The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in downtown Los Angeles is featuring the first major US museum exhibition of street art and graffiti art. The show is called Art in the Streets and focuses on the evolution of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to what it is today. Although paintings, mixed media sculptures, and interactive installations are featured from 50 well known street artists from New York, Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo; the main focus of the show is the role Los Angeles plays in the movement.

Most notably, a special section of the show is dedicated to the art related to the locals only Dogtown skate and surf movement out of Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

Art in the Streets runs from 04.17.11 until 08.08.11 and is located here.

Referenced from: OBEY

Banksy is the notorious and unidentified British street artist that created the recent film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Arguably, Banksy is most notable for risking his life to tag the Palestinian side of Israel's West Bank barrier.

Exit Through the Gift Shop has been nominated for an Academy Award and because his identity is hidden, he cannot use conventional methods to promote himself. Instead, he has created a graffiti campaign throughout the city of Los Angeles for this weekend's Academy Awards.

I noticed one of these recent pieces on my way home from work. It is located on Washington Street just south of downtown Los Angeles near the warehouse district. The piece seems to be a commentary on the housing crisis and the massive amount of foreclosures that have occurred and continue to transpire. It depicts a house drawn in crayon by a little girl being boarded up. I snapped the pictures below of the piece.