The Curse of ALZA
Recently, EL CHAVO! hipped me to the fact that Northeast Los Angeles is ALZA’s world, and we just happen to be living in it.
I had noticed the spray painted signs on buildings throughout the area, and recognized “ALZA” here, and there, but after reading the article, and looking around the neighborhood, I realized EVERY-SINGLE-SPRAY-PAINTED-SIGN was his!
So now I walk the streets annoyed with every sighting of his aerosol-canned commercialism: spray painting signs on the sides of buildings up and down Figueroa, York, Monte Vista, Cypress, Broadway, Griffin, Daly. On places like car repair shops, dental offices, pet stores, liquor stores, floral shops, Duarte Market, and even our beloved Chico’s
Annoyed as I may be, he always tries to place a positive message in his work like, “Uphold Family,” “Family Unity,” “Learn 2 Love,” “Realize Art.” And you have to be impressed by this man’s sheer tenacity, convincing so many merchants to pay him money to write their business names on walls, and allowing him to include his own name and message. A naturally-born salesman. A naturally-born artist, not so much.
So my annoyance had been that, just annoyance. Until today. This afternoon, I stopped by La Estrella and shot a flick of the tagger-battered mural Mexico-Tenochtitlan “The Wall That Talks,” on the side of Susie’s Deals at Figueroa & Avenue 61. What I found instead of little tagger toys cluttering the empty space between the images, was a big phat sloppy “CARE” over the collarbone of this daughter of Tenochtitlan. Just below that to the left was a modestly placed “ALZA” in fat red and green letters. WTF?
The close up of ALZA's mural repair job.
ALZA reminds us here to “Act like U care”, and “ALZA is 4 All,” he even includes his moniker, “Playboy Eddie” in the “e” of “care.” Wow. Thanks ALZA. Now what was just a little touch up, is now a full-fledged repair job. Brilliant.
As an aside, here is a story on efforts to restore another great Highland Park mural by Judy Baca. That being said, please visit Baca’s SPARC site and save LA’s Murals.
if this person is hired by businesses for these murals, his identity must be known… right? then why has he not beenn arrested for the “follow-up” graffiti? …or does he deny doing it?
I lived in highland park for about six years before moving to the Pasadena area. One of the things I loved about our little corridor was the great murals, of all types, that were quite beautfiul. I was told by a friend of mine, who grew up here, that the mural by La Estrella would “never” get tagged because of what it represented. I’m very sorry to say, he was wrong. It seems like tagging of all types, be it gang graffitti or this type, is getting worse. Clearly, we can’t put cameras on every block, but we need to do SOMETHING to protect the murals, churchs, and keep our area beautiful.
It is really disappointing to see such an awesome mural marked up.
Don’t you that your Highland park councilman, Jose Huizar, just does not give a crap about one’s concern regarding graffiti ruining chicano murals in Highland Park? I have been fighting for over a year to get him to fix the 31-yr old chicano mural on the AT&T building on the corner of avenue 56 and meridian and all I was getting was lies and neglect. Read more about how bad this phony politician and his staff of liars were to me during the past months in my story, “THE NEGLECTED HIGHLAND PARK MURAL” in the “comunidad” section of http://WWW.LATINOLA.COM.
I heard Huizar is doing a lot to preserve this mural but has had some problems with the artist and AT&T. I know for a fact that his office has been working for several months trying to mediate between AT&T and the artist, which is the challenge causing the mural not getting restored. I also heard that he is doing a lot to preserve and protect murals throughout his district.
Ms Padilla……this is William Gallegos. I do not intend to start an online war of words with you but I must tell you that you don’t know the facts. First of all, he is not doing a lot as you claim he is. Second, please do not insult Ms Judy Baca, the artist of this mural, by telling readers of this website that he is having problems with her. She emailed me personally with an update, claiming how disappointed she was knowing that Councilman Huizar continues to neglect the mural. She read my story and thanked me very much for my concerns on the mural. She never objected to anything written in my story. And as for “hearing that he wants to restore murals throughout his district”. I also heard that he wants to end gang violence! DOES IT MEAN IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN? Of course not! Those words are nothing more than a cost-free way of saying he cares! Remember……TALK IS CHEAP IN THE FIELD OF LOS ANGELES POLITICS!!!!!!!!!! This is not about being negative but about being truthful. Have you takened the time to read my story that I mentioned in my last post (sept 3rd)? Take 15-20 minutes of your time reading it and then put yourself in my shoes. You don’t know what it was like getting hit with lies,lies, and more lies from the idiots otherwise known as Councilman Huizar and his staff. I am not asking to read my story so that I can get exposure but because one needs to be entitled to the truth. And while you at it, drive by the highland park mural on a weekly basis and then contact me once it is 100% restored. That should be about……..UHHH…….NEVER!!!!! Have a great day. Respectfully, William.
MLK DAY WE WENT OUT TO GO OVER WHAT “ALZA” DID TO OUR MURAL..
WE TOOK BACK WHAT BELONGED TO H.L.P AND TO THE ARTIST COME BY AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF
YOURS TRULY THE ORIGINAL ARTIST FROM THE WALL THAT TALKS
Looking forward to seeing it in the morning.
muralism and graf tags n bombs ugly & fine no doubt all cultura H.P. Playboy in his way had the walls back. How does this math fit ? Factor in how much ego it takes to overcome the plastic based art enviorment of L.A.[expression is organic don't forget] You got to think you’re at least something special if not more. Try balancing that with humillty . The mural ’s back 60 percent restored. Completion next week. Hate for a cat like playboy might be a lack of nieghborhood dianamics ay. Talk about the O G artsist with as much energy. talking wall mural restoration team Gratis for the love of H.P. all artist hustler expressionistas one love
I’ve only been in Highland Park for a year. I have to say I feel a sense of pride in the community that I’m not necessarily a part of but call my home. One of the things I love about living here is the community expression represented in the murals all through out town, I think they’re important.
What sickens me to the core is the near constant graffiti I see on businesses, fences and the sides of homes. I liken it to pissing on ones territory, a territory that belongs to everyone. To me it shows a complete lack of respect or pride in ones community and perpetuates a negative stereotype associated with the young people in this neighborhood. I think of the cost and environmental impact of the constant tagging, the eventual paint cover ups and it fills me with disgust.
There is no art in this, and that includes “ALZA”. It’s primal tribalism, rudimentary and it’s ugly. If you have talent you don’t need to “piss” on other peoples work to prove it.
Born and raised in Highland Park and having had the pleasure to call Plaboy Eddie or as you call him “ALZA” a friend I must clear up some things here. HLP is quickly becoming gentrified by artist types and hipsters. Families that have lived here for decades have been evicted, the property renovated, and “hipsters” move in at higher rents than the previous tenants. This is business as usual. Residents like myself and Playboy Eddie have been invested in this neighborhood since long before it was designated a historical neighborhood and artsy hipsters began moving in. Nobody was complaining when ALZA first began throwing murals up on local businesses in the late eighties and early nineties. Then the community was hipster free and the populace saw themselves in the murals and the messages of peace, community and dignity they are meant to evoke. They did not feel threatened by them as one resident that called the city to get a mural that was effective in stopping tagging on a local business said it had made him/her feel. It was only scary because the culture it reflects is foreign to that person and they do not take the time to learn about the culture or at least respect other cultures enough to not impose their own. This is the culture of the community that is systematically being eroded by the minority, usually white, middle class hipsters. The parking lot murals behind Mr. T’s are gone forever and a place where artists from all over the country once came to paint is gone. It happened without warning nor explanation. Graffitti art is a way for disenfranchised youth to reclaim space, voice and identity in a world where they are criminalized and marginalized right out of the gate. Although inherently destructive I understand the reasons behind it. If these youth had better opportunities, jobs, programs, they would find other ways to meet their needs in a less destructive manner. But we must understand that there will always be an outlaw subculture and that our society glorifies this outlaw culture through the media and entertainment. It is just a fact that due to the rebellious nature of graffitii art there will always exist a group of people who thrive off the illegal aspect of this artform, but the proliferation of it, especially the tagging, could be reduced if these kids had other outlets. As to the “Does anyone Care” piece it seems highly misunderstood. It was a plea to the community, and especially to the people that regularly vandalized the mural with their tags, to have pride in their community and specifically to respect the mural as an important piece of art. To attack him for having the ganas to stand up for a piece of art that he is only invested in as a community member is a perfect example of the elitism of a “real” artist feeling offended that a “street” artist would dare paint on his/her mural. It is also an example of the in-fighting that i like to call the “Crabs-in-the-barrel syndrome.” ALZA was making a statement in support of the mural, which was already tagged and in need of restoration and instead of being applauded for having the balls to make this statement he is the target of an unfair campaign to smear his name. His murals are everywhere because he hustles his art. He values working on the public canvas and has garnered fame doing it. Some of these gallery fucks hate on him because he has turned a buck quicker than they can sell a painting. So stop hating and support a local artist who gives back to the community by giving the youth opportunities to utilize their talents and get paid for it. ALZA is giving the youth a legal outlet, something you bitchers, naggers and complainers have yet to do. Peace out bitchez….
Jerald, Thanks for your comments.
I have said before, and I’ll say it again, Northeast LA belongs to ALZA, and we just have the pleasure of living in it.
My problem with ALZA is that he is all ego and no talent. All bravado, no skills. Big hat, no cattle… but then thats true for most Graffiti Artists. -Its more about fame and notoriety, than aesthetics.
At the same time, like I have said previously, I respect that he promotes ideals we have in common: family, peace in the northeast, regard for murals (even while he writes over them), and feeding the hungry through the Burrito Project.
But as far as beautifying NELA, I think he does us a disservice.
As far as the Los Paisanos Market ‘murals.’ It wasn’t really about graffiti abatement, it was about an opportunity by the Antonio family to add more unpermitted advertisements to their store. They replaced neighborhood tagging blight with their own tagging blight. They did this rather than consult with neighbors, instal cameras, vegetation, and prosecute vandals like other stores do.
Regarding the ‘G-Word’: Gentrification. Change is necessary to growth, growth is necessary for life. Highland Park, like much of Los Angeles, California, United States, and the Earth, has always seen change in respects to demographics. Tongva gave way to the Spanish, then Mexico, then Manifest Destiny, then immigrant Italians and snowbirds from the east, and gave way to Mexico again, this time with other children of the Americas, and now the educated class, the so-called gentry are returning to Highland Park.
Ghettos are never a good thing. Be they the ghettos of Warsaw, or the ghettos of Pallos Verdes Estates. Homogenization is a bad thing. Segregation is a bad thing. It breeds ignorance, in breeds distrust, it promotes injustice. We want to have a diversified community. Renters, owners, the educated, the less-educated, the artists and poets, the futbol players, the service workers, the builders, the entrepreneurs, the 99¢ shoppers, upper management, middle management, and the shit workers. In the end we are all Dodger Blue. (Well, at least the true believers are.)
Now a point of concern: what happened to Playboy Eddie ALZA? I haven’t seen any new work from him lately. I have only seen his signs being removed. He wrote this note in Eagle Rock months ago, and never returned.