Urban Art Association

LONDON SOLO SHOW - ANGEL ’LA II’ ORTIZ, by Eddy Atlantis on Sept 6, 2022 12:49:01 GMT 1, Hey All,

Very happy to have helped put this new London exhibition together with Angel Ortiz. This is a huge moment for Angel having not left the US in so long and so is certainly not going to be a show to miss.

Info:

30 September - 28 October 2022

D’Stassi Art is pleased to present King of Hearts, a new exhibition marking the highly anticipated comeback of Keith Haring’s longstanding collaborator and creative partner Angel Ortiz (known as LA II) with a new body of work set to unveil on Friday 30 September.

The Puerto Rican street artist who lives and works in New York has created over 30 new large-scale paintings for the show - his first in the UK in over 40 years. King of Hearts is a story of redemption that sees the arts community come together to uplift and celebrate one of the only remaining living artists - discovered by Keith Haring at only 12 years of age - who collaborated with all of the most influential figures of the 1980s. Amongst these include Haring himself, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton, and Andy Warhol to name a few with more recent collaborations including the likes of London street artist STIK.



Angel Ortiz (LA II) in his studio in New York City

LA II’s career took off in 1980 when Haring, fresh from the Pennsylvania suburbs, came across his ‘Little Angel’ tag on a New York City Street and sought him out to collaborate. A friendship that would last a lifetime, LA II gave Haring access to the city’s vibrant street art scene through The Non Stoppers (TNS) - the largest street art crew of the time on the Lower East Side.

A combination of brotherhood, art and mutual admiration formed the foundation of their creative partnership and their first collaboration - a yellow NYC taxi hood tagged by both artists - sold for $1,400 at the time with proceeds evenly shared between them. Throughout the 80s, the two artists combined their signatures to create murals, sculptures, train paintings, and objects with LA II’s style and technique thought to have influenced Haring’s solo practice from then onwards. In 1983 aged just 16, LA II dropped out of high school to travel the world and work with Haring until 1985, collaborating side by side and weaving their creativity to create some of the most iconic works to exist in the art market today.



King of Hearts is a cathartic and full circle moment for LA II. His new body of work takes inspiration from his past collaborations while looking ahead to the future, combining techniques that started in the 80s that merge the spray can, ink marker, and paint. Restoring his archive as the starting point for his new show, LA II reimagines some of his past work to take its meaning into a new direction including his original blue spray-can cartoon painting from the 90s.

Please email info@dstassiart.com to RSVP and for more information.

Hope to see some of you there!

All the best,

Eddy

Hey All,

Very happy to have helped put this new London exhibition together with Angel Ortiz. This is a huge moment for Angel having not left the US in so long and so is certainly not going to be a show to miss.

Info:

30 September - 28 October 2022

D’Stassi Art is pleased to present King of Hearts, a new exhibition marking the highly anticipated comeback of Keith Haring’s longstanding collaborator and creative partner Angel Ortiz (known as LA II) with a new body of work set to unveil on Friday 30 September.

The Puerto Rican street artist who lives and works in New York has created over 30 new large-scale paintings for the show - his first in the UK in over 40 years. King of Hearts is a story of redemption that sees the arts community come together to uplift and celebrate one of the only remaining living artists - discovered by Keith Haring at only 12 years of age - who collaborated with all of the most influential figures of the 1980s. Amongst these include Haring himself, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton, and Andy Warhol to name a few with more recent collaborations including the likes of London street artist STIK.



Angel Ortiz (LA II) in his studio in New York City

LA II’s career took off in 1980 when Haring, fresh from the Pennsylvania suburbs, came across his ‘Little Angel’ tag on a New York City Street and sought him out to collaborate. A friendship that would last a lifetime, LA II gave Haring access to the city’s vibrant street art scene through The Non Stoppers (TNS) - the largest street art crew of the time on the Lower East Side.

A combination of brotherhood, art and mutual admiration formed the foundation of their creative partnership and their first collaboration - a yellow NYC taxi hood tagged by both artists - sold for $1,400 at the time with proceeds evenly shared between them. Throughout the 80s, the two artists combined their signatures to create murals, sculptures, train paintings, and objects with LA II’s style and technique thought to have influenced Haring’s solo practice from then onwards. In 1983 aged just 16, LA II dropped out of high school to travel the world and work with Haring until 1985, collaborating side by side and weaving their creativity to create some of the most iconic works to exist in the art market today.



King of Hearts is a cathartic and full circle moment for LA II. His new body of work takes inspiration from his past collaborations while looking ahead to the future, combining techniques that started in the 80s that merge the spray can, ink marker, and paint. Restoring his archive as the starting point for his new show, LA II reimagines some of his past work to take its meaning into a new direction including his original blue spray-can cartoon painting from the 90s.

Please email info@dstassiart.com to RSVP and for more information.

Hope to see some of you there!

All the best,

Eddy