IRVINE : UCI Gets Graffiti, But by Design
Students at UC Irvine were treated to an art demonstration Friday of something that’s usually frowned upon in this suburban burg: creating graffiti.
Raul Gamboa, a graffiti artist from Glendale, was visiting the campus to work on sets for the Fine Arts Department’s production of “West Side Story.”
“It’s very interesting to watch him work,” said Lynn Beck, who works in the school’s visual resource collection. “He puts something up and then he changes it. It’s just coming out of his head just like it would on the street.”
Some students also had an opportunity to help Gamboa as he worked on panels and sets for the school’s production of “West Side Story,” to be presented in November in the Irvine Barclay Theatre.
Gamboa, 25, born and raised in Los Angeles, has no formal artistic training. He has been drawing since he was a child and was experimenting with “tagging” the RTD bus lines by 1983.
He has been commissioned to create murals and has also painted graffiti pieces throughout Los Angeles.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
