The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

When Tools Become Art

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(Pic #1) “Trapped Sole” spray can sculpture by Stinky Punk. Featured at Art Share L.A. in downtown Los Angeles.

A stunning Los Angeles exhibit celebrates a fresh way of looking at Spray

“Spray paint simplifies the creative process, acting as both a paintbrush and paint.”  (Up Magazine)

It’s a tool that offers the sleek finishing touch we associate with graffiti. It’s super popular because it’s portable, versatile, and accessible. Since the 1960s — when modern graffiti emerged as a veritable art form on New York City subway trains — spray paint became an extension of a tagger’s imagination. Invented originally as an application for aluminum coating for radiators, it quickly became the mainstay of a new brand of inner-city art.

And now, a master of “the art of spray” — a graffiti artist who calls himself “Man One” — has transformed a ubiquitous “tool of the trade” into art itself. Man recently curated dozens of “can-formations” made by Los Angeles artists — into a collection that magically transforms utilitarian objects into fanciful works of beauty, surprise, and wit.

(Pic #2) “Transformation” by Vox

(Pic #3) “The Golden Crwon” – “L.A. Lifestyle” – “The Garden Life” by Oldskool33

(Pic #4) “Energy, Love, Movement of Souls” by Ms. Yellow

(Pic #5) “Brain Candy” by Joe Ded

(Pic #6 ) “Spray Pillar” by Paul Patrick

(Pic #7) “Cut My Hearts Out” – “Cut Ups” by DMN One

(Pic #8) “Untitled” by P Behind the Art / 2022

(Pic #9) “Quetzal Roots” by Ronald Del Cid 

A Boy Who Channels A Master — from the 50s

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(Pic #1) Laser-focused artist “Jaylen” splatters his way to a perfect abstraction. Hope’s Nest Halloween Workshop, Van Ness Recreation Center, South Los Angeles. 

He just started splashing paint around…

It caught my attention — especially since most kids are compelled to “stay within the lines” and to make art that “looks like something.” It’s just how most teachers steer them. They are often taught to copy — to draw with precision — the object in front of them.

Then there’s Jaylen. A young man who stopped by our Halloween Art Workshop in South L.A. and spun my head around. I asked if he knew about abstract expressionism and had he heard of Jackson Pollock. He said, “This IS Jackson Pollock.” I quickly shut my mouth, and silently thanked the teacher who took the time to introduce him to one of my fine art heroes.

Not only did he know one of the greatest painters in modern art, he knew at that moment, to be true to Pollock’s explosive style, he had way more splattering to do. He wasn’t finished. He had at least “one more coat” of black to apply before he could dry his thickening masterpiece in the sun.

His work would take longer to dry than any other child’s at his table, but he probably knew that Pollock would often have to wait a month for his paintings to cure.