LOS ANGELES, CA – It all starts with a blank canvas.
- Graffiti artists commissioned by the city
- Painting on the walls he used to run from the cops for graffiti
- His story shows how far art has come
Alejandro Poli, who goes by Man One, is a Los Angeles-based graffiti artist. Graffiti, as he describes it, is trying to paint a straight line with a spray can, but clearly it is a little more nuanced than that.
His studio in Lincoln Heights is loaded with art inspired by LA. Man One painting on a canvas in a studio is something he never could have imagined as a kid growing up in Alhambra.
“There was a big misconception about what graffiti was in Los Angeles. And like I said since 16 years old I’ve been trying to change that stereotype,” says Man One.
This week he is giving a talk at Cal State Fullerton and doing a live painting. Man One considers himself a second generation graffiti artist, but his story is representative of how far the art form has come.
Man One is a business owner, a college graduate with a fine arts degree, an author, a father and a husband. Not exactly the stereotype of someone who graffitis.
“Even though I was smart and into sports and had loving parents, there was still an artistic expression that was lacking in my life. And graffiti filled that void for me. So I want to tell kids if you go to college and get a degree and whatever, just study in any way, you can get better at what you do,” says Man One.
He has never been arrested, but has had plenty of close calls. Graffiti was only a misdemeanor when he was painting in the 90s, but today can be a felony.
A career started that started “tagging” buses with his name as a kid and 30 years later his life has come full circle. The City of LA is paying him thousands of dollars to paint the very walls that he used to run from the cops for graffitiing.
“It’s about how can my art bridge the gap about what’s lacking in a certain community,” says Man One.
As he finishes this piece for the Fullerton library, he has taken graffiti and himself from the streets to a place of higher learning; from a blank canvas to a work of art.