You Won't Fall

[excerpt from Los Angeles Times Culture Monster Blog - 15 Sept 2010]

The show is called “Art in the Streets,” not to be confused with “Born in the Streets,” recently staged by the Cartier Foundation in Paris. Deitch says the MOCA endeavor will be bigger, broader and more historical in sweep. “A show at this level has never been done anywhere.”

The choice of subject is no surprise to anyone who knows Deitch. Since the 1970s, he has supported New York artists like Lee Quinones, Futura, Fab 5 Freddy, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. More recently, Deitch Projects, his former gallery, showed the work of California anti-heroes Barry McGee and Shepard Fairey.

The MOCA show will cover the 1970s through the present, including international street-art stars such as Banksy from London and Space Invader from Paris. (“Banksy is very excited about the show,” says Deitch. How does he know, considering Banksy’s notoriously elusive nature? “We communicate through his assistant Holly.”)

But also expect a substantial focus on Los Angeles: the legacy of cholo graffiti in the 1970s, the influence of New York Wild Style graffiti starting in the ’80s and the skateboarding-fueled art of the ’90s.

“About 25 artists will be invited to do major installations or murals,” says MOCA’s director. “But in terms of all the artists represented there will be more than 100.” One installation already confirmed: Mister Cartoon’s Ice Cream Truck, shown above, the work of an L.A. graffiti artist now famous for creating tattoos for the famous (think Eminem and Beyoncé).