I have been photographing murals in Venice for decades, and I often used them as backdrops in the 1980s when I was shooting photo layouts of movie or TV stars, such as Lee Curreri from Fame or Scott Glenn from The Right Stuff.
Venice Graffiti Cannabis © Elisa Leonelli 2023
When I went back recently, arriving early, before 9am, and walking along the boardwalk from Venice Blvd to Windward Ave, I noticed that the roll-up metal doors to the still closed little shops were all covered in elaborate graffiti. While researching my article about Rip Cronk, I discovered this 2023 write-up and video interview where the most famous Venice muralist explains the origins on the Steel Door Mural Project. Gang graffiti would continuously deface other people murals, but there were other artists, calling themselves graffiti writers who could be encouraged and allowed to paint their work legally on these grey door and on the walls.
Venice Mural Hoodies (c) Elisa Leonelli 2023
I prefer the murals that look more like figurative painting rather than just letters, like this one on the side wall of a T-shirt shop on the Boardwalk.
Venice Mural Mummy © Elisa Leonelli 2023
These works are not signed, so I don’t know who painted this mummy face with a blue tongue, but the building this garage door is attached to has a mural with the signature paint drops of @DripkingLA.
Mural by Jules Muck inside Fruit Gallery. 1 Westminster Ave, Venice CA. Photo by Elisa Leonelli July 2023
I was excited to discovered new work from an artist I had noticed before, Jules Muck who signs her work as MuckRock. I featured her in my article about the Wende Museum in Culver City. She recently painted this amazing fantasy inside the shop Fruit Gallery: Hydra, the serpentine water monster of Greek mythology, surrounded by fruit.
Wizard by Jules Muck © Elisa Leonelli 2023
I photographed some of her earlier work like this portrait of Arthur Reese, nicknamed the Wizard of Venice, a partner of Venice founder Abbot Kinney.
BW mural by Jules Muck © Elisa Leonell 2023
Next to it a Black and White mural depicting Charlie Chaplin and “it girl” Clara Bow who lived in Venice in 1915, with Abbot Kinney.
Venice mural Tattoo. House of Ink. 1313 Ocean Front Walk. Photo by Elisa Leonelli July 2023
This mural is not signed, but I post it here since Muck is also a tattoo artist.
Born in England and living in New York, Muck apprenticed with graffiti artist Lady Pink in the 1990s, in 2008 she drove to California and settled in Venice, living in her van at first, until she started making a living by painting murals.
Follow Muck’s Facebook page to find out about her travels around the country searching for walls to paint, and when her studio is open for a visit.
Watch Muck here painting a Burger van in 2016.
I learnt about the history of graffiti art in 2011 from the exhibit “Art in the Streets” at MOCA Geffen, so I began to appreciate this style of mural painting.
Touch of Venice by Jonas Never, 2012. Windward Ave. Photo by Elisa Leonelli July 2023
Lastly, see a BW mural by Jonas Never, “Touch of Venice” 2012, an homage to the 1958 film noir by Orson Welles Touch of Evil.