Taggers open up about ‘put[ting] some color on’ DTLA skyscrapers

The graffiti artists who tagged downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers have revealed their motivation in creating what one of them described as “L.A. graffiti history.” After a similar project in December for Art Basel in Miami Beach, artists were inspired “to do an L.A. version,” the artist Merch told Hyperallergic. The artists also placed blame on the developers, Oceanwide Holdings of China, who stopped construction on the project in 2019 when they ran out of funding and have since been accused of not paying the security guards for the site. 2 arrests made in tagging of downtown L.A. skyscraper under construction “With all due respect, s— is abandoned, doing nothing. Let’s put some color on this b— and do what we do if they ain’t gon finish the job,” the artist Hopes said. “This building has needed love for years,” artist Aker added. “If the owners aren’t doing anything about it, the streets of LA are happy to make something out of it.” Close Modal Suggest a Correction Suggest a Correction