Do It. Bloomfest LA.

If you love exploring downtown Los Angeles as much as we do, check out Bloomfest LA this weekend.

The music, street art, and food festival is a tribute to the late Joel Bloom, community activist and owner of the now-closed arts district Bloom's General Store.

With official partners like KCRW, LA Weekly, Honest Tea, American Apparel, and Whole Foods (among others), this is bound to be a success. There will be food trucks including Coolhaus and LudoTruck too.

Related post--Read about my LudoTruck experience here.

Saturday July 23, 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. at 3rd Street and Traction Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. Admission is free.

Info: bloomfestla.com

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Bloomfest LA

The monthly BEAT: Pasadena. Pasadena Museum of California Art.

Today, we continue our new end-of-the-week series, the monthly BEAT, where we focus on one specific area of Los Angeles for one month.

To me, there's just something so inherently Californian about Pasadena. Maybe it's the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl, or the carefully tended-to tree-lined streets, but the town just seems to embodies all the old-school perfection that California's supposed to be famous for.

And that's why it's perfect that it's home to a museum of California art. The Pasadena Museum of California Art doesn't quite have the name recognition or star power of LACMA or MOCA, but in staying true to its Californian roots, can often house some pretty great, underrated exhibits.

This month boasts a great example: PMCA will be reopening Sunday, May 15 with three new exhibits focused on local contemporary art. In coincidental timing with MOCA's Art in the Streets, PMCA's got Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas, which boasts its own street art stars and works like DASH 2000, REVOK and MAN ONE. (And hey, street art's all about real locality, right?) Then there's Getting Upper: Graphic Designers and Artists Reconsider the Alphabet, which "charged curator Amos Klausner charged 26 designers with re-imagining a letter from the alphabet, using the illegibility and deconstructive nature of graffiti as their starting point." The results already look like a lot of fun. And then there's the work of the Clayton Brothers, one of which is seen above, and will be their first major exhibit. Brothers Rob and Christian also take influence from graffiti, as well as California skateboard and surf culture, and punk rock, to create contemporary characters.

Who knew Pasadena could have so much edge? I should have known -- it's just acting like a true Californian.

The Pasadena Museum of California Art reopens this Sunday and is located at 490 East Union St. in Pasadena.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Patient-Girl (from the series Patient), 2007, mixed media on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, Collection of Gary Baseman.

Check It. JR's TED Talk [The Monday Download].

We've mentioned TED Talks here on the BEAT before, and now I've got another great example of how inspiring these sessions can be. The latest conference just occurred in Long Beach, and presented the "TED Prize" to French street artist JR. The TED Prize awards one person $10,000 to help fulfill "One Wish to Change the World" -- past winners have included Bill Clinton, Bono and Dave Eggers.

And JR's wish is pretty unique, but truly inspiring and beautiful nonetheless. Check it out below, and make sure to make your contribution to changing the world.

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Mark Mothersbaugh and Shepard Fairey at Subliminal Projects.

I know Mark Mothersbaugh's name primarily as the original composer for many of Wes Anderson's films. But he is actually probably more known as the frontman for Devo (yep, that one), and he also happens to be an artist.

That art will now be on display alongside street artist Shepard Fairey, who came to worldwide fame with his Obama Hope poster in 2008. The exhibition is called The Big Picture, and focuses on the two's work as artists and philanthropists. Look for more of Fairey's bold, striking works -- he's long been known for his OBEY giants and propaganda-like art. Mothersbaugh's work is described as being postcard-size illustrations that, when enlarged into a bigger format, become a whimsical and detailed world. The two are being honored for their dedication to children's charity The Art of Elysium.

The Big Picture is showing now until February 19 at the Subliminal Projects gallery, located at 1331 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park (by Dodger Stadium).

-- Chau Tu

Check It. Blu street art.

This video is marvelous combination between two extremely excellent things: stop motion animation and street art. I love the use of recycled materials, and the shots, the art, variety of locations, even the length of this short vid blow my mind.

Kind of a fun video to start your weekend.

Happy Friday!

-- Lauren Williams

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Do It. David Choe exhibit at Lazarides Gallery.

With Shepard Fairey nearly a household name, and Banksy's expectedly-controversial return to L.A. with the release of the street art doc Exit Through the Gift Shop, street art has been having its time in the spotlight lately. And it's only getting brighter, as the fantastic Lazarides Gallery opens up a huge exhibition today in Beverly Hills.

The London gallery, which specializes in 'outsider (read: graphical and street) art,' is set to present the effervescent works of street artist and L.A. native David Choe in "Nothing to Declare." Choe is a highly prolific artist who's become well-known for manic-depressive behavior, which has gotten him into some legal troubles in the past and which were well-documented in the film Dirty Hands: The Art and Life of David Choe (sorry, shameless plug). And his art is similarly disturbing, but also strangely beautiful, with fantastical and dramatic flourishes in his strange depictions of the world. It's nothing short of artistic genius, and the scale on which Choe works is something only to be seen in person (hint: this is street art after all; don't expect small, simplistic canvases).

I attended Choe's last exhibition with Lazarides, in London, and the pieces on display are absolutely thrilling. Imaginative, passionate, troubled--everything a good artist needs to be, for better or worse. If you're a fan of any type of contemporary art, this is not to be missed. Here's Choe's take on the exhibit:

“I will take all my love all my hate all my pain all my rage, all my suffering and all my skills and experience I’ve collected over the years everything I’ve learned in every medium from watercolors to oils to spray paint I’m gonna express everything I feel about this city and what it is to live and die and be born again in the city of angels….”

David Choe's "Nothing to Declare" will be shown at 320 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills. The exhibit opens today and will run until May 23 (to be followed up by further Lazarides exhibitions), open everyday from 12pm-8pm.
Also, Dirty Hands will be showing at the Laemmle Sunset 5 for a special one-week engagement beginning April 30th.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Lazarides Gallery

Check It. Awesome bear graffiti in Silverlake.

If you've ever spent some time traipsing around the Eastside, you're sure to have come across them: the cartoon bears and other forest animals, smiling and giving you a friendly wave. The 'awesome bears' have appeared in other random, hidden parts of L.A., but here in Silverlake, against a green meadow and blue skies, they seem right at home.

But not for long. As Phil Lumbang has told Public Ad Campaign and Eastsider LA, the mural--which is displayed on the wall of and was commissioned by private property residents Amy Seidenwurm and Russell Bates--will be taken down March 1 for violating the city's restrictions on outdoor advertisements.

As a passionate fan of and advocate for street art, I am truly disappointed by this news. If there is any sort of street art that can be easily defended for its lack of threat to the community, it's this mural here. It's a cartoon bear waving 'Hello!', for goodness sakes! And that's without taking into consideration that this is part of a private property, was commissioned by that property's owners and isn't even an advertisement of any kind...unless you count happiness?

Councilman Eric Garcetti has responded that he'll look into the issue, which hopefully will lead to good things. In the meantime, watch this delightful video below of Lumbang painting the piece, and then make it over to the Eastside and pay your respects: the animals will be happy to see you.


-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Public Ad Campaign