All photos by Mark Mauer. More after the jump.

Yeah, it's actually an ad for Helio... Kind of. There's a small Helio logo off to the left side. But for the most part it's just a cool huge original painting by Biskup right in the middle of La Brea.

The painting has been there for most of 2007 and I've had these pictures for a while, but I only remembered them recently when I came across a couple of beautiful Biskup
paintings at Billy Shire's gallery where the Liz McGrath show was taking place.

All photos by Mark Mauer
More - and video - after the jump.

It's hard not to love Liz McGrath. There's the art, the music she make with her band Miss Derringer, heck, the very building that she lives in is so cool it got its own cover story in LA Weekly earlier this year (with Liz on the cover naturally.)

But tonight, it's (mostly) about the art. More than 30 new pieces, dioramas and sculptures from buffaloes to armadillos. Cockroaches, bears, flies, several deer, even the seemingly freeze-dried chihuahuas that used to make up the base of her art make an appearance, in a two-headed variety.

Heading a couple of blocks south of HK Super on Western near 3rd Street, you can make a left and see a beautiful piece in reds and blues along the side of the wall.

However, right next door is a Korean store which sells herbs and "natural" remedies I think. It's very animal-based, that's for sure.

It was closed, so I had to peer in through the door, but inside, there was a (real) bear with a (fake) snake in its mouth. And this sign:

And if that's not nearly enough, there's also a 5 foot tall green monster standing on a sign outside the store

And the sign he's standing on features a goat. Whew. More of the art - and monster - after the jump. All photos by Mark Mauer.

Ten artists made up the new Snow Angels show at ThinkSpace including new works by Stella Im Hultberg.

Above, Hultberg's “Heartbeats,” Available as a Giclee print on Hahnemuhle photo rag

SNow Angels opened opened Dec. 7th and runs through Dec. 23rd.

Above and below, paintings by Tina Anderson. Nature Of The Beast and Grey Matter

Thinkspace is located at 4210 Santa Monica Blvd. near Sunset
All photos by Mark Mauer.

Obamanation
Photos and text by Shelley Leopold

A mural appeared in Mid-Wilshire on a recent morning — not on a rooftop or an overpass, but at the ninth-floor entrance to a nondescript office building. Like most pieces of graffiti art, it rose to greet its environment seemingly uninvited as it staked its claim. “It just kind of appeared one day after we moved in,” comments Van Tamom, a national campaign coordinator for the Barack Obama campaign. “I walked in, and wow!” Turns out, artist Kofie’One, a writer with the L.A. crews WCA and UTI, was approached by a fellow Obama supporter to enliven the headquarters in celebration of its opening in October. “I was given the opportunity to creatively contribute to Barack Obama’s campaign and didn’t give it a second thought,” Kofie says. “The fact that an artist like myself even lands on Obama’s radar is an honor and speaks to exactly why Obama has my vote. Do you think any other candidate has a mural from an artist like me in their headquarters?”

Barack Obama will be in LA speaking Monday, December 10 at Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City. Also appearing: Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Keidas, will.i.am and others.

BBC has a video report posted on Youtube about Banksy pieces showing up in Bethlehem. There's even a brief phone interview with the artist and a couple of decent images of his works on the walls that divide the city.

However, BBC won't let the video be embedded, so you'll have to visit the site to see it. Click here or on the image above to watch it.

Thanks to doondee in Rosemead for the tip!

This is visible on the south side of Melrose (I lost my notes. I don't know what E/W street this on. Beverly?) if you're heading west through East Hollywood, a bit past the 101. It's been there for a long time, and shows some wear on it - or rather stupid, spray-painted words over the art. But in case it just suddenly vanishes, as these things are likely to do, I wanted to post these now. It's no masterpiece of the artform, but it's not bad either.