Recently the BeCore team had the opportunity to take a team bonding trip to the Beyond The Streets exhibition in Downtown LA. As an experiential marketing agency, we felt the “event” side of the exhibition, but it also feels like a culturally significant museum with 50 years of art in one setting. The exhibit has a bit of everything, it has what can be considered “high art” and it has “low art”. It’s a specially curated show by experts in urban art. There are political elements but also many with a lighter, humorous feel. Even though it is based in Los Angeles, we could feel and see the energy of places around the globe. There’s influence from music and skate, and ideas from the past and from the future. Read on to learn more about the exhibit, hear what our team thought about their experience, and if we recommend a trip to our friends and readers (spoiler: we do).
What is Beyond The Streets?
Beyond The Streets is an immersive exhibit spanning over 40,000 square feet located at the Werkartz Building along the LA River. Beyond The Streets celebrates how graffiti and street art have changed and shaped our modern culture. Featured throughout the large industrial and outdoor spaces are installations, photography, sculpture, paintings, and environments by some of the world’s leading modern artists.
Who are the artists?
Beyond The Streets features over 100 artists all with incredibly independent and personal styles. Of course, the exhibition recognizes the legendary work of Banksy, Kilroy Was Here, C.R. Stecyk III, and Kristofferson San Pablo- their work is some of the first that comes to mind when we talk about street art. Beyond The Streets expands the narrative of street art and graffiti to include multimedia artists with new perspectives and creative mindsets.
“It was incredible to see how many of the artists had their street art ultimately became integrated into various areas of pop culture. It reinforced for me the power of genuine, authentic experiences to capture people’s attention and make them react.” – Steve Dupee, President of BeCore
Beyond The Streets includes canvas work by the mind-bending Felipe Pantone and Todd James. Todd James started out painting subway trains in New York in the early 80’s and went on to become one of the most successful graffiti and commercial artists of our time: opening exhibitions like Street Market and Art in the Streets.
Felipe Pantone-Chromadynamica 61
Todd James
Richard Coleman
HuskMitNavn
The Richard Colman canvas entitled Blue Figure, acrylic on canvas, was a favorite of creative intern Tori Jackson’s. “The colors were so vibrant, and I found it to be so creative how he used different shades of the same color. I think he executed this very well. And HuskMitNavn’s acrylic pieces made me love the idea of a backwards canvas.”
What really sets Beyond The Streets apart from other modern exhibits are the environments. BeCore’s Executive Creative Director Jen Fisch “loved that Beyond The Streets took a more experiential approach than a traditional art show. From the moment you enter the gates you are greeted with installations that encourage the audience to participate. The handball installation by Lee Quiñones recreated an NYC site in the 80s and came complete with equipment to play an actual game of handball. The Gangsta Gardener, Ron Finley, built a garden out front for everyone to enjoy. He is known for building gardens in inner city food deserts.”
Lee Quiñones
Ron Finley
“Inside there were at least half a dozen different installations where you were encouraged to touch, feel and explore a physical space. A couple that stood out, where the massive Temple by FAILE which has an insane amount of detail and also the strip club style installation by AIKO which came from a female empowerment perspective.”
The works of Brooklyn based artist, SWOON also highlight a new emerging narrative in the world of street art. They feature beautifully detailed portraits painted on found objects like doors and pieces of driftwood.
FAILE
SWOON
Who is the curator?
Beyond The Streets is curated by Roger Gastman. Roger is a graffiti historian, collector, urban anthropologist, and founder and co-publisher of Swindle magazine with Shepard Fairey. This exhibition is his follow up to Art in the Streets, which was the first graffiti and street art exhibit in the U.S., which broke MoCA LA’s attendance record with 220,000 visitors). Roger is also known for co-authoring “The History of American Graffiti” and for co-producing the Oscar nominated Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Quite the resume, and his expertise shows through in the Beyond The Streets exhibition.
So, Does the team at BeCore think you should go?
YES!
Beyond The Streets captures the heart and soul of LA. What started as a way for a few kids to express themselves transformed into a universal language. Street Art is now a celebrated part of Los Angeles History and Culture and there is no better place to see it then Beyond The Streets.
Tori Jackson’s Los Angeles pride was represented in Estevan Oriol’s L.A. Fingers. This piece “stuck out to me just being from the city and seeing the representation and combination of art, Angeleno pride, and culture. The long nails were a plus haha.”
Estevan Oriol – L.A. Fingers
“Beyond The Streets is the future of art and experience. This type of activation is changing the
way people immerse themselves into art. It gives you context, background and makes you feel
like you are there.”- Mark Billik, Founder and CEO
BeCore’s Founder and CEO Mark Billik
“Beyond The Streets is a perfect source of inspiration for any creative. It introduced me to a variety of different styles and artists and encouraged me to pick up my sketchbook the second I got home. It’s also a great destination for whoever wants to spice up their social media, as it offers plenty of unique photo opportunities.” -Tia Ruszkowska, Junior Art Director
Our team loved their experience at the exhibit and highly recommend making some time to visit, especially for those in the LA area or street art fans. Our creative director Lyla had a great summary of our thoughts:
“I loved the variety of artists they showcased. If you love street art, you know you usually have to hunt for it. To get to see all these great artists in one location was so inspiring!”
-Lyla Morrison, Creative Director
This is a must for street art fans, there’s no need to hunt through the city. Beyond The Streets is open to the public now through August 26th, Friday-Sunday. Admission is $25.
For more information about visiting the Beyond The Streets exhibition in Downtown LA and to buy tickets, click here. Also check out the Beyond The Streets Instagram for more photos and behind-the-scenes video.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkn6XRxn28E/?taken-by=beyondthestreetsart