I NEVER look at “street art” UNLESS… someone of significance points one out to me OR a buddy of mine has produced one (haha). Seriously though, for the most part, blame it on my “purist” vandalism outlook, but a lot of this jazz is weak to me.

With that being said, I saw these the other day in the hood, and for the first time, I looked at these big posters and was intrigued by them! Maybe it’s because of the universal subject-matter (EVERYONE likes at least one of these guys), and upon closer inspection, the details in the ODB kind of made me wonder out-loud, “Who did these”? Also, “Is this original, hand-drawn work”? The Biggie and Pac had some extreme typography fill-ins which appear to be names of songs and both had their date of death in there as well. I’d want either the ODB or the Biggie one. So, who did these?

I’ve “known” the owner of Known Gallery on Fairfax since I was a teen. It’s funny because back then, Fairfax was a bland, desolate strip lined with Othodox Jewish markets that were good for tagging on, which we both did at the time. So, to see dude get to where he’s at today with his art endeavors is pretty astonishing. It works because it’s basically the equivalent of a skater-owned company pumping out skate product, except that it’s refined street/pop art instead of decks and wheels. Known’s latest show (in conjunction with RVCA), going on through June 18th to July 9th, is a satisfyingly fresh group show which you should definitely peep if you’re in the area. I had tons of fun at the opening reception and the turn-out was proper which is always a good sign. Big shouts to Anwar’s dreadlocks, Kofie and Saber as well as head-honcho, Eklips who bought me a fund-raising chocolate bar from a little girl.

LA artist, Shark Toof has been on his grizzly for a minute now, throwing up his renditions of the Great White shark (the illest predator on Earth) via wheat paste and other messy mediums around town. This past weekend, Toof had his first major solo exhibition in the sprawling Culver City art district at LeBasse Projects Gallery.

Not knowing what to expect, I assumed there would be a gang of wheat posters glued to the walls, which wasn’t the case (although that might’ve been dope). Instead, Toof broke out with some pretty interesting works on nice panels of wood. Dude’s definitely on some getting in touch with his inner-beast as all of his paintings depicted bugged out amalgamations of humans and animals. It will be interesting to see his technique and subject matter progress in the future. Next time I’d like to be served a full can of Tecate though. Just a little in a cup isn’t very beastly!