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Carolyn S. Murray, Home Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1972


Street Art:
How To Paint Out Reality

There's a message here somewhere. It's rebellious, exuberant and slightly desperate. It says the community is Drabsville, let's do something about it. and if the citizenry at large doesn't work together to create some pockets of interest in our older neighborhoods, the individual must make his mark by doing something bold or gentle or whimsical to camouflage the unbeautiful reality. The results are not always museum caliber, but that's okay. It's the art of the street, a community camouflage. And since camouflage is an art of war and defense, this street art may be the weapon agains conformity and in defense of pedestrians against pedestrianism. It also improves the view from the front seat of the car. The most important thing is that it's fun to discover one of these amazing pieces of street art. You begin watching for it at a certain point in your day. Then suddenly it's gone! A building has been sold or bulldozed; a new owner paints it out of existence. The street artist doesn't seem to mind; he has made his statement. To him art is not something you paint in a studio, take to a gallery and hope some patron will purchase to hang in the living room. To the street artist the city is the museum, the artist his own patron, the citizen the beneficiary. Continued [section missing]

Caption: 1 & 2. Eye-walloping in scale, this mural predicts California's split from the mainland. By Fine Arts Squad, it's on Butler near Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles.


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