the village version 2

"Bulls, castles, and shwarma." 2004, mixed media

October 22nd 2001, Police Brutality Protest/ Protesta contra la brutalidad policia en los angeles

By Philip Bennett and Jacob Miller

mural Valparaiso March 11 2006

This is at hostel YoYo at Ecuador St. in Valparaiso. This is the first mural that I designed and traced. Basicly, I took all the knowledge I have from the previous murals with BRP and Cultura en Movimiento and I put it to to work. I followed the process and style of how we always work with Mono Gonzalez. The idea was that I painted the black lines, then everyone else came in with the colors so they could all participate, and afterwards I retraced the black lines. The mural was signed under the group of Cultura en Movimiento. One of the most interesting parts about this mural was that it was painted at a hostel, so the participation was international including North americans and South americans from various countries. Sometimes people passed by the street and gave their compliments or even joined in to paint and the cars slowed down to check out the mural. This is what I liked most about the mural and this mentality and style of collective muralism that I have learned in the variuos murals from Mono Gonzalez, the fact that people who aren't necesarily artists can come participate in art. People who like art but won't necesarily go to art museums can join in and paint, and enjoy it alot. It takes art away from such an elite and intellectual mentality and brings it closer to the people. It also brings the artsits out of a private, introverted environment of art and into a public scene along with their art. The mural is about the people, style and environment of Valparaiso. A hand holds out a yoyo of the world because the hostel is called the yoyo. at first various people were talking about what they wanted in the mural and how they wanted it and I became a little nervous but then I realized I just had to do it how we always do, sporadically and joyfully with the people. in many of our murals people come along with their opinion of how it can become better, but i have learned there are always critics but 99% of the people like the mural and enjoy painting it so any negativity doesn't really matter. We just paint it confidentally and it comes out very satisfying.

to see more of the pictures of this mural and many others y para la descripcion de esta mural en espanol se puede visitar el link para arte brigadista, murals art, check out the link to mural art o el link para cultura en movimiento.

Jazz/acrylic paint/2001

Remember/2001/acrylic paint

I painted this in an art class in high school for the Jay Shalmoni Arts and Writing Contest. The contest composed an interview with a Holocaust survivor and then an art piece based on the survivor's story. The survivor of my painting is Mosha Loen from Lithuania and survived a Nazi concentration camp while they killed almost all of her family. My painting was later displayed at the Holocaust Museum in West L.A. The words above say "Remember!" in hebrew. Now it is ever more important to pass on the stories of these survivors so they will never be forgotten and history will not repeat the same trajedies.

Yo pinte esta pintura en una clase de secundario para una competencia se llama The Jay Shalmoni Memorial Holocaust Arts and Writing Contest 2001. La competencia fue compuesto por por una entrevista con sobrevivador de La Holocausta y una obra de arte basado por su cuento. El sobrevivador se llama Mosha Loen de Lituania. La pintura fue expuesto en el museo de La Holocausta en Los Angeles. Las palabras arriba dicen "Recuerde!" en Hebreo. Ahorita es lo mas importante para recordar eventos como La Holocausta para que los cuentos de los sobrevivadores no estan olvidados, para que historia no sigue con las mismas trajedias del pasado.

"Pasadena Parking Lot", oil pastel, 2003

"Rear View", mixed medium, 2003

Armand, 2001, print

the village, 2005