Alpha Cult marks three years with ‘Urban Legends’

It’s hard to believe East Village’s Alpha Cult is only three years old, but the proof is in the toy store cum art gallery’s light-hearted third anniversary show, which spans much of modern pop surrealism. Graffiti art, assemblages, reinvented circus punks, kitschy giclées—the unusual suspects are here, in [...]

Painter Aaron Kraten remembers fixing Vespas, fooling pay phones and feeling out of place

AARON KRATEN’S ‘CALIBRATION’
Everyone knows Santa Ana multimedia painter Aaron Kraten for his signature sad-girl image. But Kraten, 34, has led a variegated life, doing everything from fixing motor scooters to running a thrift store to designing video games before becoming a full-time [...]

The plan to create a pedestrian zone on one block of First Street in the East Village
A plan to close First Street to vehicle traffic between Elm and Linden Avenues in the East Village Arts District–creating a so-called pedestrian zone–got one of its first airings at Wednesday night’s East Village Association meeting, and the neighborhood [...]

“Strangers” at Alpha Cult is a warlike show by peaceful street artists

“UNTITLED 1″ by 2CENTS
“Strangers,” the latest offering of street art, graffiti styles, and Powerpuff Girls splinter cells at Alpha Cult, is a series of mixed media—mostly paintings—as oblique as its name. Nor is there explanatory text about any artists here (who have names like [...]