STREET ART ALIVE at The LUME Los Angeles

Visitors walk through a recreated New York subway tunnel and examine parts of the Berlin wall inside an immersive art exhibit at THE LUME Los Angeles. Grande Experiences STREET ART ALIVE partnered with Magic Box LA to create a lively digital art gallery in downtown LA. It's an exciting new medium for visitors to engage in art and culture.

The Greek called it 'graphein' and the Italians 'graffito'. In modern times, the Godfather of stencil art Blek leRat, and British artist Banksy became two of the most famous stencil artists. Lady Pink was one of the first female street artists in New York City's subway graffiti subculture. Each street artist has a story to tell through their art.

Gangs like DONDI's 'Crazy Inside Artists' (CIA) paved the way for crews to get their names out in the world, and in the 90s, an explosion of street art blossomed. By the 2000s, street art took over graffiti in the public eye, and soon well-known artists were commissioned to create murals. In 2010, 'Muralism' became the forefront of street art to beautify a city and display global gentrification. Miami has 'Wynwood Walls' and Hawaii's 'Pow Wow'.

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Walking through the 25,000 sq. ft exhibit, visitors are introduced to over 200 artists through SENSORY4 Immersive Technology. The curated soundtrack of hip-hop, post-punk, pop and glam rock music enhances the constantly changing images on displayed on the floor and walls.

Street art in Berlin was coined by art critic Emilie Trice as the graffiti Mecca of the urban art world. Torn apart by wars and cut in two with a 96-mile long, 4-meter-tall concrete barrier, the Westside of the Berlin wall became a canvas covered with spray-painted political messages, while the East side remained bare due to guards and land mines halting artists from getting too close.

Some of the cities displayed in the exhibit have a theme, such as London for its rejuvenation, Melbourne for its fresh take on history, and Sao Paulo for its fight for rights.

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Be sure to purchase the colorful 68-page program to learn about other street artists and see their artwork. The artist Tyler is quoted saying, 'I am just trying to mirror my society. I just want to be known as someone who had the courage to speak up.'

Be sure to see artist Elle and German artist Hendrik Beikirch huge murals paying homage to iconic political giants Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Mahatma Gandhi. It shows how powerful these leaders can be at this scale. They did have the courage to speak up.

You will also gain insight into why many of D*Face's paintings are about heartache, love, loss, and life. 'These unifying feelings and emotions are we all share and can connect to, regardless of gender, race or age.' Artist Boogie REZ shares in the program, 'When I was younger, I always had problems connecting with people through verbal conversation, so art became my voice.'

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Some of the cities displayed in the exhibit have a theme, such as London for its rejuvenation, Melbourne for its fresh take on history, and Sao Paulo for its fight for rights.

Towards the end of the exhibit is a room with murals displaying the names and faces of women subjected to violence. A red hand over the mouth of one woman is a symbol of a growing movement, 'The Murdered. This area honors and pays respect to the murdered and missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement. This powerful movement stands for all the missing women whose voices could not be heard.

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The original story was published on 1 May 2022 "STREET ART ALIVE in THE LUME Los Angeles" in Just Luxe