urban decay – Page 3

Why Urban Decay Is My Jam

August 31, 2022 by Lonnie Lardner

Confession: I slam on the brakes and jump out of the car to capture the detritus of life.

It’s the dirty, weather-beaten, peeling surfaces of walls and structures in any large city. You typically won’t find these textures in the fancy parts of town, so that’s why I like to take detours and longer ways home. Some of these moments end up on canvas, some find their way onto the hand-painted jackets in our new “Urban Artwear” collection.

It might just be a simple combination of colors…sometimes it’s just erosion, but most of the time it inspires an idea — or series of ideas — for some funk-ass abstract art.

(Pic #2) Ventura, Cal.

(Pic #3) San Pedro, Cal.

(Pic #4) Los Angeles, Cal.

(Pic #5) Oxnard, Cal.

Art In The Alley

January 31, 2020 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Unexpected treasure in a valley alley. Discarded wood and laminate.

They are those almost-accidental spaces between buildings — invisibly supporting the rest of the urban landscape. Backstreet alleys. Not quite streets, but still a means of passage. Often hotspots for crime, and more often than not, packed with heaps of trash and debris.

(Pic #2) Am I the only one who stopped to shoot this?

But if you take the time to look, you just might discover backstreets and alleys provide extraordinary opportunities for found art. I stumbled upon the funky warped wooden “sculpture” as I exited the back door of my favorite deli in Woodland Hills. (Pics #1 + #2, above)

I got lost in the backstreets of London, and snapped a quick shot of this garbage can and its discarded adornments. (Pic #3, below)

And my photographer friend Stephanie Sydney nabbed this exquisite image of a store window in a back alley on La Brea in West Hollywood. (Pic #4, below) It’s one of my favorites, and it now hangs in larger-than-life size in the halls of Fortune 500 companies in New York.

It’s always worth stopping for the shot.

(Pic #4) LaBrea Alley. Photograph by Stephanie Sydney.

(Pic #5) Santa Barbara alleyway off State Street.

“Uber” Inspiration

February 28, 2017 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Abstract painting in the Short North Arts District, Columbus, Ohio.

How my first ridesharing app led me to some kickass street art.

As you may know, I’m a total graffiti freak. Every city I visit I try to collect a few shots representing the community’s street art culture. Sometimes it’s just pure urban decay and colorful textures from well-worn factory facades. Other times, it’s an expression of wild imagination by largely unknown artists. In either case, once you start scoping it out, I swear, every city offers unexpected visual treats. And the off-beat art experience is free.

On a visit to “The” Ohio State University last week, I found myself in 8-degree weather with no gloves and only two hours to explore. I thought I would try Uber for the first time, and man, did I luck out.

(Pic #2) Urban farming color blocks

My driver’s name was Bill Gannaway, and the first question I asked was, “How well do you know this city?” He’d lived there most of his life, but I needed know if he knew the back alleys and funky parts of town — not the shiny tourist attractions. I told him I knew this was a weird request, but if he was game, I’d like to find some radical art — and I would be thrilled if he could give me a tour of the most ratty, run-down sections of town.

Pay dirt. Bill not only knew the coolest painted walls in town, he pitched a drive-by to an old manufacturing no prescription ambien plant that had seen better days, sporting a phenomenal green patina on its wood and metal shingles (Pic #6). Then, under the overpasses we noticed the work of an artist who just may be “a little obsessed” with the amorphic forms of jellyfish, and who’d covered decrepit cement walls with dripping spray paint forming the sea creatures’ tentacles. He’d grouped them in sets of 2, 3 and 4, in different hues (Pic #3 and Pic #10). Then, in an urban garden project in the middle of nowhere, we saw these raw color blocks in assorted sizes. (Pic #2)

Check out the photos from my 2-hour tour with Bill below. For me, the day was a total hit. And the cost? $32.50. Uber, you just might be the guy for me.

Footnote: This just might be the best PR Uber has received all week…. considering the managerial missteps reported in the news today. Despite the kerfuffle, Uber Bill remains my local hero.