Painted Bugs, Pianos, and Riverfronts: Painters pushing boundaries

New to the art scene, or rather newly discovered is an artist collective known as UGLAR and made up of five members. These five artists, Evan Skredertsu, Christopher D. Brand, Steve Martinez, Espi, and Jose A. Lopez, are transcending their previous titles as ‘street artists’ and moving past land and bridges.

One of their recent projects was created by Evan Skrederstu, where he painted bugs as part of his individual gallery art. The paintings are beautiful and more than a little hair-raising when you realize he has painted real bugs; particularly the giant, painted cockroach. Still, it’s not something you see every day.

UGLAR found their place on the LA artist radar when there wrote a book as a celebration of the LA River and its inhabitants. This book turned into a gallery show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art where the group recreated the concrete river bed indoors. This was quite innovative and led this group to a slew of other projects.

Evan Skrederstu was also commissioned by The Wende Museum to paint a standing piano for inclusion in the “Play Me, I’m Yours” Project. This project featured a few pianos around LA for the public.

In addition to large scale pieces commissioned by museums, these artists have a wide range of talents and abilities to work small too. The bugs are a great example of their small scale handiwork; while there recent “Painting the Painters” murals are an example of their larger than life paintings.

This group will no doubt begin to release new and interesting work in years to come.