L.A. Graffiti Black Book

This book is gorgeous. The cover is faux leather with silver foil for the title and imagery on the front. The artworks included within are from over 150 Los Angeles graffiti artists, some of whom have been on the scene since the 1980s. The diversity of the artistic styles is nothing short of AWESOME--you can see many difference influences--Mexican, Japanese, Islamic, Arabic, and more. The level of detail in many of these works is also mind-blowing. Take a look at the work of Aiseborn or Defer, Heaven or Hyde, Skill or Gabe88 and dozens of others. The letterforms of Angst, Big Sleeps, Chaz or Retna. Works in both color and black-and-white are equally striking, from Augor to Blosm and Petal, from King Cre8 to Patrick Martinez to Prime.The art alone would make this a worthy addition to any bookshelf or coffee table, but there's also a really interesting story on how all these artists came together--from different crews, in many cases rivals--that involves rare books and something called a liber amicorum, which apparently means "book of friends".Buy a copy of this book, you won't be sorry.

Great to see LA writers

Maybe it’s just me, but I have a love/hate relationship with Los Angeles that won’t disappear. But, what else would I expect from a city “founded” September 4, 1781, after a 20-year infiltration of Spaniard colonization efforts? Yes. Crime. Homelessness. Bad attitudes. All of those things exist in Los Angeles, making it a place for a person like me raised in its eastern suburbs, a location that I largely avoid.But I cannot forget the countless times as a child that I sat in my mother’s backseat, peering east toward Los Angeles while traveling across the 57 freeway from Diamond Bar to San Dimas. On a clear day, crossing over those tall roadways and bridges, I occasionally caught the faint image of skyscraper buildings that looked to me like the real-life Emerald City depicted in Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. I was Dorothy on the golden road to the promised land of Oz in those days.As an adult, I took my kids on the Metrolink train to Grand Central Station in downtown Los Angeles occasionally to spend a few short hours in the city. The raw beauty of Los Angeles’ backdrop was masked by the manmade beauty of a 240-year-old city that continued to hold its original charm. For a person like me, to visit the Los Angeles Times building, in which I worked as a freelancer, was like living a dream. And it was a dream I will never forget.Along with the stunning antique architecture of Los Angeles is the vast expression of art that decorates its building’s walls. Paint on a concrete canvas tells the story of Los Angeles’ people, its story, its struggles, and triumphs in a way perfectly suited to the City of Angels. L.A. Graffiti Black Book captures and celebrates that art on paper. Though the smells of local eateries and food trucks are missing, and the faint scent of flower blooms mixed with the sometimes oppressive heat of the sun hitting concrete cannot be included, the pure, raw grit of humanity screams its message loud and clear.This art is incredible and created by artists invited by the Getty Research Institute, who commissioned the Black Book, a term used to describe the sketchbooks many graffiti artists use to create their work. This book is a modern-day depiction of the antique art black books invited artists studied.Artists include Angst, Axis, Big Sleeps, Chaz, Cre8, Defer, EyeOne, Fishe, Heaven, Hyde, Look, ManOne, and Prime, to consider the idea of a citywide graffiti black book.This group of talented men and women visited the Getty Center, studied rare books relating to calligraphy and letterforms, and recognized the connection between ancient geniuses and their genius at work. Participating artists then took their Getty visit inspiration, created their own interpretations of that work, and then invited other artists to participate in the Getty Graffiti Black Book project. In all, 151 Los Angeles artists participated in this publication, a page-by-page reproduction of their work.The L.A. Graffiti Black Book is a lettered study, and very, well, Los Angeles; a diverse artistic Emerald City standing tower-like for all to enjoy. The best part about this scenario is that you don’t need a clear day to see the beauty. You simply need to crack its covers.