LA II (Angel Ortiz) Sculptures

Graffiti Painted Cannon Mixed media, wood and hard plastic with metal chain on one side Circa 1990's Dimensions: 29" x 11" x 10" Provenance: Kirk Gallery New York City Extreme line detail with various base colors, black green yellow gold and red with silver metallic and black paint. Tagged Throughout by LAII New York City graffiti artist LA II (a.k.a. Angel Ortiz) Angel Ortiz (born 1967), known publicly as LA II or LA2 (meaning "Little Angel"), is an American graffiti artist and visual artist of Puerto Rican descent from the Lower East Side who is known for his collaborations with Keith Haring. Ortiz's contributions to Haring's work, including his trademark graffiti infill squiggles, have notably been obscured by the art establishment, which has prompted Ortiz's supporters, including artist, photographer, and videographer Clayton Patterson, to publicly uplift Ortiz's work and ask for credit to be given. Ortiz has been criminalized, arrested, and incarcerated several times for various offenses throughout his life. Ortiz is represented by Lawrence Fine Art, which has galleries in Los Angeles and East Hampton. Ortiz has created graffiti art since at the age of ten. Starting in the mid-1970s, he tagged in New York's Lower East Side under the moniker LA2. At the age of thirteen, his subway tags caught the attention of Keith Haring in 1980. Haring was reportedly inspired by Ortiz's artistry and the two began collaborating. At the age of sixteen, Ortiz was in contact with Jean Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. In 1982, Ortiz and Haring collaborated for an exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York. His work is associated with the Outsider street art movement and the Pop Art movement. In a 1992 biography on Haring's life, Haring stated "We just immediately hit it off. It’s as if we’d known each other all our lives. He’s like my little brother." Kenny Scharf, artist and friend of Haring's, recalled "Keith treated him as a true collaborator; he didn’t treat him like some little kid, which he actually was, really. He respected him and gave him half of whatever they collaborated on.” Ortiz confirmed that he was paid for his work during Haring's lifetime. However, Ortiz stopped receiving payment from Haring's estate following his death. According to scholar Ricardo Montez, the Haring Foundation has "since made strides to rectify LA2’s erasure." LA II is for Haring what Jean-Michel Basquiat was for Andy Warhol. Today LA II is considered an iconic graffiti artist, being unearthed from the massive power of Keith Haring’s body of work. LA II’s role role...