WAR 42

photos by: Gabriel

Imagine being trapped in hell.
Not your typical fire-and-brimstone-and-nonconsensual-anal-sex-with-demons kind of hell ? I want you to imagine a really bad place. Like a life lived in a vacuum of meaning, no transcendence, just day upon day spent wandering the bland postindustrial warrens of greater Los Angeles.

It?s hell not having a hero.

This first solo show by underground LA artist Branded features a collection of color and black and white photographs serigraphically imaged onto sheet metal, as well as collage installations of street photography and graffiti art. The images explore the urban alienation, search for meaning, vandal culture, and fuck-it-all partying that shape Branded?s work.

Saturday, August 2nd 2008
IT’S HELL NOT HAVING A HERO

NEW WORKS BY: BRANDED

Opening reception from 7-11pm
Located at;
Capsole
7320 1/2 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046

**Open Bar
**Live screen printing by Two Rabbits
**Free limited edition print to 1st 100 people

Closing reception Saturday, Aug 30th 7-10pm

This clip isn’t as cool as the 2 whole cars they paint but the destruction is fun to watch.

A 16-year-old alleged tagger has been arrested in connection with the shooting death this week of another 16-year-old boy near Los Angeles High School, police said today.

The suspect, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was arrested Wednesday after witnesses identified him, Los Angeles Police Department officials said in a statement.

The suspect and the victim, Adrian Garcia-Diaz, were former Los Angeles High students who each had been expelled for disciplinary reasons, said Sgt. Mike Ventura. They had not, however, attended the school at the same time.

?It?s not like there was bad blood because of something that occurred during the school year previously,? Ventura said.

The alleged shooter and the dead youth were enrolled at continuation high schools, police said. They belonged to rival tagging, or graffiti, crews associated with local gangs, police said.

On Tuesday afternoon, they had joined a crowd of youths gathered at Windsor Park near Olympic and Plymouth boulevards for a fight between their crews that drew other crews too, Ventura said.

Some members of the crowd brought video cameras to film the fight, and investigators are still attempting to obtain footage, he said.

?Hopefully we can find somebody out there who has some kind of sympathy and is willing to be cooperative and bring us some videotaped evidence,? Ventura said.

During the gathering, which involved students from Los Angeles High, a fight broke out and escalated until the suspect pulled a handgun and fired a shot into the crowd, striking Garcia-Diaz in the chest, police said.

Investigators recovered a handgun at the scene and said that since both youths were Latino, race was not a factor in the shooting.

Garcia-Diaz was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, police said.

The suspect was being held without bail.

Come kick it every saturday @ Dragonfly on Santa Monica in Hollywood with the Cupcake Cartel & Dj Lady Tribe.

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