lalouver.com Validated parking available

VIDEO

CHAZ BOJORQUEZChaz Borjorquez attended the Universidad de Artes Plásticas, Guadalajara, Mexico, where his studies in Pre-Columbian art, sculpture and ceramics led him to pursue a ceramics major at Chouinard Art Institute. Under Asian Calligraphy Master Yun Chung Chiang, he developed a deeper gravitas for written language. His formal art training, fascination with Cholo Gothic graffiti, and the spirit and skill he embraced in Asian calligraphy set the foundation for his unique letter style and artwork.

In 1969, he created a tag that represented him and the streets – a stylized skull called “Senor Suerte” (Mr. Lucky), which street gangs adopted as a symbol of protection from death. He is acknowledged as an L.A. pioneer and Godfather of East Los Angeles’ “Cholo” style graffiti. After nearly 50 years of making work both on the streets and in the studio, Bojorquez has been focusing on his paintings on canvas, from which Rumi poetry and Aztec proverbs leap from abstraction to articulate manifold aspects of his philosophical spirit.

Chaz Bojorquez is represented in numerous permanent museum and private collections: The Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of American Art, National Museum of American History, and Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, and Huntington Museum, Austin, TX; Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN.

SELECTED ARTICLESFrench, Katy. “Meet Chaz Bojorquez, the Godfather of Cholo Writing.” Visual News. Mar 2016.Romero, Dennis. “Fuck New York: Street Art Began Here in L.A.” LA Weekly. Aug 2016.

Chaz Bojorquez: Godfather of Cholo StyleCarbon Festival

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

DAVID CAVAZOS (BIG SLEEPS)David Cavazo (Big Sleeps) is an internationally renowned tattoo artist, whose unique lettering style is highly revered by devotees of body art the world over. Growing up in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles, he fell victim to gang violence and spent a majority of his youth in juvenile hall, youth authority and state prison. During that time, he practiced and perfected his styles, and has evolved his lettering into another realm of self-expression in murals and paintings. He has been included in major gallery and museum exhibits such as “Scratch” at the El Segundo Museum of Art (2014), and has collaborated with the fashion brands Hurley and Nike. His lettering has been featured in books and magazines, most notably the Getty Research Institute’s LA Liber Amicorum. Among his list of achievements, the most important to Big Sleeps are his youth-oriented lettering/drawing workshops and seminars, which enable him to give back to the community and serve as a symbol of hope and inspiration.

Big Sleeps has created his own brand, “Letters To Live By,” an independent entity devoted to lettering, tattoo, art and design.

SELECTED ARTICLES“Letters to Live By.” The Huffington Post. June 2014.

VIDEO

Studio Visit: Big SleepsChop ‘Em Down Films

Big Sleeps WorkshopThe Container Yard

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

FABIAN DEBORAFabian Debora grew up in the Aliso Village Housing Projects, located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East L.A. At the age of 12, he became involved with gangs and drugs, which eventually landed him in prison. While behind bars, he escaped the reality of his incarceration by drawing in his notebook. Once released, he became involved with Homeboy Industries, a non-project organization led by Father Greg Boyle that provides opportunities to ex-gang members, where he now serves as the Director of Substance Abuse Services and Programs. Through the encouragement of Homeboy Industries, Debora developed his artistic practice and began an art academy where he conducts weekly classes out of his Downtown L.A. studio.

Debora’s style is influenced by the murals of Orozco and Rivera, the magical realism of Kahlo, and traditional Mexican iconography; his figurative paintings portray intimate human subjects against the backdrop of Los Angeles’ architecture and landscape.

SELECTED ARTICLESWhitmore, Lisa. “There’s a DTLA Art Studio with a Backstory Worthy of an HBO Series.” LA Weekly. Aug 2015.Hinch, Jim. “From Gangs to Art: The Salvation of Fabian Debora.” KCET. June 2013.

VIDEO

Fabian Debora: A Life for ArtRetro Face Productions

WHP Artists: Fabian DeboraSaxon Studios

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

RICARDO ESTRADARicardo Estrada was raised in the Diamond Street district of Downtown Los Angeles, a neighborhood where street gangs have been established since the 1970s. While attending East Los Angeles College, he was sin-gled out by art professor Jim Uyekawa, who recognized his talents for painting and paired him with famed Mexican muralist Raul Anguiano. Under the mentorship of Anguiano, Estrada expanded his painting skills and his perception of the Chicano mural tradition. Estrada’s work can now be found on the walls of Downtown and East L.A., including Lincoln Park’s Plaza de la Raza, where he also conducts classes to kids of all ages, passing on the tradition to the next generation.

Estrada renders complexly painted portraits, suffusing images of people from his life and community with Mayan symbology, and which describe social, cultural and environmental realities unique to L.A.

SELECTED ARTICLES“Interview with Ricardo Estrada.” L.A. Taco. May 2016.

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

GAJIN FUJITAGajin Fujita was born and raised in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East L.A. His father was a fine art painter, and his mother is a conservator of Japanese antiquties. As a teen in the ’80s, he became immersed in the burgeoning L.A. graffiti scene, joining influential crews KGB (Kids Gone Bad) and K2S (Kill 2 Succeed). Through graffiti, he followed his own path towards fine art, and received a BFA from Otis College of Art and Design, followed by a MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000. Gajin’s paintings and works on paper express his native Los Angeleno identity, juxtaposing traditional Japanese ukyiyo-e iconography and compositions against graffiti and tagging elements.

Select museum exhibitions include Conversations through Asian Collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; and Gajin Fujita, Hunter Museum of America Art, Chattanooga, TN (2015); Gajin Fujita: Ukiyo-e in Contemporary Paintings, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA; and Gold, Museum of Belvedere, Vienna, Austria (2012); Prospect.1, curated by Dan Cameron, New Orleans, LA (2008); Zephyr: Paintings by Gajin Fujita, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas, MO (2006); Contemporary Projects 9: Gajin Fujita and Pablo Vargas Lugo, curated by Ilona Katzew, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA (2005); Floating World Redux: Gajin Fujita and Yasumasa Morimura, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC (2002); and Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitan, curated by Dave Hickey, Site Santa Fe’s 4th International Biennial, Santa Fe, NM (2001).

SELECTED ARTICLES

VIDEO

Pagel, David. “Brands, symbols and emblems in Gajin Fujita’s paintings...” Los Angeles Times. June 2015.Paton, Justin. “Gajin Fujita: Street Theatre.” Art and Australia. Dec 2014.

Demon SlayerL.A. Louver

Study of a DrawingL.A. Louver

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

ALEX KIZU (DEFER)Defer has been an integral part of the early graffiti art movement in Los Angeles since the mid-1980s. In the past 10 years, Defer’s work has evolved into the obliteration of the structured letter form into what he refers to as “spiritual language,” an automatic and spontaneous volley of brush strokes that emanates from his subconscious. His works on canvas have been displayed at various museums and galleries, including the Pasadena Museum of California Art and Otis College of Art + Design’s Ben Maltz Gallery.

Defer’s work has been featured in numerous publications including Art In America, The Los Angeles Times and Dwell Magazine. Recently his work was included in the LA Liber Amicorum project, which is archived in the Getty Research Institute’s special collection.

SELECTED ARTICLES“POW! WOW! Hawaii: Alex ‘Defer’ Kizu in Honolulu.” Street Art News. Feb 2016.“Artist Feature: Alex ‘Defer’ Kizu.” Graffuturism. March 2013.

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

PATRICK MARTINEZPatrick Martinez earned his BFA with honors from Art Center College of Design in 2005. Through his facility with a wide variety of media (painting, neon, ceramic and sculpture), Martinez colorfully scrutinizes otherwise everyday scenes of suburban and urban life in L.A. with humor, sensitivity and wit. His work has been exhibited domestically and internationally in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Minneapolis, New York and the Netherlands, and he has shown in venues including the Vincent Price Art Museum, Biola University, Showroom MAMA, Providence College Galleries, MACLA, SUR Biennial, Chinese American Museum and Euphrat Museum of Art. He has been covered by the Los Angeles Times, KPCC, KCRW, Art News, and Wired. His works resides in the collections of Cornell Fine Art Museum and Museum of Latin American Art.

SELECTED ARTICLESOhanesian, Liz. “Pee-Chee Folders are Re-visioned to Memorialze Victims of Police Violence.” KCET. Sept 2016. Cross, Austin and A Martinez. “SoCal artists uses Pee-Chee style to document police use of force.” KPCC. Aug 2016.

VIDEO

SolarizedHypebeast

My Name is: Patrick MartinezQuintin Co.

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

RETNASince his inclusion in MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibition in 2011, Retna (Marquis Lewis) has risen as one of the most recognized artists from the Los Angeles graffiti scene. His lettering style takes inspiration from a di-versity of subjects ranging from heiroglyphics and illuminated manuscripts to Asian calligraphy. His murals are located all over the Los Angeles and the world. Retna has collaborated with major brands including Nike, Louis Vuitton and Vista Jet.

SELECTED ARTICLESNichols, Chris. “Giant Street Art by Retna Signals New Industrial Mall Downtown.” Los Angeles Magazine. March 2016.“The Q&A: Retna, artist.” The Economist. Feb 2011.

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Retna - Art in the StreetsMOCAtv

Retna - Louis Vuitton NewsDigital Pictures

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JOSE REZA (PRIME)Prime is considered to be one of the most influential graffiti artists in L.A. His lettering hybridized angular “Cholo” writing with East Coast “Wild Style” into an aesthetic that became synonymous with the Los Angeles graffiti scene. He continues to develop and master writing styles, translating his texts into paintings and mixed media works. He has exhibited in a number of gallery and museum exhibitions, including “Scratch,” El Segundo Museum of Art, 2014; “Street Cred: Graffiti from Concrete to Canvas,” Pasadena Museum of California Art, 2011; and “Art in the Streets,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2011. In 2013, he contributed the cover design for The Getty Research Institute’s LA Liber Amicorum, a bound manuscript of original drawings by graffiti and tattoo artists from Los Angeles.

SELECTED ARTICLES

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Cohen, Alex and Dorian Merina. “Street Art springs from 17th-century texts at Getty show in El Segundo.” KPCC. Aug 2014.Revok. “The 25 Greatest LA Graffiti Writers.” Complex. Oct 2011.

#GettyInspired: Joe Reza aka PrimeThe Getty

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

JESSE SIMONA third-generation Angeleno, Jesse Simon’s works are inspired by his great love of surfing, graffiti and sculpture. Manipulating and reshaping elements of broken surfboards, Simon creates abstract sculptures that gleam with jewel-like, polished surfaces. He received his BFA from College of Arts in Oakland and his MFA from Hunter College in New York City. He has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, many surf publications and The History of Graffiti. His work has been shown in galleries and museums including Gallery Paule Anglim, Patricia Faure Gallery, Pasadena Museum of California Art and San Jose Museum of Art.

SELECTED ARTICLES“Jesse Simon Transforms the Misfortunes of Fellow Surfers into Sophistacted Works of Art.” Surfwire. May 2007.

Press inquiries: Christina@lalouver.com / 310-822-4955 / lalouver.com

SLICKSlick was born and raised in Hawaii, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to escape prosecution for vandalism and pursue a career in commercial art. It was while studying at Otis-Parsons when he joined the crew KIIS (Kill to Succeed). His skills developed as an airbrush artist in the '80s, lessons learned from his formal training at Art Center, and his intuitive sense for dynamic composition built him into a leader on the graffiti and bombyard battle scene. Slick’s graffiti work has been featured on album covers and in music videos (Pharcyde, Ice Cube, Ice T, Red Hot Chili Peppers), and in films (including Oceans 12, Charlie’s Angels). He has also founded the lifestyle brands Third Rail Clothing, Fuct, Shaolin Worldwide and Dissizit. Slick’s creation of “LA Hands” has become synonymous with the urban identity of Los Angeles. He continues to subvert iconic imagery to create his own class of pop art through masterfully rendered paintings, commissioned murals and three-dimensional works.

SELECTED ARTICLESLevy, Rom. “Pow! Wow! Hawaii ’15: OG Slick creates a new mural...” Street Art News. Feb 2015.Wang, Oliver. “This is Slick: A Conversation with Graffiti Writer/Clothing Designer Slick.” KCET. July 2012.

VIDEO

Slick Talks Graffiti 1991Slammin Video Magazine

Slick X Delicious VinylDOPEvideomagazine

Filling a Void: Inside Big Dick’s HardwareAgenda Empire

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