California Locos brings together over 40 years of LA culture, presented through the eyes and hands of the artists who shaped it. Featuring three generations of legendary LA artists, this book chronicles the life and work of the five original locos: Chaz Bojórquez, Dave Tourjé, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, and Gary Wong. It expands this core membership to include works by Mister Cartoon, Shepard Fairey, Estevan Oriol, Retna, OG Slick, and many others.
Surf and skate culture, street art, tattoo, street photography, graphic design, and music converge over 432 pages to celebrate Los Angeles in all its exuberant diversity and raw grittiness. Being a LOCO means being crazy about life, being creative, rebellious, and open-minded to the ethnic and cultural diversities of our city and the world. LOCOS is a movement, embodying innovation, multiculturalism, and rebellion.
Author: Dave Tourjé was born and raised in the culturally eclectic Northeast L.A. of the 1970s. His upbringing amongst skaters, gangs, and the area’s tribal friction heavily influences his work. Also a musician, Tourjé was a member of the influential L.A. band the Dissidents, playing shows with Camper Van Beethoven, Saccharine Trust, and The Minutemen, to name a few. Tourjé’s artwork oscillates between high and low, punk and institutional hegemony. It was the subject of a one-man exhibition covering 15 years of paintings on acrylic glass at the Riverside Art Museum in 2002. His work has also been featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and Laguna Art Museum. In 1998, Tourjé helped to form the Chouinard Foundation after purchasing the home of Nelbert Chouinard, in order to help restore the lost history of one of the great art schools in the world.
Selling Points:
The book showcases the most influential artists on the West Coast of the US.
Featuring many previously unseen pictures.
Includes the stories behind the photographs.
Tattoo, surf, skate, and street art are represented.
Three generations of legendary LA artists and 40 years of LA culture.
