New piece in Phoenix on "Calle 16"

I was in Phoenix recently and painted a little something on the side of a new artspace called Por Vida Gallery (right next to the infamous Barrio Cafe on 16th street). My good friends Pablo Luna, Lalo Cota & Breeze Marcus just got the space recently and should be opening it soon. The portrait is based on a photo of the homie Chee from LA, though it could represent a lot of different folks.

Breeze said something about this mural that perfectly explains one of the reasons I love painting for the public so much:

"What I like best about this piece is there are a dozen dudes walking around this neighborhood that look just like this painting, and they all think its them. This piece now belongs to that community, and they appreciate it and respect. That's the most important thing."

As an example, below is a shot of "O.G." who lives nearby and does share a resemblance, if maybe a little older. He came through a couple times and expressed his support.

New EL MAC video from Barcelona

Here's a classy new video documenting the mural I painted recently at the MTN factory outside Barcelona, Spain.

This is a statement from the good folks at Popcranc that made the video:

“From the very start, when we had the opportunity to speak with Mac and find out more about his work, we decided to center the video idea not on the mural process, but on the style and inspiration of the author. The suggestive image of the girl which he painted really reminded us of Andy Warhol’s screen tests, and the simple details characteristic of Jean-Luc Godard’s Anna Karina. So we threw ourselves into the project, playing with that inspiration. The main thing was to use the dramatic combination of black and white, just as Mac did with his piece. We had a great time during the whole process with Mac, Ari, and Kim, and hope that they’ll come back to Barcelona soon. Many thanks to Montana for the opportunity!”