LA graff legend Mear one was invited by Thinkspace to paint live at the Downtown Art Park, this past Thursday (5.14).  Using a painting knife style technique, Mear quickly went from colored background to an intricate futuristic skyline complete with his familiar floating skull treatment.  A crowd gathered around him to watch as he deftly made precision cuts to transform patches of paint into detailed architecture — all without working from a specific reference.

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Reacting to the LA’s new policy of requiring permits for street artists and performers for the downtown art walk, Citizen LA opened their Downtown Art Park for the time this past Thursday (5.14).  Located on Main between 4th and 5th, the art park is a 9000 sqft parking lot transformed into an equal opportunity exhibition space hosting numerous local artists and vendors.

Seeking to show support for the new event and promote their artists, Thinkspace Gallery made the trip from Sunset Junction to downtown LA.  They also invited Ekundayo and graff legend Mear One to mesmerize the crowd with live painting.  Here’s a a look at the art park, Thinkspace’s booth and Ekundayo’s live painting.  We’ll bring you shots of Mear One’s live painting shortly.

Ekundayo’s a live painting veteran and it shows — able to create impressive work on the fly without need for a sketch reference or a specific plan.  Due to the short notice, Ekundayo went with an untreated board and relied much more heavily on acrylic paint and brushes rather than spray paint.  The combo of brush strokes and sprayed accents works quite well in our opinion.

The Downtown Art Park goes down the 2nd Thursday of each month coinciding with the art walk — the next event is June 11th.

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In response to the city of LA’s decision to require permits for street artists and performers during the Downtown Artwalk, Citizen LA magazine has organized an inclusive alternative – the 9000 sq. ft.  Downtown Art Park.  It goes down this Thursday May 14th from 3 to 10 PM on Main street between 4th and 5th downtown.  This much needed art collective effort promotes expression for artists and art vendors that might not be otherwise represented by the Downtown Artwalk with which it coincides (second Thursday of each month).

Thinkspace Gallery will be among the vendors at Thursday’s event.  In addition to offering original art, they will be bringing Mear One and Ekundayo for a live painting session.

Citizen LA Downtown Art Park
458 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013