This mural builds upon the approach RISK and I took for the Peace & Justice mural we did in Miami, but pushes the collaborative process further. This time RISK painted the backgrounds, and I painted the foreground, but we collaborated on the foreground imagery and concept. RISK is a big Led Zeppelin fan(as am I) and since the mural is on LA’s Skid Row ,RISK wanted to include “GOOD TIMES – BAD TIMES” as a Zep reference and comment on the unstable nature of good fortune known too well by the residents of Skid Row. I followed suit by incorporating “JUSTICE TONIGHT,” a reference to the Clash’s cover of Willie Williams’ “Armagideon Time” with its lyric “A lot of people won’t get no supper tonight, a lot of people won’t get no justice tonight”. RISK also did me the honor of drawing OBEY letters in his graffiti style to go alongside his RISK lettering and create a symmetry with the frame elements I designed. Our mural is permit number 1 after the lift on the mural maratorium facilitated by Daniel Lahoda and the Skid Row Housing Trust. I’m proud to be supporting the Skid Row Housing Trust and hopefully encouraging more property owners to provide walls for artists. -Shepard
