UGLAR’s “Painting the Painters”

Courtesy of UGLAR. Click image to view large.

Balancing elements of local heritage with commentary on the process of large-scale, public works-style painting, UGLAR recently utilized techniques of fine art and street art to pay tribute to L.A.’s three greatest contemporary muralists, Willy Herron III, Kent Twitchell, and Chaz Bojorquez, with a massive mural just north of Chinatown called “Painting the Painters.”

Roughly 20 feet high and 100 feet long, the piece features several crewmembers depicted in the process of painting it (anchoring its left side is a larger-than-life Sergio Diaz, and spaced throughout are life-sized representations of Jose. A. Lopez and Evan Skrederstu), as well as a color-chart chameleon whose scales reflect every hue in the piece, and Tlaloc, the Aztec rain deity. It’s a piece that honors those that came before while commenting on the process of mural-painting, and could only have sprung up on the streets of L.A.

Location: 1726 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Sergio Diaz (L), Willy Herron III (R), and Christopher Brand touching up a tentacle.
Kent Twitchell
Chaz (In Progress)
Tlaloc and the Chameleon

Photos by Ryan Gattis unless otherwise stated