Sad Monster

We recently spotted a familiar face while walking around the Fremont East District, it was Yerman the Sad Yeti. Those unfamiliar with the brainchild of Las Vegas artist Ryan Brunty, it is his artistic creation "to depict the face of depression in an approachable way to alleviate the stigma surrounding mental health". Recently coming off a win at Secret Walls LV, a 6 person art battle royale. It is cool to see his artwork in the streets and not on the usual clothing. A lot of artists miss opportunities to real people in the streets or sometimes they just have no desire. But lucky for us, that isn't the case with Yerman. It is however the first thing we have noticed from him on the Vegas streets but hopefully we will get to see more and possibly larger pieces as well. This guy is interesting with its inverted stenciled image, its like someone actually held Yerman up to the wall and sprayed painted brown... More than likely not, but its still a fun thought. No idea how long this piece has been riding, but it looks like it might have been a good while. Then again, the desert can age pieces here to dust in weeks! How long will he last?!

She Can Do it!

Another trip and yet another new find from Milk The Bunny in the 18b Arts District. It is the familiar face of Rosie the Riveter, the Wolrd War II cultural icon used to represent the American woman working in factories. Just like in the J. Howard Miller Westinghouse version of this poster, we have Rosie showing her muscle and moxie with the words "We Can Do It!". An inspirational image taken over by Omayra Amador and given a MTB makeover of sorts with this smaller print on the Coolridge building. Little things like her bunny ear logo on Rosie's bottom make us smile, cuz sometimes to us the subtle details can make a way bigger picture and we like that. Staying true to her almost psychedelic color pallet, we have her using yellows and pinks to make this piece really work and really her own. Omayra Amador has really let us all know that "She Can Do It" by being so visual with many new pieces updating old spots around town, she makes us feel lazy when we see all the new pieces and spots. Keep it up, cuz you ARE doing it Milk The Bunny!

Found Bottle

Back in the 18b in the parking lot of the Coolridge building, we found this bottle surrounded by tags and pasters. This unknown artist piece caught our attention, but just barely! With all its colors and paint drips, it almost blends right in with the environment. We wonder if the artist intended to blend in somewhat with the background and for that matter, we wonder who the artist is?! We have seen a few different artists use re-purposed bottles as artwork in the Las Vegas streets, but this one is unsigned and was left without a clue as to whom it was. The glass bottle has been painted white and then splattered with a few different neon colors, then literally topped off with a black spray finish running down the sides. This wall has really been the site of a lot of work being done as of late. From local artists painting huge murals, to a whole other set of artists sneaking over at night and getting up with tags and burners. This addition of a tiny bottle installation and a welcome change from the norm, we enjoy that a few artists are using techniques other than spray paint and/or wheatpaste. Variety, that is what we are talking about and that is thankfully what we get! Can't wait to see what this spot offers up next artwise.

18Bern

This past February saw a Bernie Sanders themed event happen at the Eden Gallery in the 18b Arts District full of local Las Vegas artists. The larger of these pieces is actually the ad from said event, and its another one of those temporary stickers like Recycled Propaganda used in this post. So we are assuming it was him that put these up on his last run? Hmmm, could be? Either way these four colorful pieces are holding this spot down past the run of the show. We dig all the different styles between the artists, the main Bernie image is rather striking with its painted gaze meeting yours. We wish we knew who did that main poster image, anyone? From bottom left to right, we have a patriotic Begsonland design with his trademark multiple image tiled pieces. We've actually seen knockoff versions of his designs around town, yeah they are that good! Next to him we have an artist unknown image but the message is certainly known with this one! Dump Trump with a....well a big stinking dump on his head, and using the infamous "immigrants crossing" image for a background is rather effective. Then last but not least, we have Dekoe with his trademark image done in purple and green. We aren't too sure if this piece has anything to do with the others, but it fits in the corner making it all feel symmetrical and we dig that. We admit we aren't that political, but we love these politically themed pieces and hell we even made it out to this show!

Totem Tagger

We found another leftover from last year's Life Is Beautiful festival, and it is another D*Face! We can't believe how much work he did last year, we are still finding previously unseen pieces of all kinds. This time we found a tag on an electrical pole in front of his huge "Peace Gun" mural off Fremont Street. Using the same gray color can he used in his drop shadow in this piece, he took a moment too keep it street by catching an illegal tag in the middle of painting a paid mural. Which is how a lot of high profile artists do it, get a paid gig and get up on the side. We've seen D*Face do 4-5 street installations around town when he'd have a show at a gallery, and we mean good sized pieces ranging from wheatpastes to 5 foot tall headstones! This artist is pretty much fearless when it comes to his artwork and his range of styles, an artist that bridge the gap between street and galleries like it is nothing. We hope we can keep finding more pieces as the days pass, I doubt we will have a problem.

Pink Bunny

We found another piece from the ever-present Milk The Bunny on the streets of downtown Las Vegas, this time we get a pink uni-bunny with a bright yellow hat. The artist also known around town as Omayra Amador has been getting up more and more, and doing some solid work in the most visual places. This piece we found on the edge of some construction on Fremont Street and across from the The El Cortez is a damn good spot to be seen my locals and visitors alike! From what we can tell she seems to be using more color prints more so rather than hand painted as of late, and we can't even hate on that. Well since we caught her gallery show at Twisted Artist Gallery in the 18b Arts District. She had some of the original pieces that she has used for the street and they are like quadruple the size of what she is using in the street, fairly impressive. But back out on the streets, she is still doing work and doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon. Keep it up and stay up!

Psychedelic Lamp

Well it has been awhile, but on the other side of this post we find Avantarded with a piece that we can only describe as some sorta psychedelic lamp or some piece of surreal furniture. This building has only had a few street art pieces on it and actually even less advertisements, if you can even believe that! Avantarded uses his trademark black ink on Kraft paper here once again, but completely going off in a cosmic direction this time. From what we've seen over the years, there has always been elements of space and cosmic themes in his artwork and we always enjoy peering into these small windows into other worlds. When looking at this piece, it almost has a form and identity of its own that it is trying to convey to you as you pass by. Is it trying to look as human as possible to get you to move closer til it grabs you in its clutches mentally and possibly psychically?! Better stay a few feet away just in case! Found on Las Vegas Boulevard, between the Strip and Downtown.

Ellen DeCerberus

Typical Banidto returns from his apparently unending travels between Los Angeles and Las Vegas to put up this new piece in the 18B Arts District. A tri-faced image of a woman, and that woman has the unmistakable face of Ellen DeGeneres. With all the extras and lines the artist likes to paint on his images, its sorta interesting to us that he chose to use a very recognizable person in his artwork. Maybe his is making a statement or sending a message but we just aren't getting it, but maybe this is just the first person we've recognized in his artwork and its us that isn't getting it. Hmm, well anyway! We love how the paste and dirt has mixed together on the white door during application and how it almost makes a new design on top of the artwork. With the image being dark and the wall lighter, it looks as if the paste swirl is behind the piece and it gives it even more depth. As if it wasn't enough that the artist has already added paper layers, we get the added bonus of something artful that was pure happenstance. You gotta love when unplanned art just happens like that, I know we sure do.

A Warning

A new warning has appeared in the 18b Arts District, and it is pretty damn awesome. Hack The Mack gets up with a Neighborhood Watch type sticker, only his program supports all suspicious activities! At first glace we thought this was just a normal sticker and we are glad we took another look, cuz its hilarious. A hooded man with the name Trap Man emblazoned on his ski-mask greets you with a smile under the text warning, with all the correct colors to make this sticker really work. After some investigation, we found out that this is a sticker for some rapper or musician or whatever. Which kinda sucks, cuz we feel that this is far more interesting as a piece of artwork instead of another advertisement. But then again, it did grab our attention and held in for a good while. Well, until we figured out who and what it was for. But hey looks like this sticker design worked either way, so you fully got us this time. Nice job!

Roots Radical

Another trip around town and a stop in the 18b Arts District reveals a new piece of art from Recycled Propaganda. A defiant blue fist thrusting out of the ground, attached to a group of growing roots with the text "Political Revolution". Sort of a greener take on one of those old propaganda posters from the past, but updated to a time where we almost need to look at ourselves more so than the person next to us. We have to mention we are enjoying the hell outta Recycled Propaganda getting up in new spots and being more visual, we love to see artists push other artists to get up and stay up. That is just what RP has been doing as of late, and like we said earlier. We are enjoying the hell outta it and his new artwork pieces! Upon closer inspection we found out this wasn't a wheatpaste though, it was a print made on some reusable sticker material. Kind of weird, but then again kind of cool since any person could just take it home and put it on their wall. Which has been a problem for some artists in other cities, pieces just stolen from walls and resold means pissed off artists. But will we see people taking more artwork from the streets with stuff like this? We really have no idea, but with this reusable material. It is quite tempting, even to us!!

Electrical Disconnect

As much as the city likes to keep Las Vegas clean, you just can't escape the multitude of people getting up with stickers. This spot in the 18b Arts District is usually slammed with stickers til it got buffed recently, but as you can tell it is building up steam again. From stencils to tags to stickers, this spot is fast becoming the best roll call spot to be seen and noticed when you are in the 18b. We always enjoy the sometimes vast differences between artists styles and sticker choices, be it a homemade job or a professionally printed sticker. It is always interesting to see how people like to get their message out there, no matter what it is! What can be seen as blight to some can be seen as hardwork and art to others, we like to take the time to enjoy the art and effort of these artists. But then again, of course we would! We run a street art blog, so much for that..

Blackened Bones

Anilyz Something has been going back and forth with different artists on this spot, and for some time now. But he is the one that is up and holding this spot down right now, amongst the tags with his trademark skull logo. We really like the inverted skull look with these larger pasters, it really pops and looks great on top of that dark red door. The surrounding tags somehow help this look like a finished piece or something, they almost make it symmetrical. We always enjoy when pieces interact with each other, and especially when its unintended as it is here. This spot on the old Western Hotel exterior is a great spot, but it also gets a quick art to buffed turnaround which makes it a great place to check for new artwork when you are downtown. So make sure to add it to your list, artists and street art enthusiasts alike.

Red & Orange

Milk The Bunny is back with another new piece, this time it is recently passed away star Roberto Gómez Bolaños as superhero El Chapulín Colorado from the Mexican television comedy series of the same name. This seems to be a smaller print version of one of her larger paintings, we'd like to know what happened to the original though. Is she selling her original paintings and putting these print versions out in the streets? If so, then that is a damn great idea to get peoples attention and get your artwork into the hands of people that will appreciate it! Also on the scene, we find a wooden piece from Dan45 still riding in this same spot for over a year now. This orange puzzle piece still has its artwork and message still clear as day one, but the sun has been beating the hell outta it for over a year and it shows. We love how it looks and as more time passes this piece will continue to be weathered from the elements and continue to look cooler and more interesting. Two cool and completely different artists and styles, showing their diversity with another unconscious collab in the Las Vegas streets.