In protest to the recent anti-mural moratorium issued by the city of Los Angeles, street artist Saber enlists sky writing planes to write his his name, along with those of other prominent street artists. The ordinance, intended to curb the proliferation of commercial signage in the Los Angeles area, apparently prohibits creating large scale murals, even with the property owner’s permission. According the Venice Arts Council:

Murals Continue to be Outlawed by Newly Proposed Sign Ordinance in City of L.A.
The City of Los Angeles Planning Department has proposed a new sign ordinance. This ordinance is meant to address the unwanted proliferations of signs in the City of Los Angeles, but it has dramatic effects on murals. The proposed ordinance severely limits the size, scope and placement of murals of any kind. There is currently a moratorium against any signs or murals being erected on private property in the City of Los Angeles. In fact, murals on private property in the City of LA have been banned since June of 2007. The Planning Department believes murals have actually been outlawed since the year 2002. If this proposal passes as presented, it will severely limit any type of mural work on private property for many years to come.

Saber’s petition in the sky has already been acknowledged by the likes of Shepard Fairey who tweeted today “If you are in Los Angeles right meow, Look up!”

Some new work from ABCNT has appeared in Los Angeles. The wheat paste piece features a masked woman wearing a lapel button that also depicts a masked face.

[via]

For one single night of debachery,Wes Lang lands on Sunset Strip and hits the Chateau Marmont to share new drawings inspired by Kippenburg’s “Hotel Drawings.” There is a healthy dose of American history within, not just in subject and location… but in wit and association. The event is tonight, June 23, 2011, and while the likelihood you (or I) will attend is low, I believe the potential of enjoy Lang’s work for the exhibition is high.

More after the jump.

The LA Times reports that street art will be the central focus of Jeffery Deitch’s term as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Anyone wondering what Jeffrey Deitch’s next step will be as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art now has an answer. In two words: street art.

Local artists and gallery owners have been whispering about the possibility, and this week Deitch confirmed his plans for a 2011 show. “We’re going to send out the press release in a few weeks,” he says. “Right now we’re trying to iron out sponsorship. It’s going to be the first major museum survey of the history of graffiti and street art presented in the United States.”

Full story here.

After a successful run in Detroit, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Alex Melamid’s "Holy Hip-Hip!" rolls west to Los Angeles. His work takes 12 famed hip-hop figures and presents them in old master style. 

Doesn’t another guy do that? Yes, indeed, Kehinde Wiley is the poster boy of hip-hop portraiture. While Wiley is frequent visitor to hip-hop subject matter, Melamid’s work focuses just on this set. Still, the comparisons are bound to continue as "Holy Hip-Hop!" continues to show. While on subject, read a review of Wiley’s latest work (from the New York Times), here. An excellent, and accurate assessment.

"Holy Hip-Hop!" is on view at Forum Gallery from tomorrow. It runs to November 1. (Via Men.Style)

More of Melamid’s portraiture after the jump.

Here comes a nice anecdote from LA Weekly. End of last year a massive billboard was put up in LA for the exhibition of Takashi Murakami. Not long after it went up it was tagged by Augor and Revok of MSK and Seventh Letter Crew. Somebody send pictures of it to Murakami. He liked it so much, that he had the billboard removed and shipped back to his Kaikai Kiki studio in Tokyo. Via Wooster Collective.