Artist Twitchell sues over the disappearance of his ‘Ruscha’

As the latest step in an ongoing legal battle, artist Kent Twitchell -- whose large-scale mural “Ed Ruscha Monument” was painted over in early June -- has filed a lawsuit against several nongovernmental entities the suit contends “willfully and intentionally desecrated, distorted, mutilated and otherwise modified” the work. Twitchell has said he received no notice -- as required by law -- that the artwork, on a downtown building owned by the federal government, would be painted over.

The suit includes as defendants West Coast General Corp.; Southern California Contractors Inc.; the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles Development Corp.; the Los Angeles Jobs Corps Center; McKissack & McKissack architecture firm of Washington, D.C.; Dewberry & Davis Service Operations Inc.; John Frawley, director of administration for the Los Angeles Jobs Corps Center; and Robert Blew, an employee of West Coast General.

The building, at 1031 S. Hill St. near Olympic Boulevard, is owned by the U.S. Department of Labor and houses the Los Angeles Jobs Corps Center. It was undergoing repairs when the paint-over took place.

The suit filed Friday does not name the Labor Department. In matters involving federal agencies, a claim has to be sought before a lawsuit can be filed, according to the law.

Last month, attorneys representing the artist filed a claim against the Labor Department seeking $5.5 million in damages, including the cost of restoration work. Twitchell’s attorney, Les Weinstein of the Pasadena law firm of Sheldon & Mak, said the agency has six months to resolve the matter. If it does not, he said, then the artist can sue the government agency.

Labor Department spokesman David James said the agency cannot comment on legal matters. The Twitchell work is not the only downtown mural to suffer paint damage this summer. In late July, Frank Romero’s “Going to the Olympics” and Willie Herron’s “Luchas del Mundo” (Struggles of the World), both on the northbound side of the 101 Freeway near the Alameda Street exit, were partly covered in a mud-colored paint, an error by a Caltrans work crew cleaning up graffiti. The state agency initially planned to remove the paint within days of the paint-over, but spokeswoman Judy Gish said Friday that Caltrans is “still working on the removal process. Clearly it’s a complex process, that’s why it’s taking longer than we had initially hoped.”