Gang Fight, Dogs in Heat : Poster Proves a Bit Too Much--Even for Venice

The Venice Chamber of Commerce has banned a new community poster because of its vivid cartoon depictions of a gang fight, an armed robbery, a police chase, a house burglary, a car-towing, a garbage scavenger and dogs in heat.

The poster, by Venice artist and businessman Jeffrey Stanton, appeared last month. President Phil Bubar said the chamber ordered 150 copies and sold nearly a third of them before deciding that the colorful wall-sized drawing could not be sanctioned by the chamber because it projected a “negative” image of the community.

The poster, officially known as the “Venice California Map,” has been taken off the shelves of several stores. Bubar said merchants and community leaders objected most strenuously to the violent incidents portrayed in the economically depressed Oakwood section.

The storm of opposition has stunned the poster’s creator. Stanton, a wiry man in his 40s who lives in a Pacific Avenue apartment crammed with computers, books, magazines and a huge projection television, said he intended to create a humorous representation of Venice by touching on all its odd characteristics. In retrospect, Stanton said he may have suffered a “lapse in judgment,” but he offered no apologies.

“The most vocal complaints are about the gang fight in the ghetto,” Stanton said.

“I’m accused of being racist, but the gangs are white. It was a tongue-in-cheek thing for us. . . . The mistake we made is that we should have had movie cameras and lights as if the thing was being filmed.”

The poster, which can still be seen in a few store windows, looks like a street map come to life. Familiar images from the diverse community include swimmers and sailboats in the surf, roller skaters, weight lifters and hustlers along Ocean Front Walk and boaters paddling through neighborhood canals.

The poster also depicts dozens of historic landmarks, churches and businesses in crayon-like colors. Critics say the map is crammed with so many images that most people don’t spot the controversial depictions until after they’ve bought it. “We got complaints from people who had purchased it,” Bubar said. “They asked why all these funny things were going on.”

The “funny things” are mostly found in the upper left-hand corner of the poster. The gang fight, at the corner of 4th Street and Broadway, shows a stand-off between rival groups armed with knives and baseball bats. The armed robbery, at the corner of San Juan and 6th Street, depicts a masked man holding a revolver on his victim. The Oakwood section of the map also shows a burning trash can, a house burglary and a police chase.

Action Near Beach

Other controversial scenes, such as the depictions of a prostitute, the towing of an illegally parked car, a garbage scavenger and two dogs who appear to be mating, occur nearer the beach.

Vera Davis, a community organizer in Oakwood, said several neighbors had complained that the poster would frighten people away from the Oakwood community.

Stanton said the controversy has strained his relations within the community. A resident of Venice since 1972, Stanton is trained as a mechanical engineer and has co-authored several books on computer software. He started the Venice Postcard Co. in 1979 as an offshoot of his interest in photography. Since then he has become a common site on Ocean Front Walk, where he peddles his wares from a tricycle cart.