Seen: The London Police @ XLARGE

XLARGE celebrated the opening of it’s upstairs gallery with an inaugural show from The London Police this past Thursday (3.15.07). Chaz created several paintings  which attempt to deliver the essence  of his street art in canvas form for those would rather own his art than view it in its natural habitat. While the paintings prominently feature his signature LADS with their thick-black outlines, the intriguing bits are  the various seemingly random scribbles and scrawled messages in various colors.  The textual jumble lends the paintings an evolved rather than constructed feel.  It’s almost as if passerbys have scrawled their own messages on the paintings, much as might happen to a TLP street piece.   Beyond the environmental feel, the approach creates a sense of hectic excitement with competing bits of text clamoring for the viewer’s attention.

In addition to the paintings, Chaz  created a sprawling installation featuring several excellent wall pieces in  the upstairs gallery and on the wall adjacent to the stairs.  While the canvases are quite nice in their own right, the wall paintings with their simplicity were the highlight of the show IMO. Chaz remarked that the installation pieces are more valuable precisely because they can’t be bought or taken away.   While I agree with that, I couldn’t help but think that large scale adhesive TLP vinyl would be very cool.

What about merch? Two TLP x XLARGE exclusives were available at the show – a shirt and a small but very high quality pillow.  These are not available online but can be ordered by calling the shop at 323.666.3483.

Last but no least, Chaz commandeered a newspaper machine on the sidewalk of XLARGE as a make-shift signing table.  Not surprisingly, a crowd soon gathered around him with their sketchbooks in hand.  Chaz prefers to remain faceless in photos as law-enforcement doesn’t take kindly to street art in this day and age.

XLARGE Los Angeles
1768 Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.666.3483